An end is a new beginning, so plan and start your beginning at the end. With the first 6 habits, you would have gotten some nice results. Be it getting more things done. Becoming more effective or efficient. The comes a point where you need to rest and relax before continuing on your path to greater success – Time to sharpen your edge again.
“Everyday is a new beginning where new opportunities awaits; Be ready when they comes”
This is one of the pictures that I wake up to everyday:
If you had studied these chapter well, you may have noticed that I did not include the social dimension exclusively in my emotion dimension. I believe Stephen had it in the emotion dimension because he feels that most human are emotionally driven, and usually their emotions are triggered by people around them, and how people largely interact with one another is based on their state of emotions. To me, the social dynamics is tied to all 4 dimensions.
Short summary for what each dimensions meant to me.
Physical Dimension: Stay healthy, Keep Fit and Optimizing Energy Level
Having a physically fit and healthy body is essential for almost all activities that you would like to do productively. Just picture 2 version of yourself – a lean and well built you and a obese you. Then imagine an activity that you are going to do. Which you is gonna perform better?
While it is not explicitly tied to habit1 in the book, I believe that the fitter you are, the higher chances you can be proactive in your daily activities. After all the most common excuses is: “I don’t have the time”. Probably because we were too slow in other activities, thus the lack of time. But I believe the underlying reasons behind are:
- “I am tired” (Lack of energy?)
- “I just can’t be bothered” (Lack of motivation?)
You probably can visualize what a proactive person would look like – Full of energy and motivation. Right? In the book it recommends proper nutrition, good rest and working out regularly by training your:
- Endurance through aerobics to improve cardiovascular efficiency
- Flexibility through stretching – Remember that warming up is different from stretching, so do your warm up first before you stretch.
- Strength through muscle resistance, weight lifting or yoga. – Great for physical intensive labor.
I will be covering more of these in my Health and Energy category.
Spiritual Dimension: Your Leadership in your Life
I am not a religious person, but I believe we are all connected to a greater force or higher power. In the book, the recommended spiritual renewal are prayer, meditation, immersing in great literature or music, connecting with nature or what ever you do to get the inner peace of mind. It also ask you to try the following if you are feeling “lost” in your life:
- Listen carefully to what you are hearing (sounds of environment, nature or even silence) – Raising your self awareness where you are truly living in the moment.
- Reach back in your memories where you are happy, excited or simply positive about life – Finding the warmth in your life.
- Examine your motives – Feeling alive (Living needs to be purposeful) – Fill your life with purposes of your passion.
- Leave your worries (They are temporary) – You are going to have a great future with good life strategies and actions.
In short: Feel your presence, relive your life, set your reality and move forward.
Have faith: You are the maker of your reality – Past, Present and Future.
“Everyone has faith even if yours doesn’t have a name”
Mental Dimension: Continual Learning
Most of our mental development comes from learning, but a lot of people stopped learning after their formal education has ended. Life shall be a continual learning process -When you stopped learning, you stopped growing. Read broadly to expand your mind!
It is recommended to have a hand written journal of our thoughts, experiences, insights and learnings to promote our mental clarity and sharpness. By writing, it also enable us to communicates with our thoughts, feelings and ideas at a deeper level, thus improving our ability to:
- Think clearly
- Reason accurately
- Be understood effectively
Be aware of what your mind is receiving now. Choose to be more educated than entertained! There is education in entertainment too if you look close enough.
“I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.”– Walt Disney
Emotional Dimension: Feeling Better To Be Better
The success of Habit 4,5 & 6 relies heavily on our emotions. The power comes from within – You choose how you want to feel by choosing what aspect you focus on.
Renewing your emotions does not take a lot of time – Emotions can change in a heartbeat! Tho the book doesn’t cover much on how to feel better, I suggest reading up on power of physiology.
Emotions plays a huge part on the actions we take, thus the major influence on the social dynamics.
Social Dimension: Improving my Interaction with People
In the book, social and emotion dimension are tied together due to the primarily part of our emotional life is shaped by the relationships we have with the people around us.
The better conversation you have with people tends to elevate your feelings too. Try it!
Personally, I believe that each aspect of me, physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally will have an impact on my social interactions. Certain situation requires one to be void of emotions to get a job done.
So what do you do to become a better you, physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and socially?