Recently, I read the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Anyways, one thing that the book discussed in detail that I wanted to talk about today is the difference between living for self-improvement and living for principle. Covey’s thoughts on this subject are very thought provoking and profound–I hope they encourage you through some dry seasons of life as they have mine.
We all want self-improvement. Not even the most confident of us believes that we’re perfect (unless you’re incredibly dense) because there’s always something that needs work somewhere in our lives. And there’s no fault in that. Part of our thirst for greatness and excellence demands that we are self-critical. If none of us experienced any anxiety or guilt when it comes to self-perception, none of us would ever strive to become better people. That little voice that challenges all our insecurities is what compels us to exact change in our lives, and improve the areas in which we are weak.
And so with that thirst for self-improvement, we embark on various solutions to fix the problem. If we feel like we’re gaining too much weight, we exercise. If we feel like we’re not productive enough, we buy that productivity book. Whatever the issue is, there is some tangible method to fix it instantly. This is all fine, in theory. But the problem is most of the times, when we quick fix these issues, all we’ve essentially done is put a bandage over a much, much deeper issue.
For instance, you lose a ton of weight after exercising, but then after you’ve lost 20 lbs, you start eating fast food again, drinking soda, getting “lazy” with your jogging/running schedule. This is because although you’ve lost weight, you’ve never really changed what you believe about health. You’ve never actually adopted a life principle that asserted “my health is important to me”. That’s why all that hard work and effort you put into getting into shape is quickly lost in two months of careless maintenance!
Ever been here before? Because I know I have!
So the question is, how do we make lasting and permanent change in our lives? How do we really “improve” ourselves, and not simply cover up our weaknesses with facades, bandages, and whip cream? Covey suggests something that I believe young twenty somethings need to wrap their minds around and embrace: we need to change our principles.
Principle is the core essence of why you do something. Principle is the motivating force that compels you to act a certain way, live a certain way, and value a certain thing. Principle is where our convictions come from, where our lifestyle comes from.
Going back to the issue of maintaining our health, when you change your “principles” on the issue, the reason why you maintain your health is NOT to simply fix a problem. The reason why you maintain your health is because you KNOW that it is a very worthy life endeavor to invest in. You don’t simply “fix” the obesity. You decide to invest in a lifestyle of health for more happiness, more energy, and more self-esteem. Your perspective changes–it’s no longer an issue of losing weight, it’s an issue of investing in yourself as a person. Change your principle, change your lifestyle.
If we want to make changes in our lives, we need to invest in improving ourselves on a deeper level. In an era of quick fix fiends, we need to be willing to put the time, effort and energy into changing ourselves on a heart level. If you want to attain that success that you’ve always wanted after graduation, constantly improving yourself will go a long way in helping with that endeavor.
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this hits home with me. great post
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