In New York, we are on the ancestral land of the Lenape people.

Between stimulus and response, you have the freedom to choose. This is your greatest power. One of the most important things you choose is what you say. Your language is a good indicator of how you see yourself. A proactive person uses proactive language—I can, I will, I prefer, etc. A reactive person uses reactive language—I can’t, I must, if only. Reactive people believe they are not responsible for what they say—they have no choice.

Think of a situation in your personal life during the past few weeks when responded in a reactive way.

In Your Workbook describe what you said or did.

Then rephrase what you said using a proactive approach.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind is based on imagination—the ability to envision, see the potential, create with our minds what we cannot at present see with our eyes and conscience. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental (or first) creation and a physical (or second) creation.

Take a few moments to consider that you can create the life that you wish to lead. That you can create health, wealth, love, belonging. If you can start with the end in mind and use the power of your imagination to SEE yourself Thinking, Feeling, and Being the way you wish to live then it is just as possible as any limiting ways of being that you might right now be experiencing.

In workbook consider the State of Being you want to be in or the goal you want to achieve. Then, assign that goal a letter. Then put the way you think you will be when you achieve the state and add the unlimited emotions you are going to feel.

Begin to think about your mission statement. Your goal is to start to Build Your Rock – to start with why. You will not need to perfect the statement now.

Highly effective people do not really manage time—they manage themselves.

While most of the world spins around in Quadrant I, reacting to urgent matters and managing one crisis after another, people who spend a majority of their time in Quadrant II are leading balanced, serene, and ordered lives. They are planning and executing according to their highest priorities.

Using the chart in your Pro-Action Plan. Identify the actions your are taking each day and place them into the quadrant that you believe makes the most sense.

Consider two relationships that you are currently in and put them to the test of the state of balance. Then consider what action you might need to take in order to move the relationship toward a WIN/WIN State.

COMMUNICATION IS the most important skill in life.

Consider this: You’ve spent years learning how to read and write, and years learning how to speak.

But what about listening? What training have you had that enables you to listen so you really, deeply understand another human being from that individual’s frame of reference?

In your workbook answer the two questions to find our how and why you may struggle to hear others.

Before you can leverage the strengths of others, you must first be able to recognize and value their differences. So, how much do you value differences? Take this short quiz in your workbook.

Sharpen the Saw is about balanced renewal in all four dimensions of human need: physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional. As you renew yourself in each of the four areas, you create growth and change in your life. You increase your capacity to produce and handle the challenges around you. When you don’t renew yourself, you limit or even reverse your growth, and limit or decrease your capacity to produce and your ability to handle challenges.

So, you’re thinking you don’t have time to Sharpen the Saw? How can sharpening the saw increase capacity?

Think about it. And in your workbook note the things you are doing now or the things you’d like to do to keep yourself sharp.