The Human Will Is An

The 'inside-out' Approach To Personal And Interpersonal Effectiveness Means To Start First With Self; Even More Fundamentally, To Start With The Most Inside Part Of Self, With Your Paradigms, Your Character, And Your Motives. The Inside-out Approach Says That Private Victories Precede Public Victories, That Making And Keeping Promises To Ourselves Recedes Making And Keeping Promises To Others. It Says It Is Futile To Put Personality Ahead Of Character, To Try To Improve Relationships With Others Before Improving Ourselves.

Suppose You Were To Come Upon Someone In The Woods Working Feverishly To Saw Down A Tree. "what Are You Doing?" You Ask. "can't You See?" Comes The Impatient Reply. "i'm Sawing Down This Tree." "you Look Exhausted!" You Exclaim. "how Long Have You Been At It?" "over Five Hours," He Returns, "and I'm Beat! This Is Hard Work." 'well, Why Don't You Take A Break For A Few Minutes And Sharpen That Saw?" You Inquire. "i'm Sure It Would Go A Lot Faster." "i Don't Have Time To Sharpen The Saw," The Man Says Emphatically. "i'm Too Busy Sawing!"

Independent Thinking Alone Is Not Suited To Interdependent Reality.

Habit 7 Is Taking The Time To Sharpen The Saw. By Renewing The Four Dimensions Of Your Nature - Physical, Spiritual, Mental And Social/emotional, You Can Work More Quickly And Effortlessly. To Do This, We Must Be Proactive. This Is A Quadrant Ii (important, Not Urgent) Activity That Must Be Acted On. It's At The Center Of Our Circle Of Influence, So We Must Do It For Ourselves.

We Are Not Animals. We Are Not A Product Of What Has Happened To Us In Our Past. We Have The Power Of Choice.