New blog URL

Thu, 31 Mar 2005 02:09:15 GMT

For whatever reason, livejournal.com is extremely slow when I access it from home. Therefore, I have created my blog somewhere else. The new URL is at: http://patrickli.blogspot.com

7 Habits of Highly Effective people?

Thu, 06 Jan 2005 20:40:08 GMT

I bought this book called "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" from the airport on my way back from New York. At first I just thought it was just going to be another one of those quick-fix self-help book that I sometimes read to try to kill time. To my surprise, it's actually one of the best books that I have come across so far. It actually goes deep into everyone's psychological minds and helps maximize your effectiveness as a person. While I was reading it on the seven hour flight, two random guys came up to me and told me what a great book it was. Without a doubt, I cannot stop myself from picking up and reading this book whenever I get the free time to (even that few minutes when I use the bathroom!). I am convinced that anyone who has read this book will become a much more effective and disciplined person immediately! Watch out my friends, that will be your next birthday present! :D

So what does this book tell you to do, you ask? Well, obviously the author breaks down the 7 habits. But let me share the first three habits with you for now. I have not read the last four habits yet. :)

- Proactivity
- Begin with the End of Mind
- First things First

Proactivity
This chapter basically teaches you to be more proactive on everything in life. He basically uses a circle to represent all the issues that happen around you and your life. There are some of those things within that circle that will not change regardless on what you do. There's another circle inside this big circle, which are things that you CAN change, and that is called the circle of influence. In order to become more effective in life and having the power to change things/our lives, we want to try to expand that circle of influence by being more proactive.

In our corporate world nowadays, often times we are put into situations where we have the choice of being in a passive mode rather than proactive mode. What comes to mind immediately is if someone asks you to do something that you do not own, you can simply say to the person "I cannot help you because I do not own this." Instead, you could become more proactive by saying "How can I help you with this?" Clearly by being passive you save yourself some time by not having to waste time helping that person for something that you're not responsible for. But look at the bigger picture. By you being proactive to get something done quickly, you are actually helping the company become more efficient. And in return, everyone benefits from it. Are you starting to see the power of proactivity yet? Next time, whenever you catch yourself saying "I can't," change it to "I choose not to" and you will see what I mean. It is not that you absolutely cannot achieve something, it is just that your paradigm tells you that you are not capable of doing so. In order to become more proactive requires a paradigm shift.

So remember, it is not that you "can't" become the next Bill Gates, you choose not to work harder, study harder, and manage your life better in order to reach that goal. Stop thinking that you can't do it because your family raised you a certain way, because you didn't go to this Ivy league school, or because you're broke. You can do it if you start taking control of your life now. Be the person who is proactive and I guarantee you will be recognized for it and become more effective as a result of it. People will begin to trust you and want to work with you.

I will talk about the other two habits later. :)

Hello World!

Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:11:00 GMT

Ok I don't know why ghoatie wants me to sign up for this thing. I'll see if I can keep up with this. Not very likely though. Unlike him, I goto bed before midnight. :P

Pat's Journal

New blog URL

7 Habits of Highly Effective people?

Hello World!