Carrie Cabral

Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.

Proactive vs. Reactive—How Being Proactive Makes You Happier

What Is the Secret to Living a Happy Life?

In every situation, you have the choice of being proactive vs. reactive. If you’re reactive, you let your conditioning dictate how you respond to the people and circumstances around you; if you’re proactive, you decide how you’ll respond to create the results you want. Being proactive vs. reactive takes time and practice. You can learn how to be more proactive by making good choices, taking control of your actions, and communicating effectively with the people around you.

The Abundance Mentality: Believing There’s Enough for Everyone

Though there are several different mentalities, the Abundance Mentality is particularly useful and can help you learn and adapt. In habit 4, we discussed the win/win paradigm and the five traits that form a personality. Once of these essential traits was character, and a core part of your character is your mentality. Read on to find out more about the Abundance Mentality and its benefits.

Listening to Understand—Empathic Listening Builds Strong Relationships

When a friend comes to you with an issue he’s having, how often do you respond with a story about your own similar experience and what you did to resolve it? Or how commonly are you met with this kind of response when you are venting to someone else? We discussed in Habit 4 that an essential step in reaching a Win/Win solution is to try to understand the other person’s perspective and concerns. The key to truly understanding people is empathic listening, which is listening with the intent to see their perspective.

The Circle of Influence: You Control the Outcome

Proactive people focus their time and energy on their Circle of Influence. Why waste your efforts spinning your wheels about concerns you can’t impact? Your Circle of Influence are all the things that you have the power to influence or control. On the other hand, your circle of concern if the things you worry about and can’t control. But by focusing on your Circle of Influence, you can create positive actions and reactions, and apply your values set in everyday life.

How to Delegate Effectively + The 2 Types of Delegation

How do you make sure you have time for your high-priority, Quadrant II goals, while also leaving room in your schedule for the unexpected? Delegate. To delegate means to assign tasks to others people or groups. Delegating is a way to manage time effectively, and helps you self-manage. There are two types of delegation, and learning how to delegate effectively will help you achieve the priorities you identified in your quadrant 2.

Stephen Covey’s Time Management: The Best Method for Productivity

In order to use your independent will to effectively achieve mission statement and ultimate goals, you need the proper tools of time management. Over time, four generations of time management techniques have emerged. Stephen Covey’s time management system discusses the four generations of time management. The Fourth Generation is what effective people typically use, and what you should aim for on your 7 Habits journey. Working toward the fourth generation will help you shift your paradigm, prioritize what’s important to you, and ultimately achieve your goals.

What Are the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People?

Do you want to make your life better? Are you struggling in your personal or professional life, your interactions with other people, your life balance, or your life’s purpose? What are the 7 habits of highly effective people? The 7 habits of highly effective people is a set of rules to follow that will shift your paradigm, teach you how to make decisions, and help you achieve your goals. Read on to find out about the 7 habits of highly effective people, and how they can work at making you highly effective, and help you recognize other highly successful people!

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw (7 Habits)

The 7 Habits of highly effective people works to help you shift your paradigm, and apply the habits in practical and balanced ways. In habit 7: sharpen the saw, you recognize all the work you’ve done so far and can how you translate your effective habits in real life, and how they effect others. Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw is about taking care of yourself and being socially and self-aware, so you can continue using the 7 habits.

Habit 6: Synergize – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Habit 6: Synergize is the major achievement of independent relationships: the ability to create synergy with another person. Synergy creates an outcome that’s greater than the sum of its parts, as in 1+1 = 3 or more. In other words, two people working together can create greater results than would have been possible separately. Synergize proves the 7 habits work together by furthering communication skills.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood (7 Habits)

Habit 5: seek first to understand, then to be understood tackles how to have an effective interaction with someone. The idea is this: first work on understanding the other person’s perspective, then help them to understand your perspective. Only by working on covey’s habit 5: seek first to understand, then to be understood can you determine the kind of mutually beneficial solution that a Win/Win paradigm strives to achieve.