Stephen Covey the 7th habits

This writing assignment will be a bit different from the others; however, it may be one of the most personally significant. You are going to complete a series of exercises leading to a draft of your Personal Mission Statement.

This is not a “paper” or an “essay.” This is a process of self-assessment or even self-discovery. Be sure to allow plenty of time for reflection, just like the man with the “Four Prescriptions.”

These exercises have no “right” or “wrong” answers. Input should reflect personal values and life goals. Grades will be based on my judgment of how seriously one undertakes the assignment, as well as the quality of writing.

Save all of the steps below in one file. Put the separate exercise steps on separate pages in your Word document, as indicated. Follow the instructions below:

1. Page 1: “The Have Exercise.” Make a long list all of the things you would like to have in your life. Items can be tangible, like a new car, or they can be intangible, such as a loving family or a good reputation. Then, go back and review the list and identify the 5 most important of your haves.

2. Page 2: “The Do Exercise.” Make a long list of everything you would like to do in your lifetime. For example, start your own business, travel, run for political office, and so on.

3. Page 3: “The Be Exercise.” What kind of person do you want to be? Make a long list of the character traits you would like to live by in your life, such as: honest, disciplined, wise, and so on.

4. Page 4: “The Legacy Exercise.” This is a bit complicated. Follow the steps precisely.

First, identify 5 to 7 key roles that you perform, such as: student, employee, athlete, boy/girl friend, wife or husband, son or daughter, room mate, club member, and so on.

Second, identify one key person for each role. For example, for “athlete” you might list your coach or one of your teammates; for son or daughter, you would list your mother or father.

Third, write a tribute statement that you would like for each of the key people to say about you at your 80th birthday celebration. For the tribute statements, write them as if the key person is actually making the statement. For example, I would like to hear my wife, Kalli, say something like: “Drew has been the best husband I could have ever hoped for. He has loved and cared for me and our daughters selflessly. In the good times and the bad he was always there for me. I know I can always count on him.”

5. Page 5: “Do You Know this Person Exercise.” Identify one person who has had a very significant impact on your life. This person could be a parent, a coach, a teacher, a pastor, or someone else. Describe what it is about this person that you would like to see in your life. What traits or behaviors that characterize this person would you like to model in your life?

6. In Course Documents, read and reflect on the mission statements in the document “Examples of Personal Mission Statements” and in the document “Drew and Kalli’s Mission Statement.”

7. “Five-Minute Continuous Writing Exercise.” On scratch paper write continuously for 5 minutes with sentences and paragraphs that might become part of your mission statement. This is your first draft of a personal mission statement. Do not turn in this step.

8. On scratch paper, edit and rewrite your draft personal mission statement. Use the examples for ideas. Do not turn in this step.

9. Page 6: now enter your personal mission statement in its current form. It may change in the future, but this should be a polished product. This should reflect your personal sense of purpose and meaning in life.

Submit all of the above exercises (except Nos. 6, 7, and 8) as one MS Word file using the attach function. Be sure your name is in the document.