Begin with the end in mind, that is the 2nd habits stated by the Covey’s 7 habits of highly effective people.It is an ideas to help people to improve their work effective. Why this idea is important for us？Why we should begin everything with the end result in our mind first? What is the benefits we could get, if we may do so? 

1.To have a clear vision and know our purpose for achieving the goals 

A lot of the people cannot even define themselves clearly and does not know what is their purpose in life. The first step to “begin with the end in mind” is to go deep with yourself and reveal your true inner intentions. That is not an easy task, we should allow yourself to have some uninterrupted time in our daily. We may try to do sitting meditation, have a slow walk in the nature, reading alone in the cafe on Sunday’s afternoon. When we have a tranquillity mind, we will know clearly what is meaningful and what is unimportant for us. calm down our mind to create a clear vision and imagine the scenario we wish to turn it into reality in the future.

2.It could become our guidelines to make decision

Whenever we are struggle to make a major decision in our life, it could be our guideline to make decision. If our decision will make us go further away from our goals, we should avoid it. In contrary, we should choose the path that could bring us move forward to reach our goals. The goals could be a big dream that beyond the success or just a simple demand. No matter what is your dream could be, keep in mind the decision you made should compatible to your end values and priorities that could help you reach your end goals in life.

3.We may plan beforehand to reach the benchmark for each stage in our life

We may divide our life into a several stage and set a smaller goal in each stage of our life .Keep review the efforts we have made for each stage and make sure we are on the right path. If you found you have far more left behind the benchmark you have set, find out the reason and try to improve the situation.

4.Life may with a lot of uncertainties but it help us keep align to our goals

Some time we feel discourage when our hard work cannot turn out to be the result we want to. “Begin with the end in mind” may help us to gather our courage to fight for the difficulties. We knew our destination clearly and the difficulties are only some hiccups that happened in the process while we try to achieve our goals in life.

5.Focus our energy toward our goals

The earlier we may knew our goals in life, the easier we could reach our goals. That is because we may focus all of our energy to reach the concrete goal. We will not waste our precious times in trying different things that not related to our goals. So, when we pay full attention to what we really want, it could speed up the process to achieve the goals we are aiming.

If you’re still struggle in your life for not achieving anythings yet, start to nurture the good habit of “begin with the end in mind” right now. Once you found your goals, your daily will be different and more meaningful. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, don’t waste your time and start it right now.

Reference by:

AOM- The 7 Habits: Begin with the End in Mind

Discovery-Begin with the End in Mind; 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Explained

Forbes:Why it is hard to start with the end in mind

Photo cover (left): adapted by Gary Furr Consulting

Photo cover (right): adapted by construction leaders club