Quotes from Stephen Covey

Most people are basically a victim of the circumstances of their life. They have things like 9/11, they have terrorism threats, they have new war threats, they have economy problems, and they think, 'What can I do? I'm basically a victim.'

Most people struggle with life balance simply because they haven't paid the price to decide what is really important to them.

...people have character strength but they lack communication skills, and that undoubtedly affects the quality of relationships as well.

Very few people have ever experienced the feeling of being completely understood. When they experience it, it can become one of the richest feelings they have ever had.

It takes courage to realize that you are greater than your moods, greater than your thoughts, and that you can control your moods and thoughts.

There's strong data that, within companies, the No. 1 reason for ethical violations is the pressure to meet expectations, sometimes unrealistic expectations.

Live out of your imagination, not your history.

Happiness can be defined, in part at least, as the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.

An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success.

Be a function of your values rather than a function of the impulse or desire of any given moment.

When you really listen to another person from their point of view, and reflect back to them that understanding, it's like giving them emotional oxygen.

Almost all of the world-class athletes and other peak performers are visualizers. They see it; they feel it; they experience it before hey actually do it. They begin with the end in mind.

We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals.

Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.

Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success

We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.

Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions.

We often get so busy "sawing" (producing results) that we forget to "sharpen our saw" (maintain or increase our capacity to produce results in the future).

Vision is seeing a future state with the mind's eye. Vision is applied imagination.

To achieve goals you've never achieved before, you need to start doing things you've never done before.

The best way to develop courage is to set a goal and achieve it, make a promise and keep it.

You basically get what you reward. If you want to achieve the goals and reflect the values in your mission statement, then you need to align the reward system with these goals and values.