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Suppose You Were To Come Upon Someone In The Woods Working Feverishly To Saw Down A Tree. "what Are You Doing?" You Ask. "can't You See?" Comes The Impatient Reply. "i'm Sawing Down This Tree." "you Look Exhausted!" You Exclaim. "how Long Have You Been At It?" "over Five Hours," He Returns, "and I'm Beat! This Is Hard Work." 'well, Why Don't You Take A Break For A Few Minutes And Sharpen That Saw?" You Inquire. "i'm Sure It Would Go A Lot Faster." "i Don't Have Time To Sharpen The Saw," The Man Says Emphatically. "i'm Too Busy Sawing!"

-Stephen Covey

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Suppose You Were To

Stephen Covey

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Suppose You Were To Come Upon Someone In The Woods Working Feverishly To Saw Down A Tree. "what Are You Doing?" You Ask. "can't You See?" Comes The Impatient Reply. "i'm Sawing Down This Tree." "you Look Exhausted!" You Exclaim. "how Long Have You Been At It?" "over Five Hours," He Returns, "and I'm Beat! This Is Hard Work." 'well, Why Don't You Take A Break For A Few Minutes And Sharpen That Saw?" You Inquire. "i'm Sure It Would Go A Lot Faster." "i Don't Have Time To Sharpen The Saw," The Man Says Emphatically. "i'm Too Busy Sawing!"

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To Achieve Goals You've Never Achieved Before, You Need To Start Doing Things You've Never Done Before.

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You Can't Live Principals You Can't Understand.

To Be Successful We Must Live From Our Imaginations, Not From Our Memories.

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Impulse Control

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The Greatest Risk Is The Risk Of Riskless Living.

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When You Get A Good Night's Sleep And Wake Up Ready To Produce Throughout The Day.

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While We Cannot Always Choose What Happens To Us, We Can Choose Our Responses.

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In Order To Have Influence, You Have To Be Influenced.

Self Improvement

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Without Involvement, There Is No Commitment. Mark It Down, Asterisk It, Circle It, Underline It. No Involvement, No Commitment.

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People Who Exercise Their Embryonic Freedom Day After Day, Little By Little, Expand That Freedom. People Who Do Not Will Find That It Withers Until They Are Literally 'being Lived.' They Are Acting Out Scripts Written By Parents, Associates, And Society.

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The More Involved You Are, The More Significant Your Learning Will Be.

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It Is Possible To Be Busy-very Busy-without Being Very Effective.

Climbing The Ladder

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This Is The Single Most Powerful Investment We Can Ever Make In Life—investment In Ourselves, In The Only Instrument We Have With Which To Deal With Life And To Contribute.

Interdependence Is A Higher Value Than Independence

I Keep My Phone Number Unlisted And Rely On My Associates To Handle All Voice Mail, E-mail, Faxes.

We Must Seek To Understand The Intent Of Communication Without Prejudging Or Rejecting The Content... Communication, After All, Is Not So Much A Matter Of Intellect As It Is Of Trust And Acceptance Of Others, Of Their Ideas And Feelings, Acceptance Of The Fact That They're Different, And That From Their Point Of View, They Are Right.

The Key To Success Is Dedication To Life-long Learning.

Executives Need To Understand The Economic Benefits Of Trust Dividend, Especially When The Behavior Is Real, Not Artificially Or Superficially Created As Pr To Manipulate Trust.

Feedback Often Tells You More About The Person Who Is Giving It Than About You.

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