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The Key To Creating Passion In Your Life Is To Find Your Unique Talents, And Your Special Role And Purpose In The World.
-Stephen Covey
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The Key To Creating

Stephen Covey
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The Key To Creating Passion In Your Life Is To Find Your Unique Talents, And Your Special Role And Purpose In The World.

Understanding the Quote: "the key to creating passion in your life is to find your..."

This quote by Stephen Covey reflects deeply on the theme of passion. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Passion, Unique, Keys, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Stephen Covey interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey is celebrated for insightful thoughts on passion and unique. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Passion
Unique
Keys
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If You Can Hire People Whose Passion Intersects With The Job, They Won't Require Any Supervision At All. They Will Manage Themselves Better Than Anyone Could Ever Manage Them. Their Fire Comes From Within, Not From Without. Their Motivation Is Internal, Not External.
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The Most Effective Way I Know To Begin With The End In Mind Is To Develop A Personal Mission Statement Or Philosophy Or Creed. It Focused On What You Want To Be (character) And To Do (contributions And Achievements) And On The Values Or Principles Upon Which Being And Doing Are Based.
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The Great Contributors In Life Are Those Who, Though Afraid Of The Knock At The Door, Still Answer It.
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The Greatest Thing You Can Do For Your Children Is Love Your Spouse.
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They [nazi Captors]had More Liberty, More Options To Choose From In Their Environment; But He [viktor Frankl] Had More Freedom, More Internal Power To Exercise His Options.
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By Behaving In Ways That Build Trust With One, You Build Trust With Many.
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Only 20 Percent Of Employees Working In Large Organizations Surveyed Feel Their Strengths Are In Play Every Day. Thus, Eight Our Of Ten Employees Surveyed Feel Somewhat Miscast In Their Role.
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Innocent Pleasures In Moderation Can Provide Relaxation For The Body And Mind And Can Foster Family And Other Relationships. But Pleasure, Per Se, Offers No Deep, Lasting Satisfaction Or Sense Of Fulfillment. The Pleasure-centered Person, Too Soon Bored With Each Succeeding Level Of "fun," Constantly Cries For More And More. So The Next New Pleasure Has To Be Bigger And Better, More Exciting, With A Bigger "high." A Person In This State Becomes Almost Entirely Narcissistic, Interpreting All Of Life In Terms Of The Pleasure It Provides To The Self Here And Now.
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During The First Few Minutes In Lift-off, The Astronauts Were Strictly Controlled And Were Powerfully Buffeted By The Forces Of Nature Struggling To Keep Them On Earth. This Is Somewhat Comparable To The Pull Of The Flesh When Our Alarm Goes Off Early In The Morning. Unless We Put "mind Over Mattress" And Carry Out The Resolves Made The Night Before, We Will Experience Our First Defeat That Day. Not Sufficient To Finish. Mission Aborted.
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The Only Person Over Whom You Have Direct And Immediate Control Is Yourself. The Most Important Assets To Develop, Preserve And Enhance, Therefore, Are Your Own Capabilities. And No One Can Do It For You. You Must Cultivate The Habit Of Leadership Effectiveness For Yourself - And Doing So Will Be The Single Best Investment You Will Ever Make.
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How Many On Their Deathbeds Wished They'd Spent More Time At The Office - Or Watching Tv? The Answer Is, No One.
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When You Show Deep Empathy Toward Others, Their Defensive Energy Goes Down, And Positive Energy Replaces It. That's When You Can Get More Creative In Solving Problems.
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If I Really Want To Improve My Situation, I Can Work On The One Thing Over Which I Have Control-myself. I Can Stop Trying To Shape Up My Wife And Can Work On My Own Weaknesses. I Can Focus An Being A Great Marriage Partner, A Source Of Unconditional Love And Support. Hopefully, My Wife Will Feel The Power Of Proactive Example And Respond In Kind. But, Whether She Does Or Doesn't, The Most Positive Way I Can Influence My Situation Is To Work On Myself, On My Being.
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'in Empathic Listening You Listen With Your Ears, But You Also, And More Importantly, Listen With You Eyes And With Your Heart. You Listen For Feeling, For Meaning. You Listen For Behaviour. You Use Your Right Brain As Well As Your Left. You Sense, You Intuit, You Feel.' ... 'you Have To Open Yourself Up To Be Influenced'.
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We Judge Ourselves By Our Intentions. And Others By Their Actions.
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The Way We See The Problem Is The Problem.
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People Are Your Most Valuable Asset. Only People Can Be Made To Appreciate In Value.
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If We Know How To Listen To Our Own Heart, We Can Listen To The Hearts Of Others.
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Moving Along The Upward Spiral Requires Us To Learn, Commit, And Do On Increasingly Higher Planes. We Deceive Ourselves If We Think That Any One Of These Is Sufficient. To Keep Progressing, We Must Learn, Commit, And Do-learn, Commit, And Do-and Learn, Commit, And Do Again.
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Start Small, Make A Promise And Keep It. Then, Make Larger Promises And Keep Them. Eventually, Your Honor Will Become Greater Than Your Moods Or Your Circumstances, Which Includes Your Medical Condition And Other People's Stereotypic Observations. Once You Overcome This Comparison Based Mentality, Your Confidence Will Soar.
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The Leader Is The One Who Climbs The Tallest Tree, Surveys The Entire Situation, And Yells, 'wrong Jungle!' ... Busy, Efficient Producers And Managers Often Respond ... 'shut Up! We're Making Progress!'
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Visualising Something Organises One's Ability To Accomplish It.
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If You Say To One Flower, 'grow,' But You Water Another, The First One Won't Grow.
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It Doesn't Really Matter How Fast You're Going If You're Heading In The Wrong Direction.
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Principles Are Natural Laws That Are External To Us And That Ultimately Control The Consequences Of Our Actions. Values Are Internal And Subjective And Represent That Which We Feel Strongest About In Guiding Our Behavior.
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Our Actions
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Character
Analysis
The Exercise Of True Leadership Is Inversely Proportional To The Exercise Of Power.
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Democracy
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When You Study The Lives Of All Great Achievers-those Who Have Had The Greatest Influence On Others, Those Who Have Made Things Happen-you Will Find A Pattern. Through Their Persistent Efforts And Inner Struggle, They Have Greatly Expanded Their Four Native Human Intelligences Or Capacities. The Highest Manifestations Of These Four Intelligences Are: For Mental, Vision; For The Physical, Discipline; For The Emotional, Passion; For The Spiritual, Conscience. These Manifestations Also Represent Our Highest Means Of Expressing Our Voice.
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Struggle
Passion
Anytime We Think The Problem Is 'out There,' That Thought Is The Problem. We Empower What's Out There To Control Us. The Change Paradigm Is 'outside-in' - What's Out There Has To Change Before We Can Change. The Proactive Approach Is To Change From The 'inside-out': To Be Different, And By Being Different, To Effect Positive Change In What's Out There - I Can Be More Resourceful, I Can Be More Diligent, I Can Be More Creative, I Can Be More Cooperative.
Thinking
Empowering
Creative
If You Want To Get Something Done, Give It To A Busy Man.
Men
Giving
Work Ethic
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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Freedom
Exercise
When Life Does Not Go Our Way Or We Inadvertently Make A Mistake, It Is So Easy To Make Excuses, Place Blame On Others, Or Argue That Circumstances Were Against Us. But We Only Progress In Life To The Extent That We Take Responsibility For Our Actions And Attitudes, And Put Forth The Initiative Necessary To Create Our Own Circumstances.
Attitude
Freedom
Mistake
In Addition To Self-awareness, Imagination And Conscience, It Is The Fourth Human Endowment - Independent Will - That Really Makes Effective Self-management Possible. It Is The Ability To Make Decisions And Choices And To Act In Accordance With Them. It Is The Ability To Act Rather Than To Be Acted Upon, To Proactively Carry Out The Program We Have Developed Through The Other Three Endowments. Empowerment Comes From Learning How To Use This Great Endowment In The Decisions We Make Every Day.
Independent
Self Confidence
Decisions We Make
All Broken Relationships Can Be Traced Back To Broken Agreements
Agreement
Broken
Broken Relationship
The Average Family Spends 30 Hours In Front Of A Television, And They Say They Don't Have The Time To Have A Balanced, Integrated Life.
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Television
Hours
When You Get A Good Night's Sleep And Wake Up Ready To Produce Throughout The Day.
Good Night
Sleep
Wake Up
In A Very Real Sense, There Are Only Two Roles In Organisations: Customers And Suppliers. Everybody Functions Simultaneously In Both Roles, Whether Inside Or Outside The Organisation The Essence Of Good Business, Therefore, Is The Quality Of The Relationship Between Customer And Supplier.
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Essence
Two
Habit 1: Be Proactive Habit 2: Begin With The End In Mind Habit 3: Put First Things First Habit 4: Think Win/win Habit 5: Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood Habit 6: Synergize Habit 7: Sharpen The Saw
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Most People Define Greatness Through Wealth And Popularity And Position In The Corner Office. But What I Call Everyday Greatness Comes From Character And Contribution.
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All The Well-meaning Advice In The World Won't Amount To A Hill Of Beans If We're Not Even Addressing The Real Problem.
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Effectiveness
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When You Engage In A Work That Taps Your Talent And Fuels Your Passion-that Rises Out Of A Great Need In The World That You Feel Drawn By Conscience To Meet-therein Lies Your Voice, Your Calling, Your Soul's Code.
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Passion
Voice
Unless People Feel That They Are Accepted And That They Have A Right To Express Their Feelings Without Fear Of Embarrassment Or Ridicule, All They Will Do Is React And Rebel And Struggle For Their Identity.
Motivational
Struggle
People
We Can Act Instead Of Being Acted Upon.
Action
Each Of Us Guard A Gate Of Change That Can Only Be Opened From The Inside.
Motivational
Change
Emotional Appeal
Patience Is Emotional Diligence.
Emotional
Diligence
Our Greatest Joy And Our Greatest Pain Comes In Our Relationships With Others.
Relationship
Broken Heart
Pain
Leadership Without Mutual Trust Is A Contradiction In Terms.
Contradiction
Term
Mutual
Wisdom Is Your Perspective On Life, Your Sense Of Balance, Your Understanding Of How The Various Parts And Principles Apply And Relate To Each Other.
Perspective
Understanding
Balance
By Centering Our Lives On Timeless, Unchanging Principles, We Create A Fundamental Paradigm Of Effective Living. It Is The Center That Puts All Other Centers In Perspective.
Perspective
Principles
Fundamentals
The Human Will Is An Amazing Thing. Time After Time, It Has Triumphed Against Unbelievable Odds.
Encouragement
Odds
Unbelievable
Most People Struggle With Life Balance Simply Because They Haven't Paid The Price To Decide What Is Really Important To Them.
Struggle
People
Goal
Perhaps A Sense Of Possessing Needs To Come To Come Before A Sense Of Genuine Sharing.
Needs
Genuine
Possessing
As You Care Less About What People Think Of You, You Will Care More About What Others Think Of Themselves.
Thinking
People
Perspective
Management Works In The System; Leadership Works On The System.
Leadership
Business
Management
Interdependence Is A Choice Only Independent People Can Make
Inspiration
Independent
People
Always Treat Your Employees Exactly As You Want Them To Treat Your Best Customers. You Can Buy A Person's Hand, But You Can't Buy His Heart; His Heart Is Where His Enthusiasm Is. You Can Buy His Back, But You Can't Buy His Brain. That's Where His Creativity Is. Treat Employees As Volunteers Just As You Treat Customers As Volunteers, Because That's What They Are. They Volunteer The Best Parts - Their Hearts And Minds.
Heart
Creativity
Hands
Management Is Clearly Different From Leadership. Leadership Is Primarily A High-powered, Right-brain Activity. It's More Of An Art It's Based On A Philosophy. You Have To Ask The Ultimate Questions Of Life When You're Dealing With Personal Leadership Issues.
Art
Philosophy
Issues
The Key To The Many Is Often The One; It Is How You Regard And Talk About The One In That One's Absence Or Presence That Communicates To The Many How You Would Regard And Talk About Them In Their Presence Or Absence.
Motivational
Keys
Absence
In Order To Have Influence, You Have To Be Influenced.
Leadership
Order
Self Improvement
Brands Need To Reinvent Themselves From Time To Time To Stay Relevant.
Needs
Relevant
Brands
Habit 7 Is Taking The Time To Sharpen The Saw. By Renewing The Four Dimensions Of Your Nature - Physical, Spiritual, Mental And Social/emotional, You Can Work More Quickly And Effortlessly. To Do This, We Must Be Proactive. This Is A Quadrant Ii (important, Not Urgent) Activity That Must Be Acted On. It's At The Center Of Our Circle Of Influence, So We Must Do It For Ourselves.
Spiritual
Emotional
Practice
Frustration Is A Function Of Our Expectations.
Frustration
Expectations
Function
Paradigms Are Powerful Because They Create The Lens Through Which We See The World.
Powerful
Lenses
World
Don't Cheat People Of Their Growth. Empower Them To Solve Problems And Generate Ideas. Watch Them Grow!
Ideas
People
Empowering
Always Treat Your Employees Exactly As You Want Them To Treat Your Best Customers.
Inspirational
Teamwork
Appreciation
Contrary To What Most People Believe, Trust Is Not Some Soft, Illusive Quality That You Either Have Or You Don't; Rather, Trust Is A Pragmatic, Tangible, Actionable Asset That You Can Create.
Believe
People
Quality
You Have To Decide What Your Highest Priorities Are And Have The Courage—pleasantly, Smilingly, Nonapologetically, To Say “no” To Other Things. And The Way You Do That Is By Having A Bigger “yes” Burning Inside. The Enemy Of The “best” Is Often The “good.
Inspirational
Motivational
Change
Once You've Found Your Own Voice, The Choice To Expand Your Influence, To Increase Your Contribution, Is The Choice To Inspire Others To Find Their Voice.
Voice
Choices
Inspire
To Be Successful We Must Live From Our Imaginations, Not From Our Memories.
Memories
Creativity
Successful
If You Want To Have A More Pleasant, Cooperative Teenager, Be A More Understanding, Empathic, Consistent, Loving Parent. If You Want To Have More Freedom, More Latitude In Your Job, Be A More Responsible, A More Helpful, A More Contributing Employee.
Teenager
Parent
Understanding
The More Authentic You Become, The More Genuine In Your Expression, Particularly Regarding Personal Experiences And Even Self-doubts, The More People Can Relate To Your Expression And The Safer It Makes Them Feel To Express Themselves. That Expression, In Turn, Feeds On The Other Person's Spirit, And Genuine Creative Empathy Takes Place, Producing New Insights And Learnings And A Sense Of Excitement And Adventure That Keeps The Process Going.
Adventure
Self
Expression
Management Is Efficiency In Climbing The Ladder Of Success; Leadership Determines Whether The Ladder Is Leaning Against The Right Wall.
Inspirational
Inspiring
Leadership
If The Big Rocks Don't Go In First, They Aren't Going To Fit In Later.
Rocks
Firsts
Fit
There's No Better Way To Inform And Expand You Mind On A Regular Basis Than To Get Into The Habit Of Reading Good Literature.
Inspiration
Reading
Mind
As Long As You Think The Problem Is Out There, That Very Thought Is The Problem
Inspirational
Motivational
Positive Thinking
If You're Proactive, You Don't Have To Wait For Circumstances Or Other People To Create Perspective Expanding Experiences. You Can Consciously Create Your Own.
Motivational
People
Perspective
Communication Is The Most Important Skill In Life. We Spend Most Of Our Waking Hours Communicating. But Consider This: You've Spent Years Learning How To Read And Write, Years Learning How To Speak. But What About Listening?
Communication
Writing
Years
People And Organizations Don't Grow Much Without Delegation And Completed Staff Work Because They Are Confined To The Capacities Of The Boss And Reflect Both Personal Strengths And Weaknesses
Life
Success
Business
Strategy Is Important, But Trust Is The Hidden Variable. On Paper You Can Have Clarity Around Your Objectives, But In A Low-trust Environment, Your Strategy Won't Be Executed.
Important
Paper
Variables
Trust Is A Function Of Two Things: Character And Competence. Character Includes Your Integrity, Your Motive And Your Intent With People. Competence Includes Your Capabilities, Your Skills, And Your Track Record. Both Are Vital.
Integrity
Character
Skills
If You Want The Secondary Greatness Of Recognized Talent, Focus First On Primary Greatness Of Character.
Inspirational
Character
Greatness
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.
Goal
Needs
Want
I Am Fortunate To Have A Very Helpful Team That Enables Me To Spend Time Doing Things That Are Important But Not Necessarily Urgent. People Who Have No Such Team Need To Also Make These Larger Decisions So That They Can Cheerfully Say No To That Which Is Urgent But Not Important.
Team
People
Decision
Your Systems Are Perfectly Designed To Get The Results That You Are Getting.
Results
The Best Way To Develop Courage Is To Set A Goal And Achieve It, Make A Promise And Keep It.
Courage
Goal
Promise
Real Excellence Does Not Come Cheaply. A Certain Price Must Be Paid In Terms Of Practice, Patience, And Persistence - Natural Ability Notwithstanding.
Real
Persistence
Practice
One Of The Best Ways To Educate Our Hearts Is To Look At Our Interaction With Other People, Because Our Relationships With Others Are Fundamentally A Reflection Of Our Relationship With Ourselves.
Inspirational
Relationship
Heart
In The Last Analysis, What We Are Communicates Far More Eloquently Than Anything We Say Or Do.
Communication
Moving Forward
Character
Instead, I Have An Abundance Mentality: When People Are Genuinely Happy At The Successes Of Others, The Pie Gets Larger.
Morning
Pie
People
Intrinsic Security Doesn't Come From What Other People Think Of Us Or How They Treat Us. It Doesn't Come From Our Circumstance Or Out Position. It Comes From Within. It Comes From Accurate Paradigms And Correct Principles Deep In Our Own Mind And Heart. It Comes From Inside-out Congruence, From Living A Life Of Integrity In Which Our Daily Habits Reflect Our Deepest Values.
Integrity
Heart
Thinking
People Behave More On The Basis Of How They Feel Than How They Think; Unless There Are Good Feelings Between People, It Is Almost Impossible To Reason Intelligently.
Motivational
Thinking
People
You Think Effectiveness With People And Efficiency With Things.
Thinking
Effectiveness
People
Creating A Warm, Caring, Supportive, Encouraging Environment Is Probably The Most Important Thing You Can Do For Your Family.
Mother
Caring
Creating
Synergy Is Everywhere In Nature. If You Plant Two Plants Close Together, The Roots Commingle And Improve The Quality Of The Soil So That Both Plants Will Grow Better Than If They Were Separated. If You Put Two Pieces Of Wood Together, They Will Hold Much More Than The Total Weight Held By Each Separately. The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts. One Plus One Equals Three Or More.
Two
Roots
Quality
The 8th Habit, Then, Is Not About Adding One More Habit To The 7 - One That Somehow Got Forgotten. It's About Seeing And Harnessing The Power Of A Third Dimension To The 7 Habits That Meets The Central Challenge Of The New Knowledge Worker Age. The 8th Habit Is To Find Your Voice And Inspire Others To Find Theirs.
Voice
Challenges
Inspire
If You Don't Let A Teacher Know What Level You Are -- By Asking A Question, Or Revealing Your Ignorance -- You Will Not Learn Or Grow
Teacher
Ignorance
Asking
Synergy: The Combined Effect Of Individuals In Collaboration That Exceeds The Sum Of Their Individual Effects.
Collaboration
Individual
Synergy
Be Governed By Your Internal Compass, Not By Some Clock On The Wall.
Wall
Intuition
Compass
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.
Reflection
Emotional
Views
People Don't Listen To Understand. They Listen To Reply. The Collective Monologue Is Everyone Talking And No One Listening.
Talking
People
Empathy
The Challenge Of Work-life Balance Is Without Question One Of The Most Significant Struggles Faced By Modern Man.
Struggle
Men
Challenges
Principles Always Have Natural Consequences Attached To Them. There Are Positive Consequences When We Live In Harmony With The Principles. There Are Negative Consequences When We Ignore Them. But Because These Principles Apply To Everyone, Whether Or Not They Are Aware, This Limitation Is Universal. And The More We Know Of Correct Principles, The Greater Is Our Personal Freedom To Act Wisely.
Principles
Negative
Harmony
Conscience Connects Us With The Wisdom Of The Ages And The Wisdom Of The Heart.
Heart
Age
Conscience
If You Don't Know Yourself, If You Don't Control Yourself, If You Don't Have Mastery Over Yourself, It's Very Hard To Like Yourself, Except In Some Short-term, Psych-up, Superficial Way.
Psych
Over You
Way
Live Simply And Appreciate What You Have. Give More. Expect Less.
Appreciate
Giving
Appreciate What You Have
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