Habit 3 – Put First Things First

1. Nick Brad Neil Adam Habit 3 – Put First Things First

2. The Habit • First things first. • Willpower, the strength to say yes to your most important things. • Wontpower, the strength to say no to less important things and to resist peer pressure.

3. The Time Quadrants “I watched the Indy 500, and I was thinking that if they left earlier they wouldn’t have to go so fast.”

4. Q1 The Procrastinator • Addicted to urgency • Enjoys the rush of doing things at the last minute • Procrastinators marked by: Stress and Anxiety, Burnout, and Mediocre performance

5. Q3 The Yes-Man • People pleaser • Gives urgent things importance, although they are not necessarily important, such as texts and calls. • Conforms to people’s expectations • The Yes-Man is known for being a “pleaser”, lacking discipline, feeling like a doormat for others to wipe their feet on.

6. Q4 The Slacker • The category of waste and excess • Lazy • Lacks extrinsic and intrinsic motivation • Slackers are known for a lack of responsibility, flakiness, and guilt.

7. Q2 The Prioritizer • Is organized and knows how to prioritize. • Puts the big rocks first, then the pebbles. • Plans ahead and does important things, while taking care of urgent things. • Prioritizers have control of their lives, balance, and perform well.

8. Important vs. Urgent • Important- your most important things, your first things, activities that contribute to your mission and your goals. • Urgent- Pressing things, in-your-face things, activities that demand immediate attention. • The procrastinator focuses on urgent and important things. • The yes-man focuses on urgent yet not important things. • The slacker focuses on unimportant things that are not urgent. • The prioritizer focuses on important things that are not urgent.

9. Pick Up a Planner • Say no to Q3 activities • Identify big rocks: Exams, homework, work, family/friends, DeMolay. They are urgent and important. • Block out time for your big rocks. • If you don’t block out time then you won’t accomplish your goals. • Pebbles are not urgent and not important. • Adapt priorities daily as things change.

10. Comfort Zone vs. Courage Zone • What is the comfort zone? • Things I enjoy doing. • Something I feel safe and secure doing. • Something in which I feel free from risk. • Something I am accustomed to. • What is the courage zone? • Things I am afraid of. • Things I have never tried. • Things that are difficult. • Unexplored territory.

11. Overcoming Fear and Peer Pressure • “Two roads diverge in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by, and it made all the difference.” – Robert Frost • Be strong in hard moments. • Ask yourself what you would do if you weren’t afraid. • Be responsible enough to remove yourself from the environment.

12. The Common Ingredient of Success • “All successful people have the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.” - Albert E. Gray • It takes discipline to overcome your fears, to be strong in hard moments, and to resist peer pressure. • Suck it up and do it, nobody likes extra work but it will make you successful. • Be ready to adapt. • Rise, fall down, rise again. Persistence takes discipline.

13. Organization Tips (p.128) • Set a goal to use your planner once a month. • Identify your biggest time wasters. • Are you a “pleaser?” If so have the courage to say no. • Think of something you have procrastinated for a very long time that is very important to you, block out time this week to get it done. • Note your ten most important big rocks for the week. • Identify a fear that is holding you back from reaching your goals.

14. Questions • How do you overcome peer pressure? • How do you overcome fear? • What is your comfort zone? • Which quadrant would you say you are a part of? Procrastinator, prioritizer, yes-man, slacker?

15. End R.I.P. Michael Jackson