How many on their deathbeds wished they'd spent more time at the office - or watching TV? The answer is, No one.
Stephen CoveyRead
Look at the word responsibility-"response-ability"-the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Responsibility is about recognizing and choosing how to respond to situations rather than blaming external factors.
This quote emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility, showcasing that proactive individuals understand their ability to choose their responses based on their values instead of being influenced by external circumstances. Stephen Covey highlights that true accountability lies in one's own conscious decisions, reinforcing the idea that our actions stem from our choices rather than our situations.
Themes
ResponsibilityChoiceProactiveValuesBehavior
In practice
Example use cases
During a leadership workshop, one might quote this to inspire attendees to take ownership of their actions.
More from Stephen Covey
All quotes →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.
Stephen CoveyRead
Listen with your eyes for feelings.
Stephen CoveyRead
If we live out of our memory, we're tied to the past and to that which is finite. When we live out of our imagination, _x000D_ we're tied to that which is infinite.
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Synergy is the highest activity of life; it creates new untapped alternatives; it values and exploits the mental, emotional, and psychological differences between people.
Stephen CoveyRead
Keep in mind that you are always saying "no" to something. If it isn't to the apparent and urgent things in your life, it is probably to the most fundamental, highly important things.
Stephen CoveyRead
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