The last two articles have been about defining our end Result – the End we have in mind, when we begin. Last week we even jumped ahead to the final set of three questions, those associated with the R (Results) of CAR to help us. Those questions were:

• Where do you want to be at some point in the future? 
• What is the absolute best you can imagine for your life in the future?
• What do you believe can be Your Best Life in the future?

Notice that these questions are about our Desired Results, as distinct from our Actual Results.

In this article I want to explore the meaning of Stephen R. Covey’s Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind.

When is The End?

When Stephen R. Covey writes about Habit 2 in his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, he takes his readers to an imagined scene of their funeral. In a very real sense Stephen R. Covey really did want us to think about our End. He proposed that we would be more effective people if when considering the rest of our life, we began with our funeral – our End in mind. 

This is one way to use this Habit, but it is not the only way. There are a number of different ways that we can think about a desired result, and it comes down to what we mean by The End.

The End could be the end of:

• A time period
• A project
• A development
• A stage
• A process
• A cycle
• An action

The End could refer to:

• A destination
• A journey
• A dynamic balance

If we are performing an action, The End could be achieved when we:

• Tick all the boxes
• Run out of energy
• Run out of time
• Get it to work
• Achieve our desired result
• Be healthy
• Have routines

The end could mean many different possible things. But I like to think about some ways of having the end in mind by considering some time periods. The end could be after, or spanning:

• 15 minutes
• 1 hour
• 4.5 hours
• 1 day
• 1 week
• 1 month
• 1 year
• 5 years
• 20 years
• 100 years (nominal lifetime)
• After I die (my legacy –  what’s left behind)
• After I die (my destiny – where I go)

As I have mentioned in previous articles, the end could also be a state of:

• Survival
• Stability
• Success
• Significance

Points to Ponder

So what is the best way to think about The End, when you are designing Your Best Life?

• Your Legacy
• Your Lifestyle
• Your Experiences
• Your Happiness
• Your Achievements
• Your Resilence

Copyright © 2021 John Harris