Some behavioral changes I intend to make, in order to embrace Habit #3, are as follows:
* Let go of what is not important, or beneficial, in moving me towards my goal. I have to realize that I don't have time to help everyone that "needs" my help and they just have to learn to help themselves. I don't have enough time to take care of my own stuff along with other people's situations. I have to let go and not let it bother me.
* I have to learn to not let it bother me when certain people in my life refer to me as "selfish" for not having the time to take care of their issues for them. I know deep down inside that they are just calling me "selfish" because they think that they can use reverse psychology on me and that by calling me that, it will make me upset enough to prove them wrong and do whatever it is that THEY consider urgent.
* I commit to stepping back and assessing the situation whenever I feel stressed out and deciding if it is a Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4 situation. I just realized that both of the above situations land in Quadrant 3, which means it might be urgent to someone else, but not important, and those are issues and concerns that someone ELSE wants me to attend to, interrupting MY focus and making me less productive. From now on, I will identify the situation and if it lands in Q3 or Q4, I'm just going to not attend to it. I don't need to do that to myself. It's unhealthy in so many ways.
* Some people do not like it when I put first things first because they realize they are not part of the equation and they don't really fit into my daily schedule. I have to learn to let go of that guilt.
*I will constantly do a status check to make sure I am in Quadrant 2 as often as possible!
I plan to teach Habit #3: Put First Things First to my students by presenting them with examples of what it means to be responsible and put first things first. After about four or five different examples, I will ask them to get into groups and create situations where they might be tempted to NOT put first things first. The end product will be skits that they co-create with their group. Through these skits they will depict how they show self-control in each situation where they will be tempted to engage in perhaps Q3 or Q4 activities. In these skits they will showcase how they are proactive and think with the end in mind in order to arrive to the conclusion that the best decision, at this point, is to put first things first. My students just got their iPads last week, so they can now create iMovies to showcase their skits. Looking forward to seeing what ideas my students implement!
*For those of you who are reading this and are not a part of my EDL 610 class, here is a quick video you can refer to if you are wondering what I mean when I say Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4: