Is the glass half full or half empty? Well it depends on your perspective. In this lesson from Covey we look at breaking self-development down into firstly, working on your inner self, then secondly working on your outer self. We are setting a strong foundation first, then developing our exterior capabilities.
In Stephen Covey's book 7 Habits of Highly Efficient People he came up with several profound principles on success. He comprehensively studied successful people, worked on mentoring people to become successful and wrote 10 books in self-development, success and leadership literature.
As a topic for his doctorate Covey reviewed 200 years of success literature. During the period between 1770 to 1920 he found the primary literature of the day to be centered around what he calls the Character Ethic (inside yourself). However from the 1920's onwards the literature of the day then focused on Personality Ethic (your external self). This is what Covey refers to as Inside-Out.
The Character Ethic
The inner self as defined by Stephen Covey is called the character ethic and must be aligned to your own personal mission statement and goals before the outer self can be effective. The Character Ethic integrate principles of effective living in order to experience true success and enduring happiness. Intrinsic values to be lived by include integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity and modesty. Work on the inside first, then the outside.
The concept of 'Working on the inside first, then the outside' really jumps out at me because it's always been my belief that "You are the foundation of your own success" . Whatever you're building in life, you've got to start with the foundation.
Take building a house for example. You’d need to lay the foundation before you can start building the structure. Without a solid foundation, it will not stand, for long anyway.
Likewise, you need to lay a strong foundation for your own success. And that begins with yourself because, ultimately, you are the creator, the architect, the sculptor and the engineer of your own success, and you are 100 per cent responsible for it!"
Guest Comment by Mark Foo
The Personality Ethic
The outer self as defined by Stephen Covey is called the personality ethic and is secondary. It is basically the success principles that can be applied superficially to achieve wanted external results. However, they have little effect on your character. Read the rest of this entry »
