THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE

 

 

  Habit number two: Begin with the end in mind. That 1)literallymeans to begin today with an image or picture of the end of your life as your frame of reference, as the 2)criteria by which you examine everything else in your life.

      I want you to think on this for a moment and get yourself into the frame of mind of attending a funeral of a dear one. In your mind¡¯s eye see yourself driving to that funeral, arriving, it¡¯s being held at a church, getting yourself situated¹ in the back seat. And you come to a growing awareness² that it is your funeral, that it is you in that 3)casket, three years from now. There are four speakers. The place ispacked. And there's a great feeling of love, appreciation³, and 4)resonating value of this person, your life. The four speakers are these: one from your family -- not just your 5)nuclear family, but aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents have come from all around the country to attend; one from your friends that give a sense of what you were as a person, as a friend; one from your work, your profession, or outside activity; and one from your church or some community organization where you've been involved in giving service. Now think, what would you like to have said, three years from now, about you as a member of an 6)in-tergenerational 7)extended family, as a friend, as a working 8)associate, or a public servant? What would you like to have said about your character, about your contributions, and about your achievements? Think carefully on those roles, and write the 9)eulogies.

    This habit, to begin with the end in mind, means to start with a clear understanding of your destination and it's based on the principle that all things are created twice.

     There are always two creations. Thephysical creation follows the mental creation. Take the building or the house that you're in now. It was created in every detail before the earth was touched. Right or wrong. If wrong, you've got some pretty expensive change orders in that structure that might have significantly increased the cost of it, even doubled the cost of it. The carpenter's rule holds true: measure twice, cut once.

So what's habit two? Simply begin with the end in mind. Decide what your own value system is. Write your own philosophy, your own mission statement, your own 10)creed, your belief system and get it written into your mind and into your heart, through the use of imagination and your emotion. Don't tie yourself to your history. Tie yourself to your potential. And if you learn to imagine vividly⁴ enough and to also 11)draw heavily upon the inner sense or conscious of what is right or wrong, you will come to detect the most fundamental principles that pertain⁵ to your life. And you can 12)distill them in the form of a mission statement or a value system or a purpose statement; whatever you wish to call it. This is the essence of habit two.

 

   积极人生从7个习惯开始

 

   习惯二：在思想上要以终为始。照字面意思来解就是在今天开始的时候，脑子里想一想你在生命终点的情景，以此作为参考框架，作为你检测其他事情的依据。

   我希望你们能好好地思考这番话，然后想像自己去参加一个至亲好友的葬礼。你的脑海里浮现着这样的画面：看到自己驾车到葬礼上去，到达了，葬礼在教堂举行，你在后排坐下。你渐渐地想到自己的葬礼，三年之后，躺在那棺材里的人会是你。发言人有四位，参加者云集一堂。人们对你的人与你的一生心怀关爱、感到欣赏与认同。四位发言人分别是：一位来自你家--除了你的家人外，姑姨、叔舅、表亲、祖父祖母全从全国各地赶来参加；一位是你的友人，从朋友立场上评价你的为人；一位来自你工作、职业或社交活动的领域；还有一位来自于你曾经参与并作出过服务的教会或者某团体组织。现在考虑一下，你希望三年之后，人们将怎样从一名几世同堂的大家庭的成员、一个朋友、一位同事、或一个公仆的角色来评价你？你希望人们将怎样评论你的性格、贡献和成就？仔细地想想你的这些角色，给自己写悼词。

   在思想上以终为始这个习惯的意思就是要你明确最终目的，它是基于“万物皆经由两度而成”的原理得出的。

   创造总是经过两次完成的。在思想创造之后有实际创造。拿你们现在所位于的大楼来说吧，在动土之前它的每个细节早就给设定好了。对也罢错也罢。如果错了，你要改变结构则要付出昂贵的代价，费用也许会大幅增长，甚至翻倍。木匠有条规矩是千真万确的：度量两次才动手。

   那么习惯二是什么呢？就是在思想上要以终为始。决定好你的自我价值体系。写下自己的哲学，自我计划、自我信条、自我信仰体系，通过运用想象和情感把这些牢记在你的脑海中、你的心里。不要把自己拘束在以往的历史上，让自己依附于潜能之上。如果你能学着去生动地想象，并开发好内在意识，辨察是非，你就能找到适合你一生的最基本原则。你就可以从行动计划，或价值体系，或目标计划--随你怎么叫吧--的形式中提取出你的原则来。这就是习惯二的精髓所在。

 

1) literally   adv. 照字面意义地   2) criteria   n. 标准       

3) casket n. 棺材

4) resonate  v. 共鸣，共振   

5) nuclear family 核心家庭，指只包括父母和子女的家庭

6) intergenerational  a. 两代间的       7) extended family 大家庭

8) associate  n. 同事，合作人                    9) eulogy  n. 颂词，赞美词

10) creed  n. 信条   

11) draw upon 利用，取，并驾齐驱    12) distill  v. 蒸馏，提取

 

1 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

2 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

3 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

4 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

5 pertain   

v.(to)附属，从属；关于；有关；适合，相称

参考例句：

• His remark did not pertain to the question.他的话同这个问题不相干。
• It does not pertain to you to instruct him.你不适合教训他。