The essence of habit 2 is to use the image of the end of your life as your frame of reference for everything you do today. If you know where you are going – your final destination – you can determine the route from where you are now to get there. This is so you can manage yourself on a daily basis to reach that goal. Habit 2 helps you draw up the map of your life.All things are created twiceEverything that is created in reality is created first in someone’s imagination. So to achieve what you want to in your life you have to imagine it first. Understanding this principle enlarges your Circle of influence. Not living in harmony with this principle reduces your Circle of influence.Design or default?Not all creations are created by conscious design. If we don not create our own life, others will create it for us. We are either the second creation of our own design or the second creation of somebody else’s. However, we all have within us the capacity to become the second creation of our own design. In other words: to write our own script.Leadership and managementThe first creation is leadership. The second creation is as a result of management. A leader gives direction. A manager organizes the resources to reach the destination. Effectiveness depends on expending energy in the right direction. Remember you are the leader of you.Becoming your own first creatorImagination and conscience help us to expand our proactivity and exercise personal leadership. With imagination we can visualize our goals. Conscience makes us aware of the universal laws or principles of life. Combining these two endowments with self-awareness will help us to write our own scripts.If you are new to this, it will involve you rescripting yourself. You will have to ditch some of the scripts handed to you. These could be deeply embedded scripts that don’t match the things you truly value in life.To begin with the end in mind means to become your own first creator.A personal mission statementTake some time to write a personal mission statement. This should become your personal philosophy and encompass the character traits you wish to have and the contributions you wish to make. These are the values on which your life can be based. You can use this mission statement as a basis for making both major and minor decisions in your life. It will give you strength during times of change.A mission statement is the core of your proactivity. Use it to set your short and long term goals. Use it to manage the use of your time, talents and energies.At the centreA personal mission statement begins at the centre of your Circle of influence. This is where you deal with your vision and values. Where you want to be (through the use of imagination) and what is important to you (derived from self-awareness and conscience). Working on this centre will expand your circle of influence. This is the source of your security, guidance, wisdom and power. These four factors are interdependent.Security

• Sense of worth
• Sense of identity
• Emotional anchorage
• Self esteem
• Personal strength

Guidance

• Source of direction
• Map
• Internal frame of reference
• Standards or principles

Wisdom

• Perspective on life
• Sense of balance
• Understanding of principles
• Judgments
• Discernment
• Comprehension

Power

• Faculty to act
• Strength and potency to accomplish
• Capacity to overcome bad habits

All four of these lie on a continuum. Their location and degree of harmony is a function of the paradigms that lie at your core.

Alternative centresEverybody has a centre. This can be your spouse, family, money, work, possessions, community and more. Whichever centre you have, it will govern and control your life. Every decision you make will be dictated by your centre.

Identifying your centreYou can identify your centre by looking at your life support system. Where does your security, guidance, wisdom and power come from? Your wife? Your family? Your possessions? Pleasure?Most people’s centre is a combination of these and other centres. This causes them to bob around between the different centres in their lives. It means there is no consistency or clarity in their lives.

The solution is to create one clear centre in your life. This will give you security, guidance, wisdom and power.

A principled centreCentring our lives on principles creates a solid foundation for development of the four life-support factors. Our security comes from knowing that correct principles never change. Principle-centred living gives wisdom and guidance. This comes from living with correct maps. Not being affected by the actions and behaviours of others and changes in circumstances imparts power.

Positive consequences flow from living in harmony with principles. Knowing them more increases personal freedom to act wisely.

If you have principles at the centre of your life, your perspective is dramatically different to if you are focused on other things, e.g. money, pleasure, possessions, etc. As a principle-centred person you try to stand apart from the emotion of the situation. You look at a balanced whole and try to come up with the best course of action. You are not being acted upon by other people or circumstances. You decision is effective because it is based on principles with predictable long-term results. What you choose to do contributes to your ultimate values. Finally, you’ll feel comfortable about your decision.

Writing and using a personal mission statementThis is not something you write in a hurry. You need to look deep within yourself. It may take several weeks or months and require several rewrites. You mission statement becomes your constitution – an expression of your vision and values. It becomes the criterion by which you measure everything else in your life.

Using your whole brainThe two human endowments that power habit 2 – imagination and conscience – are functions of the right side of the brain. This area is more intuitive and creative than the left side.The left side is more logical / verbal. It deals with words, whereas the right deals with pictures. The left analyses things and dismantles them. The right puts them back together again.Most people tend to have one side of the brain that is more dominant. It would be best if we could switch back and forth between the two sides of our brain. Unfortunately, most people seem to process things using only their dominant side of the brain.

Two ways to tap the right brainThe stronger your right brain capacity, the better your ability to visualize what you want to do and be in life.

Expand perspectiveDevelop your right brain and expand your perspective through visualization. The most powerful way to do this is to visualize your own funeral. Get in touch with your legacy. What will the world you leave behind say about you?Also, try visualizing milestones in your life. If you are married, get together with your spouse and visualize your 25th and 50th wedding anniversaries. On your own you can visualize other milestones in your life like your fortieth, fiftieth, sixtieth birthdays and/or your retirement.

How to visualizeSet aside some time in a space where you know you won’t be disturbed and can safely ignore the outside world. Relax in a comfortable chair or lie down and close your eyes. Listen to your breathing, taking care to breathe in through your nose. Expand your stomach every time you breathe in, then breathe all the way out through your mouth. Repeat this several times. Now you should be in a relaxed state. Allow your mind to drift off into the future. Start to build up a picture in your mind of the event you want to visualise. See the colours, smell the smells and hear the sounds. Stay in this place for as long you as you can in your mind. Take note of what you see around you so that you can absorb every tiny detail. That is visualizing.

Visualisation and affirmationUse your visualization to write an affirmation that helps you live out your values day to day. This affirmation should be positive, present tense, visual and emotional. Meditate on this affirmation daily. Repeat it to yourself whenever you get the opportunity. This will transfer it to your subconscious mind. Slowly your behaviour will change to become more in line with your values.

Your creative, visual right brain is one of your most important assets – both in creating your personal mission statement and in integrating it into your life.

Roles and goalsThe left brain is important for verbally capturing right brain images, feelings and pictures. Writing is a psycho-neural activity that bridges and melds the conscious and subconscious minds.

Be careful when preparing your mission statement. Take into account all the roles you play in your life. In chasing money, there is no point in neglecting your personal health. Think about your professional, personal and community roles and try to bring them into harmony. This will give you balance. Preview your roles regularly to make sure no one role is dominant.

Now you are ready to think about the goals you want to achieve in each of these roles. These goals should be your goals and reflect your deepest values, unique talent and sense of mission.Effective goals focus on results rather than activity. There should be some mechanism by which you know if you’ve achieved them and there should be a time limit within which to achieve them.

Roles and goals give structure and organised direction to your personal mission.

Group mission statementsBoth families and organizations can write mission statements. These work best when everybody is involved. Sit the family down and work out your family mission statement. Post the statement in a prominent place around the home for every body to see and refer to. Companies should consult all the employees – from top to bottom – when drawing up their mission statements. When everybody is involved and consulted, they feel they have ownership of the mission statement and are more likely to act upon it. Without involvement there is no commitment.

Group mission statements create unity and empower individuals.

Application suggestionVisualise your funeral. Think about what is said about you by your family, friends colleagues and the wider communityWrite down your roles as you see themSet aside time to begin work on your personal mission statementWork out where your centre is. Family? Money? Pleasure?Collect notes and quotes to help you write your mission statementIdentify a project you will be facing in the near future and create it in your mindShare the principles of habit 2 and propose organizing group mission statements