Begin With The End in Mind

Here is the speech that I made in front of my entire office (100+employees) at the company meeting almost 10 years ago:

I was asked to lead the voice training session today because lately we have been doing it using the titles for the chapters in Stephen R. Covey's book, "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". In Fukui we have tried doing it several ways, following the Pann Method: Repeat (title only), Repeat (title and subtitle), Read (title only) Read (title and subtitle). For training it seems that the best way to do it is Read (title only) because the other ways get a little too long and it is hard to put the spirit in the reading. So if you would follow me, I will say "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", you repeat that title and then we say the whole thing together, just reading each habit like this: 1) Be Proactive. 2) Begin with the end in mind, etc. and end after we finish habit 7) OK? Here we go...

OK, now I would like to do "Keiei Nana Kajo" (Seven Theories for Successful Business). Here we go...

Now, that one had much more spirit than the first one. Let's try Seven Habits again and this time say it with as much spirit as "Keiei Nanakajo". Here we go....

That was much better, don't you think? Thanks.

Covey talks about seven habits that we need to internalize in order to become a truly effective person in life. I haven't read the entire book yet, it isn't an easy thing to do, but I am still working on the Private Victories . I find the second habit, "Begin with the end in mind" to be a very interesting idea.

Begin with the end in mind.... Begin with the end in mind....

What does that mean? Well, according to the Japanese translation of "Seven Habits" it means "Start with a Purpose" That is true, but there is more to it than just that. Most people have a purpose or reason for why they are doing something. Very few people just begin a project and not know why they are doing it. "Begin with the end in mind" has to do with "purposes" but it also has a great deal to do with visualization and prior planning; complete planning.

As I said, most people have a purpose but very few people actually plan the entire project from start to finish before it has even begun. And even fewer people try to imagine all of the problems that they may run into along the way and then come up with solutions to all of those potential problems. What do I mean? Here is an extreme example from the book: Let's say you go to a funeral and all of your friends and relatives are there. As you walk by the body, you turn to see that it is you in the casket. You have died! You are at your own funeral. There are people giving speeches and talks about you and your life. What do they say? What do you hope they say? How do you want to be remembered? If you can imagine what these people say about you at your own funeral, then you have probably come up with the principles in your life that you think are very important. You have started on a plan of your life's ideals and goals (not fame or fortune but deeper principles), of the principles that you believe in. These principles are how people will remember you. Were you a loving, caring parent? Did you help a lot of people? Were you strong when people needed your strength? Were people able to depend on you? Did you work hard? Did you take time away from work to enjoy your family life? These are the principles that you truly feel are important in your life. Now that you know that, it is up to you to take the next step and assure that the acts you perform in your lifetime follow the paths that will lead to achieving the principles that you find so important.

OK, it may be hard to imagine your own funeral, so here is an example that I think everyone can participate in here and now and relate to. I would like everyone to close their eyes ...(don't fall asleep or you may miss something important here)... and imagine something about your job that you are weak at; something that makes you sweat. It could be sales/cold calls, it could be the class, it could be a problem you have with one of your coworkers, it could be the dreaded meetings with the president or anything that you worry about. Think about it in great detail; what are you wearing? how is the weather? did you get a good night's sleep? who is the person you are dealing with? what do they look like? are they wearing an apron? is it before or after lunch? Imagine it down to the very last detail. This is important because you have to make it as real as possible in your mind; you have to visualize it as if it is really happening. Take a minute to do this....

Keep your eyes closed and just listen to what I am saying...

Now I want you to think about how you would like to approach the problem at hand so that you are in command. You are strong, you are sure of yourself, you are going to solve your problem here and now. You are going to be successful and in control. Create as much detail as you can; visualize everything as if it is really happening and achieve what you want to do. Achieve what you set out to do. Do it now for a minute....

OK. Open your eyes again. What happened? How did you solve your problem? How were you successful at achieving your goal? In your mind you planned the entire thing from start to finish. You just "began with the end in mind". Now, the important thing is that you have to use what you learned today about yourself and your weak point the next time you encounter the situation that you just imagined. And you know what? Since you already succeeded once, you will succeed again. Nothing breeds success better than previous success.

Yesterday I sat down in a quiet room and imagined myself giving you this speech. I imagined the brown tables where everyone was sitting at; the microphone in front of me and the blackboard behind me; the lights over me and the air conditioner blowing. I imagined all of you sitting there watching me, wondering what I was going to say. I imagined what we were going to have for lunch. I even imagined myself sweating and feeling nervous. But I also imagined myself taking charge of the situation, smiling, walking around and telling you what I have to say today with confidence and with style. And since I did it once already, I was able to do it again right now for the second time and be successful.

This is a good book. I think we can all learn something about ourselves and how we can use our resources to be much more successful in our life, both at and away from work.

That is all I wanted to say. Begin with the end in mind. As soon as this meeting is over, and you go home, begin your life again by imagining deeply how your life occurred. "Begin with the end in mind."

1998