Stephen Covey

“Start with the end in mind.”

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

“The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

“Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.”

“Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.”

“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

“We see the world, not as it is, but as we are—or, as we are conditioned to see it.”

“Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do), and desire (want to do).”

“Live, love, laugh, leave a legacy.”

“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say 'no' to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside.”

“The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it.”

“Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic.”

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”

“You can't talk your way out of a problem you behaved your way into.”

“To learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know.”

“Synergy is better than my way or your way. It's our way.”