Have you discovered your voice yet? In 2006, I purchased Stephen R. Covey’s book The 8th Habit from Effectiveness to Greatness. The book came with a DVD to teach the lesson on each chapter. These short films were so intriguing I decided to place the book on the bookcase and read it later. Well later was this weekend. A still small voice stopped me in my tracks and told me to go read The 8th Habit. The first 3 chapters discuss the pain we maybe experiencing as a result of not discovering our voice, the problem in using outdated paradigms which cause the pain and the solution to change yourself from the inside out by finding your voice and inspiring others to find their voice. In order to learn how to find your voice and inspire others, chapter 4 tells us to open our birth-gifts.
One such birth-gift is our freedom and power to choose. I love the analogy Mr. Covey gives of this gift. He said, “The essence of being human is being able to direct your own life. Humans act, animals and human ‘robots’ react.” That is so profound. In order to discover your infinite potential, you must recognize how to activate your freedom and power to choose. “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In those choices lie our growth and our happiness. Although, I heard this before, this time it hit me like a ton of bricks. How do you respond to a stimulus? Do you act or react? In order to grow and bring more happiness into our lives, it is wise to take a pause in that space to consider the most practical choice to make and then respond. Makes me wish I’d read this book back in 2006.
Our next birth-gift is natural laws or principles. Do you live by natural laws and principles or the next “quick fix”? One of my favorite sayings is “it’s the principle of it.” “Principles are universal—that is, they transcend culture and geography. They are timeless, they never change—principles such as fairness, kindness, respect, honesty, integrity, service, contribution.” An example, “you can never have enduring trust without trustworthiness." So, if a woman and her husband agree she will not buy shoes this month to cut back on expenses and then goes shopping with her girlfriends and buys a new pair of shoes that was calling her name and then hides them in the closet before her husband gets home, is she untrustworthy? The wife may feel this is a minor indiscretion; however, “all actions have consequences.” 
The last birth-gift in this chapter is the four intelligences/capacities of our nature. Our four parts of nature are the body, mind, heart and spirit, which correspond to “the four intelligences, that all of us possess: our physical or body intelligence (PQ), our mental intelligence (IQ), our emotional intelligence (EQ) and our spiritual intelligence (SQ).” Developing these intelligences will allow “great peace and power to come into your life.” Since our “(PQ) is the instrument of the mind, heart and spirit we can subordinate our appetites and passions to our spirit or conscious—and become masters of ourselves.” 
Recognizing the pain, problem and solution to your frustration or dissatisfaction along with the freedom to choose, natural laws and principles, and developing your birth-gifts will aid you in discovering your voice. If you have not read The 8th Habit, I highly recommend you download a copy. In my next write-up, I will go into more detail on how to develop each of the 4 intelligences.
I also recommend How to Become a Rising Star in your career in 60 Days or Less.
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Until next time stay beamed up!
Monica
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