Lessons Learned

Habit No. 2

Habit No. 2: Begin with the end in mind.

"Control your own destiny, or someone else will."

What's Your Driving Force? Habit number one tells you that you are the force behind your life and where it goes. Habit number two asks, "where is it going?" More often than you think, you have the end in mind. When someone asks what you want to be when you grow up and you say "I want to be a lotion bottle factory worker," you are already seeing where you'd like to end up. Even when the question of your college choice comes up, you're thinking beyond right now. Every time you do, you should think about how to achieve that goal (the end). You may not know what you want your end to look like, and that is perfectly fine. You can take baby steps. How do you see yourself five years from now? If you see yourself having had progressed physically or mentally, now you know what to work toward. Beginning with no end in mind leads you to rash decisions when you're at a crossroads and confusion when you don't know what path to take.

Crossroads of Life. If you have no end in mind right now, you may want to start thinking about the important things that are sure to come up at some point. These are called the crossroads. Friends are one of the more prominent crossroads you'll have to think about. You may have friends now that you can always have a good time with. They might not always make the best decisions, but you love them regardless. However, are they the friends that will remain on the same positive page as you? What if one of them became hooked on drugs? You don't want to go with them. If they won't accept help, you have to decide whether or not you want to take their baggage with you, and its never a good idea to let anyone else weigh you down. If the circumstances call for you to cut your friends off, the world won't be over. Making new friends is always a good thing, and you will find out who is worthy of rising with you. Sex is also a prominent crossroad. You must make a decision about this subject prematurely because once it's too late, it is precisely that. No matter how careful you may be, there are always the same repercussions that will come with making the decision to say yes to sex. The more popular ones are STDs and pregnancy. As a teenager, nobody needs either of these problems. It adds unnecessary stress dealing with their consequences, especially the latter which will bring extreme financial problems. School is another major crossroad to be dealt with. Beginning with the end in mind in your pursuit of education will definitely pay off. Study hard and work toward that upcoming test, or even just decide to pay more attention for the sake of finals. You'll be totally prepared and won't have to worry so much about the final achievement. And that's all beginning with the end in mind is really about.