Sean Covey Quotes

We become what we repeatedly do.

Whenever you have a job to do ask yourself two questions. If not now, when? If not by me, by whom?

Abraham Lincoln was often criticized for trying to make friends with his enemies instead of trying to get rid of them. He replied, Isn't that what I'm doing when I make an enemy a friend?

If you decide to just go with the flow, you'll end up where the flow goes, which is usually downhill, often leading to a big pile of sludge and a life of unhappiness. You'll end up doing what everyone else is doing.

Now think deeply.
What have you done with your life over the past year?
How do you feel inside?

Strong minds talk about ideas; weak minds talk about people.

My dad is a good role model for me, and then I had a high school coach that really helped me out when I was struggling and made a big difference in my life.

These problems are real, and you can't turn off real life. So I won't try. Instead, I'll give you a set of tools to help you deal with real life.

I think the greatest challenge between child and parent is communication.

Life is a mission, not a career. A career is a profession, a mission is a cause. A career asks, What's in it for me? A mission asks, How can I make a difference?

The following is a list of statements made many years ago by experts in their fields. At the time they were said they sounded intelligent. With the passing of time, they sound idiotic.

A boy I know named Michael, the oldest often children, came home one night intoxicated with E. When he saw the family's pet Labrador in the kitchen he strangled it to death, convinced that it was the devil. The dog bit him and there was blood all over the kitchen. The siblings who ran in to watch the aftermath of the scene were traumatized. Michael is now in drug rehab recovering from addiction.

Having the courage to say no when all your friends are saying yes is one of the most difficult things you'll ever have to do. Doing it, however, is one of the biggest charges you can ever make to your personal battery. I call this 'won't power.'

In the world of dating, everyone seems to fall into one of the following six camps. Sometimes they straddle two. Pick which camp you're mostly in. Camp I Wish: You don't date and you wish you did. Camp Who Cares?: You don't date and you really don't care. Camp This Rocks!: You really enjoy dating and you wonder why everyone else doesn't. Camp Help!: You're stuck in a bad dating relationship you can't get out of. Camp Never Again: You just had your heart broken and don't want to start dating again. Camp Hanging Out: You don't really date, you just sort of hang out. You see dating as an old-fashioned ritual. Camp Curious: You're too young to date, but you're really curious about it.

I like how Mother Teresa put it: "Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile." If you approach life this way, always looking for ways to build instead of to tear down, you'll be amazed at how much happiness you can give to others and find for yourself

Listening can heal wounds.

If you're planning on dropping out of high school, prepare yourself for the future by repeating aloud each day: I'm looking forward to low-paying jobs for the rest of my life.

One of the greatest gifts a parent can give a child is to help them find their talents.

Don't wait until people are dead to give them flowers.

The world is a book and those who stay at home read only a page.

My dad told me that when I was born my cheeks were so fat the doctors didn't know which end to spank.

You should see my baby pictures. My cheeks hung off my face like water balloons. You can imagine how often I was teased.

You shouldn't feel guilty about taking time for yourself. Every so often, everyone needs to give themselves a big ol' bear hug and treat themselves to some TLC.

One 2 x 4 beam can support 607 pounds, but two 2 x 4s nailed together can support not just 1,214 pounds (which is what you'd expect), but a whopping 4,878 pounds! So it is with us. We can do so much more together than we can alone.

Who am I? I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed - you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great individuals and, alas, of all failures, as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures. I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a human. You may run me for a profit or run me for ruin - it makes no difference to me. Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you. Who am I?

Honesty is always the best policy, even when it's not the trend.

If you base your identity on having friends, being accepted, and being popular, you may find yourself compromising your standards or changing them every weekend to accommodate your friends.

We are free to choose our paths, but we can't choose the consequences that come with them.

Honesty is a principle. Service is a principle. Love is a principle. Hard work is a principle. Respect, gratitude, moderation, fairness, integrity, loyalty, and responsibility are principles. There are dozens and dozens more. They are not hard to identify. Just as a compass always points to true north, your heart will recognize true principles ...

That's important, apologizing, listening, you know, I think the teens I speak with, most of them don't feel understood. They feel like they're being lectured to all the time.

A fruit salad is delicious precisely because each fruit maintains its own flavor.

We see them come. We see them go. Some are fast. And some are slow. Some are high. And some are slow. Not one of them is like another. Don't ask us why. Go ask your mother.

Stop being a critic and be a light; don't be a judge, be a model. I think we are far too critical. I think the best way to correct behavior is to accentuate and affirm positive behavior and to ignore negative behavior. Generally speaking, there is a time to correct, of course; but my biggest advice would be, 'Affirm your child.'

Seeing things from a different point of view can help us understand why other people act the way they do. We too often judge people without having all the facts.

Our confidence needs to come from within, not without. From the quality of our hearts, not the quantity of things we own. After all, he who dies with the most toys ... still dies.

Don't struggle about the struggle. In other words, life's full of ups and downs. So if you're struggling, don't worry, everyone else has or will at some point.

If we are what we have, and we have nothinh, thenwho are we? Are we nothing?

Paradigms are like glasses. When you have incomplete paradigms about yourself or life in general, it's like wearing glasses with the wrong prescription. That lens affects how you see everything else.

For a moment, imagine the person you hope to marry. What do they look like? Are they funny, intelligent, kind? How do you hope they are living their life right now? Would it bother you if you knew they were hooking up each weekend or had five, ten, or fifteen different partners over the past several years? Or would it make you smile if you knew they were holding out for you? Why not live your life as you would want them to live theirs? Wait for the relationship.

Small changes can make huge destination differences.

Make as many friends as you can, but don't build your life on them alone. It's an unstable foundation.