The 8th habit of highly effective people, Stephen Covey says, is this: find your voice, and inspire others to do likewise.

For those of you who have not read Stephen Covey’s bestselling 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Here the 7 habits.
1. Be proactive.
2. Begin with the end in mind.
3. Put first things first.
4. Think, win, win.
5. Seek first to understand, than to be understood.
6. Synergize.
7. Sharpen the saw.

The 8th habit is essentially taking those first 7 habits and putting them in to overdrive because you’ll know what you want to do with your life and you’re going to be helping others figure it out as well.

One of the most important gifts that we have is the freedom and power to choose. Covey says that no matter what happens in your life, there is a place between stimulus and response.

We were born with some amazing gifts, but it is how you are going to use them that matters.
Here’s where Covey says you will find your voice. When you engage in work that taps your talent and fuels your passion, that rises out of a great need in the world that you feel drawn by conscience to meet, therein lies your voice, your calling, your soul’s code.

Let us assume that in the last two minutes you found your voice. Now let us talk about expressing your voice. Because if you have your voice, it is not going to do you much good trapped inside. Here’s how Covey says you need to get it out.

First, you need to continue to be driven by passion. Have you ever seen anybody invest a lot of time into something they are not passionate about?

Second, you need to have a vision. All things are created twice in this world. First in your mind and then out in the physical world. So, you need to have a vision of how your personal voice is going to effect change in the world and how it is going to be brought to life.

Third, you need to have discipline. Even though you have a vision that you are passionate about, there are going to be times when life conspires to suck the life out of you. Successful people have formed the habit of doing things that failures do not like to do.

The second part of the 8th habit is to inspire others. That can be hard for us to do. But the more you believe in what you are doing and the more you live it, the more others will be inspired by you.

My question to you today is “Have you found your voice?”
If you have – then who are you inspiring?
If no – then when will you start?

Need help to find your voice? Please call me on 0407 585 497 and we can organise a time to have a no obligation 30 minute chat.