Success Television - Advice on the Greatest Success of All

Exceptional wisdom from an extraordinary thinker. Dr. Stephen Covey on successful living.

Stephen Covey, the best-selling author of “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” and now the “The 8th Habit,” says we can create the life we want no matter our misfortunes.

Covey says it’s all about the choices we make. “You could have, for instance, a genetic

disease inside you and never get it simply because you make the lifestyle choices of the proper food and exercise and medicine. Or you could have been abused as a child, you don’t have to abuse your own child, you have the power to reinvent yourself.”

Pretty powerful stuff!

And, with all that wisdom that you know is inside you, Covey says there’s a question to ask yourself, “Are you a product of nature or nurture?” He says almost everyone says it’s nurture or a combination. “And I try to make a point that it’s neither, it’s a product of choice because you can choose your response to both nature and nurture.”

Covey adds a special twist. “I believe that inside this body is a spirit that lives. And this spirit, I think, inhabits the body and that you can cultivate and develop it until it can learn to control and to overcome or to master the body. And that’s why it’s important to master your appetites before you can try to control your passions."

“Appetites” are what you want. Do you want for a new house, a better career, to lose weight, to attain peace? Once you know your North Star or what you really want, you’ll know what you need to “control”. For instance, if you want financial freedom, you can’t be in debt and have high credit card bills. You’ll have to cool it on the splurges and save and invest.

Covey goes further and says, “Once you control both appetites and passions, you can begin to choose the desires of your life, otherwise you’re totally a victim of appetites and passions and all of the forces that are playing upon you.”

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