In your mind’s eye, see yourself going to the funeral of a loved one. As you walk into the
chapel, notice the flowers, the soft organ music. You see the faces of friends and family; you
feel the shared sorrow of losing, the joy of having known.
As you reach the front of the room and look inside the casket, you suddenly come face to-face
with yourself. This is your funeral, three years from now. Take a seat and look down at the
program in your hand. The first speaker is from your extended family; the second is a close
friend; the third is an acquaintance from your business life; the fourth is from your church or
some community-service organization where you’ve worked.
What character would you like each of these speakers to have seen in you - what difference
would you like to have made in their lives?
The second habit of effectiveness is to begin with the end in mind. It means to know where
you’re going so as to understand where you are now, and take your next step in the right
direction. It’s ma7’ingly easy to get caught up in an activity trap in the busyness of life, to work
harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it’s leaning against the
wrong wall. We may be very efficient by working frenetically and heedlessly, but we will be
effective only when we begin with the end result in mind.
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