Applications of seven habits by Steven Covey Essay Example for Free

Applications of seven habits by Steven Covey Essay This classic best seller for management, organisations and personal development encapsulates Steven Coveys research on 200 years of success literature since his doctoral program. It is perhaps the most influential book for managers and organizations to learn the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, as the title suggest. It begins with the concept that people perceive the world differently, and we form our own paradigm how we view the world with our own unique lens. Covey explains that paradigms are the source of our attitudes and behaviours. Part of achieving insight involves making a paradigm shift which causes us to perceive things differently. Our paradigms will affect how we interact with others, which in turn will affect how they interact with us. Covey argues that any effective self-help program must begin with an inside-out approach, rather than looking at our problems as being out there (an inside-out approach). We must start by examining our own character, paradigms, and motives. Hence, character and principles are keys to success, effectiveness, and happiness in life. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People points out: Principles are guidelines for human conduct that are proven to have enduring, permanent value. The seven habits divided into two main groups: private victory (independence) and public victory (interdependence). Habits of Independence: Habit 1: Be Proactive We must use our resourcefulness to work toward our personal goals. Everyone has both a circle of influence and a circle of concern. Worrying endlessly about things outside of our circle of influence isnt particularly productive. Working within our circle of influence is productive. Further, the more effective we become, the more our circle of influence will expand. Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind What do we want people to say about us at our funerals? How will we be remembered? To succeed, Covey suggests visualizat ion. Every successful outcome is created twice; first one plan and second on implementation. Habit 3: Put First Things First The key to putting first things first is to understand that we have many things we can do which will have a significant, positive impact on our lives. Covey stresses that we must balance Production (P) with Productive Capability (PC). We must keep the golden eggs, but also maintain goose. Prioritization is the essence of time management. Interdependence The remaining habits in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People are habits of interdependence. Rather than being dependent upon other people, or trying to be totally independent, we learn how to be more effective by effectively working with others. Habit 4: Think Win/Win Thinking Win/Win means seeking mutual benefit in our human interactions. To be successful in the long run, we should learn to consider others win factors besides our own. Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood Most people talk more than they listen. Until we listen actively and seek to understand others, we would n ot be understood. Active listening is about sensing the three modes of communications, i.e. visual, vocal and verbal. Habit 6: Synergize It means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Combining the strengths of each individual yields multiple outcome beyond expectations, simply 1+12. Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw Just as a machine will wear out quickly if not properly maintained, the same is true for our own personal productivity. We must take care of ourselves. The four dimensions are physical, mental, social/emotional and spiritual renewals. To me, the first concept on paradigm is profound. I agree that when we change our perspectives, our attitudes and behaviours will change. To achieve enrichment in life, we need to understand our own paradigm, crystalize and anchor our principles. I have adopted these principles and find peace in self-awareness, social relationship and professional communications. Covey has successfully synthesised the successful habits of leaders, crystallised and organized them into two progressive segments. In line with child development from birth through death, one indeed grows from dependence to independence in early childhood to adolescence . We then mature to adults, where we progress from independence to interdependence. The seven habits are indeed proven to be critical for any individual to attain private and public victories. Hence it is no surprise that whenever I business leaders within my network on which are some books they would read to enrich their management knowledge, this book is voted as the most influential book that changed their lives. I have personally adopted these habits in my personal and professional communications and testify their effectiveness. I have sharpened my strengths in strategic thinking and leadership by adopting the habits of Begin with the end in mind and Synergize. For instance at the Polytechnic, I mooted the idea of Young GEMS(Go-the-Extra-Miles-for-Service) camp for upper secondary school students to build our prospects for future enrolment. Upon approval from management for the Young GEMS camp, I formed a program team and successfully lead it to implement the camp through skilful synergy of the individuals competence. This book has provided comprehensive coverage on the why and how of each habit. The only gap I see is that the context are US-based. It would be better if there is an Asian version with case studies of local enterprises and leaders, for the benefit of Asian readers. For instance, unlike Americans, Asians are generally weak in questioning skills to seek to understand others. It would be helpful if there are some recommended strategies in questioning to gain insights of others perspectives. Also, Asians tends to individual and less apt to working in teams, particularly in appreciating individual strengths, expressing diversified opinions openly. Asian case studies on Win-win and Synergize would certainly be helpful. There is no doubt that all seven habits are pivotal in todays managers and organisations. I personally have benefited as an account manager in Hewlett-Packard Singapore Sales when I was sponsored to attend the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People one-week course. It has significantly increased my self-awareness, strategic thinking skills, time-management skills and revolutionizes my perspectives in life. I can testify that the Habits are practical prescriptions for building trustworthy and lasting relationships, hence empowering managers to be effective leaders who could develop the most conducive working environment that attracts and retains like-minded talents for the good of society.

Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort Essay Example for Free

Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort Essay Within the context of theory illustrates a demanding yet creative shaping of plans, structured requirements, and prediction of a provisional, determined, and systematic sight of phenomena (Chinn, 2011). Nursing theory is a crucial function within the nursing practice. Theories afford nurses with the distinctive facets that are in encompassed within patient care and the nursing profession. Clarification of practice governance, and expectations are also integrated within contextual framework of nursing theory. It bestows various manners to acquire data, examine and study, and foresee the practice of nursing and the outcomes of patient care (Parker, 2010). Kolcaba’s middle range theory of comfort captivated my interest because my impression of comfort curtails that of positive patient outcomes. Comfort is not solitary to just physical ailments, but emotional and psychological measures in addition. Throughout my experiences and years as bedside registered nurse, I can attest that patient requests stem largely from the factor of being made comfortable. As stated above, this not only embraces physical comfort, but something unassuming as a comforting touch or positive attitude to render the positive outcome and a content patient. Absorbing how theory influences practice has been an impediment that I have recently overcame. I was unmindful that certain situations and decision making were reinforced through the use of theory. Examination of the importance of nursing theories, more in depth review of Kolcaba’s theory of comfort, and theory of comfort in nursing practice, education, and research will be reviewed further. Importance of Nursing Theories Separately from the governance of practice and foundation for the practice of nursing, theories furthermore propounds opportunities for nurses in the sense of practical application. Measurable changes and enrichment of the profession occur when nursing theories are incorporated into practice. The benefits of having a defined frame of theory in nursing produces superior patient care, heightened professional repute for nurses, progressed interaction among nurses, and direction for exploration of the practice and education. Theories also illustrate the quality of the nursing profession, and serves as a reservoir of knowledge with the examination of the essential requirements of patients and necessary interventions. In addition, specialized rationales are provided. Succeeding medical doctors orders are not exclusively to the context of nursing care. Nursing care incorporates not only a compassionate attitude but passion for care of patients. The caring component of nursing cannot be measured, rather dissected through theory within the clarification of what nurses do. Systemically this is all supported through abundant theories and theorist. The nursing profession emphasizes on holistic care which is defined as treatment of the whole person. Within this skill is the admittance of problems that are biomedical but also opportune clarification of the well-being and health of a human that introduces added indicators of disease that are non-visualized (Powers, 2011). Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort The origination of Kolcaba’s theory of comfort stemmed was first established in the 1900’s. Founder, Katherine Kolcaba, concluded that for a positive patient outcome to accomplished, comfort is a crucial obligation. Katherine organized a representation for exploring, analyzing, and gauging the care of the patient. Historically, she believed that the product of the profession of nursing is comfort. According to Kolcaba (2010), comfort is achieved in a few diverse ways to include transcendence, relief, and ease. Transcendence represents the aptitude to overcome the lack of comfort sensed by patients through their awareness to cease. Patients are able to rise above their challenges. For example, a post-operative below the knee amputee patient may experience great physical pain from the surgery as well as psychological trauma from the intervention. Pushing forward to regain strength and independence would be an instance of transcendence. Relief constitutes any ordered analgesic medication that can be given to the patient or  non-pharmacologic interventions such as distraction or repositioning. This structure of comfort is experienced as relief. Anxiety reducing measures such as anxiolytics or inducing expression through conversation or other forms of communication can be facilitated. These actions can be constituted as placing the patient at ease. In my day to day professional practice experiences, I come across different situations where comfort may be the only measure to take in a particular patients care. Pharmacological therapy interventions are important for adequate relief, but non-pharmacological interventions are just as imperative. A simple caring touch and tone conditions the patient to an enhanced state. This particular theory affords nurses a better comprehension and obligation to comfort in the practice setting. Nurse are the forefront of healthcare. We have the ability to promptly identify the demands the needs of the patient. Kolcaba’s theory of comfort conforms into the nursing metaparadigm with relation to the three concepts presented: transcendence, relief, and ease. There is a clear consensus about the concepts which includes health, nursing, person, and environment of the metaparadigm. Kolcaba elaborated on the four various experience backgrounds that comfort is achieved. These include environmental, physical, social, and psychospiritual (Kolcaba, 2010). Theory of comfort in nursing practice, education, and research Kolcaba’s theory of comfort guides research in assorted ways. It challenges the nurse to examine the correlation among holistic interventions and different comfort measures. It also imposes a contention between comfort and â€Å"health seeking behaviors†. If the product is positive, than it enhances future endeavors and postulates additional motivators to provide comfort. Institutional outcomes are also examined (Koehn, 2000). References Chinn, P.L., Kramer, M.K. (2011). Integrated theory and knowledge of development in nursing (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby/Elsevier Koehn, M. (2000) Alternative and complementary therapies for labor and birth: an application of Kolcaba’s theory of holistic comfort. Holistic Nursing Practice. 15(1):66-77 Kolcaba, K. (1992). Holistic comfort: Operationalizing the constructs as a nurse-sensitiveOutcome. Advances in Nursing Science, 15(1), 1-10, p. 6. Kolcaba, K. (1994) A theory of holistic comfort for nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing 19: 1178-1184 Kolcaba, K. DiMarco, M.A. (2005) Comfort theory and its application to pediatric nursing. Pediatric Nursing, 31(3), 187-194 Parker, M.E., Smith, M.C. (2010), Nursing theories and nursing practice (3rd ed.) Philadelphia, P.A.: F.A. Davis Company Powers, B.A., Knapp, T.R. (2011). Dictionary of nursing theory and research (4th ed.). York: Springer Publisher Company

Types and Stages of Observational Learning and Memory

Types and Stages of Observational Learning and Memory Jurgita Kairiukstiene This  essay will address aspects of psychology by exploring different types and stages of Observational learning and Memory. A Observational Learning Learning is define as the process of acquiring knowledge through experience which leads to a lasting change in behaviour (Huczynski Buchanan (2013), p.154) There are two different types of learning Observational and Associative learning. The concept of observational learning was developed by Albert Bandura (1977, 1986 2000) to exclude trial-and-error method in learning. To compere both learnings, Associative learning is more tedious and more hazardous than Observational learning. Observes by observing may develop new behaviour and may have impact to previously learned behaviour. Learning by Observation contains four stages and processes: Attention. Observers can only learn if they pay attention to a mentor or teacher. For example dancing classes. Attendants must observe and pay attention to teacher to learn how to dance. Retention. Observers must memorise information and store in to memory. In order to take next step must recall what was memorised before. For example learn how to use computer programs. Reproduction. Observes must replicate another behaviour. But there is a limitation factor of physical abilities. Example may be that humans cant fly. Reinforcement. Observers will go through different stages and will be motivated to learn. According to Banduras (e.g. 1977) Social learning theory, experiment on children by letting them watch television and later motivate aggressive behaviour. This study has important implications for the effects of media violence on children. (http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html 24/02/2017, 15:31) Memory is the faculty of the mind by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved (Atkinson Shiffrin, 1968). Memory is the process of maintaining information over time. (Matlin, 2005) There is three Memory stages: Encode: Visual (picture), Acoustic (sound), Semantic (meaning) Store: Short-term memory or Long -term memory Retrieve: context-dependent (similar situation) or state-dependent (similar emotional state) (Diagram 1 source: https://www.psychestudy.com/cognitive/memory/stages 24/02/2017 22:44) Different Memory types: (Diagram 2 source: http://www.human-memory.net/types.html 24/02/2017, 17:30) Sensory memory. Very short, if its not passed to Short-term memory its lost. For example the memory of sound/picture/word is held for a second only. Interference may prevent of memory recall. Sensory memory can be Iconic or Echoic. Short-term/working memory is a step to a Long -term memory. It holds small amount of information up to seven (+-2) units at once by a limited time, encodes information. By repeating an information we can hold it in the working memory. For example to memorise phone number we repeat it several times. But also it can be easily forgotten. People surroundings and environment have an influence on working memory. Long-term memory is more complicated. It holds information for a long time or for life-span and have unlimited capacity. There is three long-term memory systems: Episodic (e.g. experience, specific events like 5th birthday party), Semantic (facts, concepts, e.g. knowing that birds can fly) Procedural (e.g. skills, how to walk). Procedural is subcategory of Implicit memory (unconscious) and it uses past experience (e.g. musicians, in language development). Episodic and Semantic are subset of Declarative memory, which is a subset of Explicit memory (conscious) and it holds facts and events that can be stored and consciously recalled(e.g. Learning to swim) In conclusion, Learning without Memory does not exist.      Ã‚   References Atkinson, R. C., Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In The psychology of learning and motivation: II Oxford, England: Academic Press. doi:10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60422-3 David A. Buchanan, Andrzej A. Huczynski. Organizational behaviour. 8th edition. Harlow, England Pearson (2013) p.154. Matlin, M. W. (2005). Cognition. Crawfordsville: John Wiley Sons, Inc. http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html 24/02/2017, 15:31 Diagram 1 source: https://www.psychestudy.com/cognitive/memory/stages 24/02/2017 22:44 Diagram 2 source: http://www.human-memory.net/types.html 24/02/2017 17:30

Interstellar Pig :: essays research papers

Barney, a teenage boy, and his parents rent a summer cabin in Dunstable. Him and his parents are staying in a house that belonged to Captain Latham. Captain Latham had a trading ship when Dunstable was an important port. The captain’s stupid younger brother was a sailor on his ship. And he went crazy and was locked in the front bedroom where barney sleeps for 20 years. When the Captain was out in the South Pacific they picked up a shipwrecked sailor. The guy they rescued bunked with the crazy brother. And the next morning the sailor was dead the brother had strangled him. The crazy brother was sentenced to be keelhauled but he did not die was just permently brain damaged. And clawed around the windows for the rest of his life. They realize from Ted (the guy the are renting the house from) that their neighbors wanted this cabin a lot but Barney and his parents ended up getting it. When Barney meets his neighbors he thinks that they are a little bit weird but his parents don’t think that they are too bad of people in fact they sort of like them. Barney describes them as animal like the way they move and that they seem to be fasenated in the sky and water. Barney is observing the neighbors and states that they had a purplish cast in the fading light, which is strange because humans aren’t purple unless there defective. After several hours Zena knocks on the front door and barney describes her eye color as deep lavender. His neighbors also have a strange game they play that’s called Interstellar Pig. Their neighbors are about in their mid-twenties there is one girl, Zena, and two boys, Joe and Manny. Barney is rummaging threw the neighbors house when they leave to try and find out why they are so interested in the house and why they just stopped and was like in a trance when they saw the markings on the window. Barney finds some old document when he is searching threw their house and finds out that these neighbors wanted his house because there is some hidden secret in it, which Barney doesn’t have a clue what it is till he is looking at the scratch marks around the window and relies that they point to a large boulder at the southern tip of the island.

Comparing Yeon Yi Min and Me Essay -- comparison compare contrast essa

Yeon Yi Min and Me             I could easily recognize the differences between Yeon Yi Min and myself as soon as I met her and recalled all of the factual information I knew about Koreans, but I did not discover our similarities until after I had opened my eyes to her individual, yet universal, nature. I saw her as a drone of her culture, held in by rigid structure and lacking of any independent, individualistic thought beyond rules of society; I was ready to share my culture with her and to learn of her culture, but I never believed that I would discover a connection between us because of what she said, or did not say. However, while I sat and communicated with Yeon Yi, I felt many of the learned stereotypes drain out of me in order to be replaced by understanding, awe, and respect. We discussed families and friends, basic beliefs, our daily lives, and ourselves; and we discovered that we, human beings, are not so drastically different as we would like to believe. In fact, Korean and American individ uals are relatively the same; however, differences in attitude and action arise from the extent of cultural independence that the respective citizens enjoy.    Even with Yeon Yi's broken English and my American colloquialisms, we understood each other perfectly; we made unconscious affirmations as to our similarities, yet we spoke of our differences. As she discussed the duties of children in Korea, I thought of my parents and their futures; while her brother would completely support her parents in exchange for his college education, I might visit my parents on their farm for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She outlined her complete devotion to her parents and described how she w... ...dependence, that I have so that she can be the individual she was born to be, yet she adheres to her traditions because she has spent all of her life supported by a foundation with which she certainly defines herself. I found that our connection with each other did not come from our certain respect for each other's distinct culture but from our interests in discovering our individual potentials and also our mutual understanding of current trends. As I now recognize that Yeon Yi Min and I are both in the same struggle to find individual definition within our cultures, she taught me that everyone is an individual with a unique, and universal, personality but that some people have greater opportunity to be themselves than others. She awakened me to her culture and absorbed some of mine while she discovered herself and while I discovered her.      

Power of Choice Revealed in Robert Frosts The Road Not Taken :: Road Not Taken essays

The Power of Choice Revealed in The Road Not Taken      Ã‚  Ã‚  Frost's flare for using nature to and man's interaction with it to relate powerful philosophical messages are expressed in his renownd poem, "The Road Not Taken". "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is a very powerful poem with one basic philosophical theme: individuality comes down to being able to choose between the popular choice or societal norms and a choice less explored. In other words, the central meaning of this poem is that one should not make a decision because it reflects popular opinion-one should make sound choices because of their benefits to the individual-because choosing unique alternative could make all the difference. What does Frost mean by the "road less traveled by (19)"? Much of the poem suggests that Frost's use of the word "road" is metaphorical and not literal. "Road" as used by Frost refers to a decision or a choice. However, by using the literal application of roads, Frost shows that deciding which road to take will determine the outcome of one's journey, much like a decision will determine the outcome of one's goals and aspirations. Frost chooses to the take the road that "was grassy and wanted wear" (8). Why? Clearly, like a unique idea, the less traveled road may lead to a different sense of realization where only few men have been. Thus, the "road less traveled by" clearly speaks of Frost's personal endeavor to be different or unique. He did not want to follow in the footsteps of conformity; this is why he takes the road less traveled by. Frost alludes to the fact that a traveler cannot take two roads at the same time-he/she must choose between the two. The main reason for making this assertion is to show that we cannot abide by two decisions about a particular goal in our life at the same time. Consequently, we must weigh our decisions carefully. Note Frost says "I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference" (19-20). What does this say about how we should make our decision? Clearly, this infers that we should not make our decisions based on popular opinions. In other words, we should not make a decision because it works for everyone else; we should make a decision because it is right for our circumstance -- because it could make all the difference.

Explore the differences between working with individuals and working with groups in the community context

When looking at community work firstly one must try ad define what is meant when talking about the community. Community can have many different meaning and due to this can be very hard to find one answer to help us to understand the word community. According to the dictionary community is ‘a group of people living in one place, the public in general' ( Collins pocket dictionary, Collins, 1982) although this offers a place to start it doesn't help us to understand community it's self. Both community and youth work both have totally different aims and have changed over the years. Youth work traditionally started as a form of informal education as a way of getting children involved with different activities although now it is becoming more and more formal. It started of as a collective idea where young people in the same social background could meet and the youth workers could work with them around these issues. Ultimately until very recently youth workers just helped the youth to over come their problems. Now in the modern society it is moving much more towards formal education where the youth workers take an active role on the administrating of the education of the youth. Working with individuals compared to groups of the community is totally different and throws up totally different problems. I'm going to look at the advantages of both first and then apply them to some common community issues to see which works best when put into perspective. Individual work usually involves working on a one to one basis with some one either simply talking about issues that worry them or offering help with a problem that they have. A huge advantage of working one to one is the fact that you can offer confidentiality to that person who has approached you. Due to this it enables the person the open up a lot more as they know that it isn't going to be over heard by any other person. Working on this basis also allows much more sensitive issues to be addressed, like the issues of the home background. By working one to one it enables you to get a lot more information out of the individual that maybe they are ashamed to address in public. By using this way of helping people you can form strong bonds between you and the person who you are helping and trust can be built up from here. Eventually becoming a friend of the person and being seen less as a helper but more of an equal, this type of relationship can also a big help when dealing with emotional problems. Since the worker becomes more of an equal rather than a helper it can be addressed in a more relaxed way and hopefully be more beneficial to the individual. Although individual work has many strengths it doesn't go without its weaknesses. By just having a one to one session the person does not have the social contact with they may need and attain by talking it though as a group. It also fails to let the individual know that they are not the only one with the problem that they have. By addressing it as a group the whole group can share their feeling on the issue but one a one to one basis the person becomes very self reliant on that issue and can some times fail to notice tat they aren't the only ones suffering form that problem. Community workers only a have small money pots. By offering one to one help for everyone with a problem would be stupid. Individual sessions take up more time than group work and therefore allow the money that would be spent on the workers hours to be spent on other things like a project for raising awareness of sexual health. One aim of community work is to gain a sense of belonging and togetherness within that chosen area. By address each problem on a one to one basis it defeats the problem. Surely by addressing the problem as a group it would bring about a sense of understanding. By working with just individual people there is always the problem with the fact that they could become attached to that person or even dependant on you, which ideally should not happen as they should be learning to trust their peer group not an outsider. Although it may not happen on a regular basis it is still a problem of one on one interview. Group work although at first many seem a good idea has its down falls as well. Originally used on mass by the uniformed organisations, it offers a way of getting to know each other in a relaxed environment. Using group worked in the community has big advantages. Since community can mean togetherness by addressing a problem as a group it allows everyone to be come involed. Take for example crime. By working as group to address it, it is both easier and