Stephen Covey Important Quotations

Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you.

Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.

Creating and integrating an empowering personal mission statement is one of the most important investments we can make.

Strategy is important, but trust is the hidden variable. On paper you can have clarity around your objectives, but in a low-trust environment, your strategy won't be executed.

Prepare your mind and heart before you prepare your speech . What we say may be less important than how we say it.

Little kindness and courtesies are so important. In relationships, the little things are the big things.

One of the most important ways to manifest integrity is to be loyal to those who are not present. In doing so, we build the trust of those who are present.

Anything less then a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the unimportant.

The key to motivation is motive. It's the why. It's the deeper yes! burning inside that makes it easier to say no to the less important.

Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going. Rather than always focusing on what's urgent, learn to focus on what is really important.

The struggle comes when we sense a gap between the clock and the compass - when what we do doesn't contribute to what is most important in our lives.

Do what is important, not what is urgent.

What is important to another person must be as important to you as the other person is to you

To listen with empathy is the most important human skill.

Putting first things first means organizing and executing around your most important priorities. It is living and being driven by the principles you value most, not by the agendas and forces surrounding you.

In the end, life teaches us what is important, and that is family.

Communication is the most important single activity of man.

The only person over whom you have direct and immediate control is yourself. The most important assets to develop, preserve and enhance, therefore, are your own capabilities. And no one can do it for you. You must cultivate the habit of leadership effectiveness for yourself - and doing so will be the single best investment you will ever make.

Keep in mind that you are always saying "no" to something. If it isn't to the apparent and urgent things in your life, it is probably to the most fundamental, highly important things.