My readings on Habit
7 of Public Victory: Sharpen the Saw reaffirms some of my personal processes
and also provided ideas for my next stage of improvement.
Sharpen the Saw
is all about balanced renewal in all 4 dimensions of human needs – physical,
spiritual, mental and social/emotional. As we regularly and consistently renew
ourselves in each of the 4 areas, we can create effectiveness and growth. Any
dimension that is neglected will limit or create negative effect against effectives
and growth. Renewal is the principle – and the process – that empowers us to
move on an upward spiral of growth and change, of continuous improvement. And
as we grow and develop on this upward spiral, there must be a conscious effort
in the process of renewal to learn, commit and do on increasingly higher
planes.
So, what does
that mean to me? Before I engage myself in the process of renewal and revival,
I decided to look at each of the 4 areas of human needs (physical, spiritual,
mental and social/emotional) – to get better picture of where I am now before I
seek a meaningful and consistent progression of where I want to be in terms of renewal
and revival. I used the health assessment (see link below) from the American Board of
Integrative and Holistic Medicine (HolisticBoard.org) and based on my responses
to assess my physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional health. Below is
the summary of my score.
A total score of
268 indicates good health. Now I strive to work towards the next two levels of
excellent or optimal health. Area that I see I am already doing well is in the
mental dimension while area such as my physical dimension is now on my to-do-list.
Now that I am more self-aware, I will endeavor to think about thing(s) that I
have been doing well and thing(s) that I will need to be more focused on
learning, committing and doing in each of these two dimensions.
The Mental
Dimension
My belief in the
development of my mental dimension is formed from my working experience – that in
today’s world, if I do not keep myself mentally sharp, then I will be in
trouble. My mental stimulation comes from a variety of sources, namely readings,
TV and games. My personal development is to be able to do my best in finding
happiness, fulfillment and contributing to all I do. I read books, namely the 7
Habits of Effective People, The 8th Habit. By stretching my mind, I hope to
grow in my mental capacities. My professional idea is to learn leadership
especially in the area of education. With this idea in mind, I looked for books
or articles that inform me of the concepts and content on leadership, namely
Great by Choice, 5 Levels of Leadership. In addition, I also read books or
articles that I may not totally agree with – I still find such books or
articles valuable, especially if the contents impact my ability to think.
Nevertheless, for all good readings, I find it meaningful to read and re-read
them as they served as constant reminders of the good things to me.
The Physical
Dimension
What is my
definition of the physical dimension? To me, physical dimension will include activities
that bring physical renewal, such as my actual knowledge of my health and
fitness, the activities which I currently do, the amount of sleep, rest and relax I take,
the food I eat and lastly my stress level. I have seen others doing brisk
walking, an activity which I think I will enjoy and so will like to try.
Another fun activity which I can get into is swimming, which is also as
effective a work out as running or jogging with smaller risk of injury to the
joints.
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