I have always been an avid reader/writer of Self-Help books. That's not the main type of book I read but I have read quite a bit of them..Within the past 6 months I have started reading a few books that took a very interesting philosophy on life and how to live it effectively. One of the books was called "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". The other two books were "Put First Things First", and "The 8th Habit" all of these were by the same person (Covey). Besides that I read another book that was "How To Be Safe In An Unsafe World". This was a book by a different author with a different outlook on life, however a lot of the underlying messages were the same.

I have learned a lot from all of these books. Shortly afterwards I started reading the Bible (King James Version) again and I noticed a lot of similarities. After some digging I looked up some of the bibles and religious works for a variety of other religions and social structures. Overall they all presented the same material, albeit differently. Once that period of study was over it dawned on me that this was the path I wanted to try to take in life. I am already a Christian and I have been for a long time. I am a Christian but I am also the type of Christian that respects other people regardless of religion. I believe people have the freedom of choice so I don't try to force my religion on anyone else, and I am quite open minded about other religions as well. I spend a lot of time studying Zen and Buddhist religions. I have a great time learning about a great deal of things. Although the main path I choose to take in life, was that of a Christian.

Based off the books I had read recently, the bible, and a few personal experiences I decided I wanted to integrate the Principle Centered lifestyle, along with being a Christian. Even the author of the book followed that religion but was able to keep Principle Centered living aside from religion while remaining religious as well. It's a very hard theory to explain. In general it's all about being centered and balanced. I have spent a lot of time in my life trying out different self help techniques like from a variety of different fields and religions. It's not as much about trying to make myself better as it is learning the psychological backgrounds of these different self-help techniques.

Based off the book the 7 habits it just gives you a rough breakdown of 7 different habits that a lot of people can use to more affectively live a principle centered lifestyle. The first thing I ended up doing was creating what the book refers to a "Personal Mission Statement". I didn't really pay attention to that for awhile, but just wrote it. After a few months it started affecting me as I spent time writing it. It really helped me get my life focused in the right direction.

After I wrote my personal mission statement I picked out a group of "Principles" that I wanted to try and follow. It was hard at first getting together a good list. Here was the list that I developed, although I might be able to think of some later that I missed: Fairness, Integrity, Honesty, Human Dignity, Service, Quality, Excellence, Potential, Growth, Patience, Nurturance, and Encouragement.

This is just my take on it. The main thing I focused on was redoing the way I manage time. It is called "Quadrant 3 Activities". I can't really explain it in detail unless you had read "First Things First". So basically it's just a new theory on how to manage, distribute, and keep your time under control. It's a great thing. I have been working on applying that to my life and it has made a major difference in my work and family life. If anyone else has had experiences with trying to implement first things first, the 7 habits, or principle centered living then feel free to share your stories here.