Back in 2004, when I was so confused about finding direction, I was reading Stephen Covey and thinking a lot on what to do with my life. Even today, when the conditions have improved and my own understanding about the world has improved the challenges life brings have also improved 
. To react to them with greater understanding, I often find the need to go back and explore myself to the greater depth and rediscover my true values that bring me some clarity about the present issues and give my heart much needed peace. In today’s blog I am copy-pasting the thoughts which came into my mind during 2004 after reading 7 habits of highly effective people. Here it goes:
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This world is full of chaos and in order to derive meaning out of it people have written their thoughts all over about theories on becoming successful. Almost all the books have concentrated on values, thoughts, techniques, positive thinking but forgetting the basic essence on the “truth”. A universal truth that contains many natural laws, which Stephen Covey has described in his book as the ‘true north’. The true north laws are independent of our perception of mind; they are true regardless of whatever we think about them. E.g. Sun Rises and this is true, we live in day and night this is true. In his book, he fails to explain what are those true north principles. Before reacting, listen! He has not told us that everyone thinks of this universe in a truthful way. He fails to tell us that our imagination, our values and our habits are the result of that truth. The truth that we know since childhood e.g. intelligence, honesty, what governs the universe is essential, what is our role in this universe, what is self and how do we think in order to interpret these truths.
We live in a world where we are trying to become a better society by thinking better about ourselves as well as others. This is a perfect equation but it does not exist always, often we find ourselves thinking only about ourselves or the others. Usually, thinking about ourselves is predominant for most of us. I am not trying to be self-centered here. I am just using the way to differentiate between self and others. There is a truth beyond self and beyond others. A reality that forces everyone to obey its rules. It’s not god! It is how this universe is governed. What are the laws that govern it just like the laws of science which are true everywhere and are open to modification if a new discovery is made. This universe has similar laws which are true. Stephen Covey has left the discovery of these laws unto us by using the faculty of imagination. But, he forgot that people cannot think beyond what they have already learned, so their imagination will be full of their prejudices about this world and themselves. He has provided us the basic framework for success where we will get the results according to our values. However, he has left us alone when we are selecting those truths according to which we will decide our values. Therefore, every person will get results according to the values they choose to live with. If an underworld don chooses to apply the principles in 7 habits of highly effective people, he will get the results according to his values which may involve killing people, extorting money from people. He may become more successful in his profession as is he is using correct techniques. But is it right? You may say, everyone is good except the few who are bad. Ask this question to yourself again, how good you are? Are you donating money to charity, are you or your thoughts clean and pure, are you really contributing for your self-development or of others in a right direction?
There are some laws which ensure that you will be successful in long run if you choose to follow them. These are the true values that govern the success of human race. Few of these are:
• Truth
• Intelligence
• Honesty
• Quests
These basic values are the laws governing the success of human race. You remove any one of them and see the disturbance in society as well in your mind. Now, from the main values there are few derived values like love, faith, charity and welfare of others. Here is how these secondary values affect us. If an underworld don chooses not to love but to hate, he can get the success he wants but universally he will be a failure because he has not followed the secondary (or derived) values which are contributing to the welfare of society. On the other hand, if a scientist chooses to direct his talent for the welfare of himself as well as contribute to the welfare of society then his contribution would be regarded as a valuable contribution because his ideas will help in creating valuable things for the society.
Finally, we are living in a world that enables us to think the impact of actions, impact of our thoughts and our character in relation to the four values (mentioned above) in pursuit of our welfare as well as of others. We cannot think always about others but we can direct our actions and thoughts where they are fruitful to us and others as well. This thought is a premise for acting in a rightful way in a society and source of popular maxim, Live and Let Live. Which is why, an underworld don is not considered as a good human being. Coming to the value of intelligence, we cannot stop inventions because they are the essence of the truth. Additionally, in a sense of relationship of us with ourselves and others, if we are dishonest we cannot be committed and we cannot be pure or clear about our intentions and therefore our actions become unpredictable and directionless. The end result is confusion, chaos and unhappiness.
To conclude, we have to follow the true principles such as being truthful, being honest, being open, always striving for growth and learning, finding intelligent solutions and being driven by values which clearly propel the path of self-development and welfare of others. This is a road less traveled but had it been so easy why won’t each one of us would be walking down this road often. So, if you follow this road, be prepared to face hurdles as our society still does not appreciate the highest values of living. As a human race, we are still struggling to find the meaning. Even though we have progressed, but still there is a long road to go. So, on an individual level let’s find it and wish each other good luck in finding the greater meaning to our existence. Amen!