The Magic Space Between Stimulus and Response

My son, Tucker, as a toddler with Covey's 7 Habits

As a younger man just starting out in the personal development field, one of my heroes was Dr. Stephen R. Covey.

In 1979—the year I was born—Dr. Covey (a university professor at the time) and his family temporarily relocated from their home in Utah to the tropical Islands of Hawaii. The purpose of Dr. Covey's move was to pursue an academic sabbatical that would provide him with a break from teaching as well as an opportunity to think, write, and strategize how he would spend the rest of his career. It was during this sabbatical in Hawaii that the genius behind The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was born.

Perhaps the most significant match that lit the flame for this important work—one of the bestselling and most influential books of the 20th century—occurred one day as Dr. Covey was alone at a university library perusing its bookshelves. In the midst of this seemingly random perusal, he serendipitously happened upon a book—the title of which he did not even remember at the time*—that he opened and began to scan through. As he did so, his eyes came across a statement that struck his mind, heart, and spirit like a bolt of lightning—an idea that changed his life and led to his eventual organization of The 7 Habits material. 

The statement read...

"In between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our power to choose our response; and in our response lies our growth and freedom."*

If you have read or are otherwise familiar with The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, you will instantly recognize this statement and its service as an overriding theme of the complete work. The power and truth inherent in that simple statement is a primary reason that The 7 Habits has been so successful and helped so many people over the past 32 years.

Each individual is the Sovereign Ruler over his or her own life.
What kind of a self-action leader will YOU choose to be?

Genius that he was, Dr. Covey instantly recognized the incredible power inherent in this statement. In fact, he was almost overcome with the recognition of and excitement that this simple statement had the potential to change the world by influencing individuals everywhere to more fully take responsibility for the agency and power they have each been granted to determine their fate by wisely choosing their responses to whatever stimuli may arise their personal and professional lives. 

As human beings, we cannot always control what happens to us in our lives, relationships, and careers. But... as the above statement so powerfully affirms and reminds us, we always have the freedom to decide what we are going to do next; in other words, we are always free to choose our own response to whatever happens to us. And as all truly proactive and responsible persons recognize and acknowledge, the power we possess to choose our response is usually much more powerful than whatever else may happen to us along the way... at least in the long-run!

This fact helps to explain why some people start out in their lives or careers with so little power, authority, influence, or wealth, yet manage to end up with so much of the same. It also assists in explaining why some people face devastating physical, mental, emotional, cultural, or social dangers, difficulties, or even disasters, yet end up finding a way to transcend their adversity to become successful and happy anyway—again, at least in the long-run.  

Despite the lamentations of the nay-sayers
the United States—warts and all—remains
an unprecedented beacon of liberty, freedom,
opportunity, and happiness. 

We live in a world where, sadly, many are prone to (wittingly or unwittingly) condemn large sectors of our national or global society (sometimes including themselves) to a pre-determined fate based on their personal history, birth, race, culture, or socioeconomic standing.

Just as sad, a growing chorus of bitter voices seek to respond angrily and divisively to America's past and present sins, rather than laud how far we have come while continually championing improvement efforts. Every nation's past—and present—is obviously imperfect; however, constantly belaboring the point takes up valuable oxygen and energy that could be invested in making real improvements in the here and NOW. 

Such vitriol was on display in many corners of the U.S. over the Independence Day weekend. Instead of spending America's birthday heralding her many virtues and achievements—made possible by the principles of agency, equality, liberty, freedom, and self-government set forth in her Declaration of Independence and Constitution—such voices sought to demonize the same by magnifying and then focusing on her foibles and flaws. That's no way to unite our Country, much less form a "More Perfect Union." People who make things better—the true builders in any society—seek to build up everyone and everything they meet; divisive derisiveness never built anything of beauty or honor that lasted. 

At Freedom Focused, we are not naïve to the very real challenges that countless individuals do indeed face based on pre-determined factors. Nor are we ignorant to America's past and present sins. However, we concurrently proclaim from the rooftops—and at the top of our lungs—the equally powerful potential that people everywhere have to rise up and build a better life for themselves if they are given the education and opportunity to do so. Moreover, when it comes to authentic opportunity, there is perhaps no other nation on the Planet that has offered—and continues to offer—more of it to her citizens (and citizens of other lands) than the United States of America.

Freedom Focused is therefore grateful to the august founding fathers and mothers of the United States, and we admiringly acknowledge the lasting legacy of their unprecedented achievements. After all, without them, we would not have the same access to the righteous principles of just constitutionality and personal freedom upon which much of the SAL philosophy and model is based.    

Freedom Focused exists to extend educational opportunities to anyone who is willing to focus, learn, work, and endure. Our educational platform is founded on the idea that each of us—no matter who we are or aren't—possesses the power to choose our response to what happens to us, and therefore none of us need be consigned to a pre-determined fate based on external variables beyond our control. By focusing often and always on what one can control, rather than fixating on those things that one cannot control, each of us can begin today to make a better life for ourselves, no matter how difficult things may have been in the past, or how challenging they remain in the present.

That is the hope of Self-Action Leadership; and that is both the premise and the promise of Freedom Focused. The questions you must ask yourself are: 

Will you embrace this hope?  

          Will you take advantage of this promise?     And lastly...

                    Will you help others seize upon the precious opportunities afforded thereby?  

  

-Dr. JJ

July 7, 2021

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 219th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 218 FF Blog Articles.  

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Notes:

*This statement has been attributed to both Viktor Frankl as well as Covey himself -- due to the commonality with which he quoted it.