Several years before Steven Covey wrote the first edition of his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, a young professor at a small university gave an assignment to a handful of students who braved taking the early morning Leadership Skills class he offered. The assignment was to write out what they wanted written on their tombstone; what they’d like to be remembered for.  A difficult and unlikely task for students in their early 20’s, generally expecting to live a long time after this class was over.

The task was not unlike one of Covey’s habits,  ‘beginning with the end in mind’, because honestly, how will you get to your destination if you don’t even know where you’re headed!?

Maybe it’s not a bad exercise for anyone!

Whether you’re nearing retirement and thinking about words like ‘succession’ and ‘legacy’,  or you’re young, and tweak the assignment every ten years or so to realign your end goals with your current priorities…Who couldn’t benefit from setting your goals for life out ahead and then living the life that makes them happen?

Today’s “Peace of Wisdom” can be found by starting with the end in mind.