First Things First is a self-help book written by Stephen Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill. It offers a time management approach that, if established as a habit, is intended to help a person achieve "effectiveness" by aligning him- or herself to "First Things".
If working harder, smarter, and faster won’t solve it, what will?
IF you were to pause and think seriously about the “first things” in your life—the three or four things that matter most—what would they be?
Are these things receiving the care, emphasis, and time you really want to give them?
Through our work at the Covey Leadership Center, we’ve come in contact with many people from around the world, and we’re constantly impressed with what they represent. They’re active, hardworking, competent, caring people dedicated to making a difference. Yet, these people consistently tell us of the tremendous struggles they face daily while trying to put first things first in their lives. The fact that you picked up this book indicates that you can probably identify with what they’re feeling.
Basing our happiness on our ability to control everything is futile. While we do control our choice of action, we cannot control the consequences of our choices. Universal laws or principles do. Thus, we are not in control of our lives; principles are. We suggest that this idea provides key insight into the frustration people have had with the traditional “time management” approach to life.
by Stephen R. Covey