We know that there are 7 Habits. Most of us have heard them every year since
kindergarten. We were told to Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, Put First Things First,
Think Win-Win, Seek first to Understand then to be Understood, Synergize, and Sharpen the
Saw. However, how many of us can say that we’ve heard of the 8th Habit and actually
implement it in our lives?
According to Steve Covey’s “The 8th Habit”, Finding Your Voice and Inspiring Others to
Find theirs is the last habit for highly effective people. What does this mean? When asked what
finding your voice means, Junior Community Service Liaison Lachlan Lampkin said this.
“Finding your voice means finding your passion, and taking initiative in your life. It means doing
what you love and helping others. It sometimes means you lead quietly, sometimes it means you
take charge. You do whatever you see your world needs.” I asked Lachlan this question because I
knew she’d give an incredible answer like that, and because she has used her ability to help her
community and turned it into her official school job.
When we look for our voice, we should look for not only what we like to do but what we
know we’re good at. That could be anything from a materialistic skill like music or teaching, or a
more internal skill like empathy or work ethic. Throughout life, we must identify these and
figure out how to use them to serve each other. Like Lachlan says, we need to be able to see what
the world needs and fulfill that. I can think of a million examples of activists, authors,
missionaries, or doctors that have done this very thing, but what if I told you that people do this
everyday of their lives? Our parents saw it. Our teachers saw it. Sometimes people see it, and
choose to abuse it. They take a need and turn it upside down trying to fix it, only to turn it into a
bigger need for everyone but themselves. Let’s not be those people.
The last part of this habit is inspiring other people. Leading people to find their own
voices is probably the most beneficial thing you can do on this Earth. Steve Covey was able to
achieve this through his whole career, and you can do it too. If you feel like you’ve never found
your purpose, let your purpose be to encourage others to succeed. It could be supporting your
friends or family to reach out and give the world their talents, or perhaps stepping down from the
spotlight to let other people have their moment. It all matters, and learning how to do it is the
first step toward finding your voice, making it known, and helping your community.