According to Covey, gaining an increased awareness into one's own basic paradigms helps us: a. Understand the extent to which we have been influenced by our experiences.
b. Examine our assumptions against reality in order to correct and improve them.
c. Listen to others and be open to their perceptions, thereby getting a larger picture and a far more objective view of reality.
d. Shift our paradigms when we realize they are not in alignment with objective reality external to ourselves.