Book Review: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (2004)
by Stephen R. Covey

In my 20s, I love to read self-help/inspirational books. Almost all of the authors – contemporaries and books published in 2004 onward – recommend reading this book. When I first saw this book, I thought that it was so thick and wordy. So I didn't buy or even browsing it. But I'm still curious why this book gets so many positive recommendations from many of my favorite authors such as Zig Ziglar, John C. Maxwell and Jim Rohn. Then I have an idea: I downloaded the audiobook and listened to it! The audiobook is narrated by Covey himself. Wow! I'm loving it!

I'm really buying into Habit 1 (Be Proactive), Habit 3 (Put First Things First) and Habit 4 (Think Win-Win) but my weakness is Habit 5 (Seek First to Understand). I'm still learning Habit 2 (Begin With End In Mind) and Habit 6 (Synergize). As for Habit 7 (Sharpen the Saw), this is an indispensable habit that I'm committed all days of my life. This blog is part of my way of sharpening the saw of my mind and soul. To me, these 7 habits that Covey teaches in this book are foundational for happiness and success. If you only want to read one book on personal development this year, I recommend you this book wholeheartedly (or you can read Stephen's son book, Sean Covey based on this one, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. More fun and easier to read).

I've written chapter by chapter summary for this book in my other blog Idea for Life. For a quick revision of the key messages of this book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People click TITLES below:

#0 Introduction

#1 Be Proactive and take all the matters in your hands.

#2 Begin With End In Mind by envisioning long-term goals daily.

#3 Put First Things First by organizing your life and focusing on important and not urgent matters.

#4 Think Win-Win and try to create situations of mutual benefits with other people.

#5 Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood for efficient communication.

#6 Synergize with others for best results and benefits that you couldn’t gain by yourself only.

#7 Sharpen the Saw having and maintaining a balanced life so you can practice all above.

#0 Final Summary

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.