The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey

Funny to think this book is now really a classic. It was originally written 20 years ago and then updated 5 years ago. Think about how many times you had heard the word synergy or synergize before 1989. Some of the ideas in this book have made generational ideas go throughout business. It is almost laughable when I hear someone talk about synergy in a business environment today. It is kind of like using groovy. The word has now worn out its welcome in todays culture. This is not to say that any of the ideas in this book are now outdated, but just that we as a culture move forward and call old ideas by new names.

The seven habits:

1. Be Proactive

2. Begin with the End in Mind

3. Put First Things First

4. Think Win-Win

5. Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood

6. Synergize

7. Sharpen the Saw

Are really timeless ideas, not necessarily new even 20 years ago. Best sellers are made of self help books because people want something new. Even though most everything in self help books are regurgitations of previous works, the key is that people want to and need to be motivated. Reading provides an opportunity for folks to internalize things they may already know. They can make note of a nugget of wisdom. It could be life changing and the nugget they needed to move forward. It is not always purely the content, but the presentation that can lift someone out of their own funk to move past the hurdle standing in their way.

For me the book was a bit of a tough read. A little too much psycho-babble maybe, or a little too much thoughts that this info is the holy grail to your success. All in all it was a worth while read and carries some nuggets for me to refer back to later.

Quotable Quotes:

There is no real excellence in all this world which can be separated from right living. - David Starr Jordan

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle

I know of no more encouraging fact that the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. - Henry Dave Thoureau

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. - Goethe

There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity. - Samuel Johnson

We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; let us now commit it to life. - Edwin Markham

The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of. - Pascal

I take as my guide the hope of a saint:

in crucial things, unity -

in important things, diversity -

in all things, generosity.

Inaugural address of President George Bush

Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things...I am tempted to think...there are no little things. - Bruce Barton

You can pretty much summarize the first three habits with the expression "make and keep a promise" You can pretty much summarize the second three habits with the expression "involve others in the problem and work out the solution together." - Stephen Covey

Other Nuggets:

-Make your focus on the circle of influence. The larger your circle of influence the more you can accomplish. Your circle of concern is simply a distraction, since you have no control over it.

-Production vs Production Capacity relationship

Will you read this book again? No

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? Leave it at the library. It is worth a read, but not necessary to own it IMHO.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN