The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

This book was quite enjoyable. Overall, I’d probably sit it at 4.75/5 stars; the writing overall was logical and very streamlined — there was a very clear thesis and the content flowed nicely from one section to the next. Covey also does a good job building upon previous content and drawing back to previous arguments to connect points instead of simply moving onwards– In each chapter, after the newly introduced habit has been explained, he reflects back at how the previous habits assist in building/supporting it, which I appreciated. In this manner, the logical flow, albeit sometimes quite dry, was easy to follow and objective.
Moreover, at the end of each section focusing on one ‘habit’, there was included a list of practical application suggestions and ways for individuals to reflect in their own lives how they can put into practice the information that was conveyed throughout.

“Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.”

Having noted these areas, I do wish there was a wider variety of content/application usages explored in the writing itself. Most of the examples defaulted to ‘so you’re at work and you have a colleague who is just completely opposite to you…’ or, ‘so you’re having trouble in your marriage…’. I would have liked to see a wider diversity in applicable examples if these habits are truly universally applicable to all areas of life, if that is what is being articulated (not to mention, some of these examples were a little far-fetched or slightly unrealistic. This is me admittedly being nitpicky– there is certainly usage for making the example scenarios explicit and clear– but some of the example situations felt so dramatized to perfectly fit the habit practice that I was struggling not to roll my eyes). A few times Covey brings in examples from his marriage dynamic in relation to raising kids, but perhaps also looking at examples of building these habits from the perspective of youths would have been useful, to pick an example. Or– in workplace environments, exploring these habits from the perspectives of managerial roles as well as lower workplace hierarchical roles would have been nice to see.

“To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.”

Overall, in terms of books within the ‘self-help’ genre, this one certainly ranks highly. I was pleased to see Covey critique this literary genre as well, particularly that of the ‘success mindset’ self-help books, instead providing a strong and convincing argument for establishing firmly founded guiding principles through introspection, establishing values, discipline, empathy, and effort. I would definitely recommend this book for readers looking for a way to solidify their values and establish a clearer long-term healthy habit practice.

Overall Rating: 4.75/5

Would I Recommend? Yes