The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People :: review

“The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” was the first book I ever read on personal growth, and to this day it remains the best. If you were to ask me to recommend one book to help you improve your life, this would be it.

The material that Steven Covey covers is based on timeless principles that will always be relevant, no matter what stage of life you are in. It’s no wonder why it has clung to the best-seller lists for almost twenty years.

I believe that people don’t find books; books find people. This book found me when I was beginning to look for purpose in my life. It was the textbook for a leadership class that I took in college. It struck such a chord with me that I became a teaching assistant for the class the very next semester. I have since read it dozens of times and refer back to it periodically to refresh myself on its content.

Covey’s seven habits are based on an inside-out approach to personal growth. He suggests that we must have personal victory before we can have public victory. The book shows us how to go from being dependent to independent to interdependent.

Dependent people are controlled by people and things outside of themselves. They blame others for their shortcomings and need constant feedback from others to feed their self-image.

Independent people take personal responsibility for their own lives. They are self-determinists who have confidence in themselves. They get their self-image from within and are unaffected by others.

Interdependent people are leaders who can effectively communicate and work with other people. Because they have an abundance mentality, they can effectively create synergy with others to achieve amazing things.

Covey eloquently summarizes some of the greatest wisdom of the ages in this book. He shows us how to practically apply these timeless principles to our lives. I think this book should be required reading in every university because it is so relevant to young adults who are have just left the dependency of their parents for college.

If you have never read it before, I urge you to find a copy immediately. If you have read it, I would suggest reading it again. I have found it is a special kind of book that reads differently to people at different stages on their way to interdependence. Every time I have read it, I have taken away something new.