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A review by ponasadomas
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
1.0
A look into the self-help of yesteryear
Reading Covey's work feels akin to stepping into a time machine and revisiting a bygone era. While some of the ideas presented may sound good in theory, such as recognizing what is inside your zone of influence and letting go of what is not, telling someone to stop worrying about an upcoming surgery because it's outside of their control might seem overly simplistic and unhelpful. And this very same conclusion followed me throughout the whole book, which was a chore to finish.
The book is tedious to read, because most of the "habits" can be condensed into a couple of sentences, yet Covey takes pages and pages to drive his point home. I guess he was right saying that "Habit 5: Emphatic listening" was hardest for him to follow. In essence the whole book can be summarized in 7 bulletpoints:
1. Be proactive: Take responsibility for your life and actions, focusing on what you can control rather than reacting to external circumstances.
2. Begin with the end in mind: Set clear goals and develop a personal mission statement to guide your decisions and actions.
3. Put first things first: Prioritize important tasks (using time management matrix of 4 quadrants) and manage your time effectively to achieve your goals.
4. Think win-win: Seek mutual beneficial solutions in relationships and collaborations, fostering an atmosphere of cooperation rather than competition.
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood: Develop empathetic listening skills to genuinely understand others before attempting to communicate your own perspective.
6. Synergize: Leverage the strengths and skills of others by working together, achieving results greater than the sum of individual efforts.
7. Sharpen the saw: Invest in self-improvement (of course...) and maintain a balanced lifestyle to ensure long-term effectiveness and well-being.
There! You've just got the whole book. And as a bonus, you saved your well-being by avoiding Covey's ramblings on personal mission statements, visualizations, affirmations and other goop...
All in all, the book comes across as dated and tiresome. Maybe because it was written in the age of cocaine it became this popular and well known ... I don't know. I really don't get the "magic" behind it, mostly because it's really common-sense logic of "Know what you want and work for it, and if it doesn't work, try something else".
For me, this book is like walking into a room adorned with 1970s decor - charming in its own right, but out of touch with modern sensibilities.
The only thing why it's worth reading this book for is the insight on empathetic listening skills offered in Habit 5.
Reading Covey's work feels akin to stepping into a time machine and revisiting a bygone era. While some of the ideas presented may sound good in theory, such as recognizing what is inside your zone of influence and letting go of what is not, telling someone to stop worrying about an upcoming surgery because it's outside of their control might seem overly simplistic and unhelpful. And this very same conclusion followed me throughout the whole book, which was a chore to finish.
The book is tedious to read, because most of the "habits" can be condensed into a couple of sentences, yet Covey takes pages and pages to drive his point home. I guess he was right saying that "Habit 5: Emphatic listening" was hardest for him to follow. In essence the whole book can be summarized in 7 bulletpoints:
1. Be proactive: Take responsibility for your life and actions, focusing on what you can control rather than reacting to external circumstances.
2. Begin with the end in mind: Set clear goals and develop a personal mission statement to guide your decisions and actions.
3. Put first things first: Prioritize important tasks (using time management matrix of 4 quadrants) and manage your time effectively to achieve your goals.
4. Think win-win: Seek mutual beneficial solutions in relationships and collaborations, fostering an atmosphere of cooperation rather than competition.
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood: Develop empathetic listening skills to genuinely understand others before attempting to communicate your own perspective.
6. Synergize: Leverage the strengths and skills of others by working together, achieving results greater than the sum of individual efforts.
7. Sharpen the saw: Invest in self-improvement (of course...) and maintain a balanced lifestyle to ensure long-term effectiveness and well-being.
There! You've just got the whole book. And as a bonus, you saved your well-being by avoiding Covey's ramblings on personal mission statements, visualizations, affirmations and other goop...
All in all, the book comes across as dated and tiresome. Maybe because it was written in the age of cocaine it became this popular and well known ... I don't know. I really don't get the "magic" behind it, mostly because it's really common-sense logic of "Know what you want and work for it, and if it doesn't work, try something else".
For me, this book is like walking into a room adorned with 1970s decor - charming in its own right, but out of touch with modern sensibilities.
The only thing why it's worth reading this book for is the insight on empathetic listening skills offered in Habit 5.