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Summary: Get real help. . .
Review: . . . if you read this book. I don't know what else to tell you. If you think that some bozo who's only interested in making money for himself can help you become a success, think again. You need to talk to a professional. Someone who will help solve your real problems. You must have fallen to some deep, depressing place if you have resorted to reading this trite trash and think it's good. Covey, you deserve to go to jail for conning people so badly. You should admit you're not helping anyone but yourself and give all the money back.
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Summary: Highly inspirational and motivational book!
Review: I have yet to find and read a book that will influence and motivate me as much as the "7 Habits of Highly Effective People." This book continues to be the best book I have ever read. If you constantly strive to better your family, community and yourself, this book will serve as a perfect guideline to achieve emotional, spiritual and physical balance in your life. A must read!
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Summary: Inspirational reading that will change the way you look at l
Review: An excellent book which teaches so much. I now have a mission statement and review it regularly. I have a planner which I use daily, scheduling my most important roles weekly. I have since become a facilitator for this programme and look forward to running my first workshop!
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Summary: disapointing
Review: Covey has done a cut and paste job of other self-help books. it is easy to write a book after having reviewed other people's books. I respect anthony robbins (after all a man who can make you walk on fire must know something) and Jim Rohn, who is a successful businesman first and an speaker second. what is coverys's claim to fame? why should we believe him? i find his language rather too fluffy and wonder if he is for real. all said and done , i did find 2 pages in the book useful, where he decribes circle of concern and circle of influence. other than that, i think covery is prejudiced, wants to impose his ideas on others and lives in some dream world of his and frankly , is a CON MAN.
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Summary: Overrated Common Sense
Review: This book is overrated. If you have common sense and a good set of values and can think for yourself, you don't need this book. On the other hand, if you are a follower who needs a role model to spoon feed you, this book is as good as any other self help book.
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Summary: Good stuff... but will it change your life?
Review: I first read this book a couple of years ago, and found it valuable though hardly revolutionary. As many other reviewers have pointed out, most of what is covered by this book is common sense and almost self evident. As a non-believer in everything supernatural, I also was slightly disturbed by the authors frequent references to Scripture and spirituality. And finally, back then I was pretty at ease with my current life situation and did not feel much need for change. I read the book mostly because my girlfriend wanted me to. So the book really did not affect my life much.When I now re-read the book, I judge it from a somewhat different perspective. Relational problems, financial and career troubles have forced me to realize that a change is needed. The "habits" discussed in the book are still pretty obvious, but this time I agree with the author about their importance for a happy life. I have decided to try to implement them in my life, starting by writing a personal Mission Statement. That's the easy part! But living it every day is hard even when you totally agree with the author's analysis. Where do I find the will-power needed to make all this happen? The author has very little to say about this. He is very clear about one thing: You have to do it all yourself. You have to be disciplined. But for many of us, this is exactly the problem! We are sloppy, non-planning individuals that simply don't know how to take control of our lives. The book teaches you that you have to, it even tells you what to do. But it doesn't tell you how to force yourself to do it, it doesn't say were you can find the strength and endurance. I think I already live according to habit 1 & 2. I don't blame others, I know I must do the job, and I even think I know where I want to go in life. This book have also taught me how to get there through habits 3 to 7. But not how to force myself to give up old, destructive habits in order to replace them with something better. I have never wished for an easy fix, such as a pill that would make me happy. But if there was a pill I could take that gave me the willpower needed to really live according to this book, then I would take it, and I'm convinced that this really would change my life. However, without such a pill, I doubt I ever will be able to live the principle-based life this book teaches, however much I agree that it would be an enormous improvement.
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Summary: Very effective advice
Review: I logged on to order The Triumph and the Glory, and then saw that Covey had a new book out. I ALWAYS read his fine books, they are fantastic. Well, I've read it and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is another winner from Covey. Get your copy today and start improving your life.
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Summary: Audio Cassette: Wonderful, concise, but tape layout awkward
Review: This review is based on the audio cassette version. This 8-cassette collection appears to be taken mostly from Dr. Covey's own seminars. Covey is an excellent speaker, and illustrates his concepts simply and concisely, with enough examples to make the application of his advice practical. Being derived from somewhat lo-fi recordings, the quality varies (some comments from the crowd are barely understandable) but overall the speech is clear. My primary gripe is the way the tapes are organized. Perhaps some people prefer small segments of tapes to listen to in the car. I found the tape sides too short, and during my 30-minute commute to work I felt I was constantly juggling tapes -- turning them over, putting new ones in, etc. The cassettes themselves could be of higher quality too -- I had to do surgery on a couple when I found they came out of the package tangled. He takes until tape three to even get to the first habit, and the reason is that Covey takes a lot of time to lay a firm foundation, without which the Seven Habits would come across as just so much cheerleading. His talk about life balance (P-PC), paradigms, habits, and the concept of the "emotional bank account" are essential to understand before even hearing about the Seven Habits themselves. The first six habits split nicely into personal and social realms. If I would make any suggestions, I'd recommend moving the seventh habit, "sharpening the saw" up front, because it seems to be the only one that addresses actually changing your worldview (paradigm), a change that the other six habits seem predicated upon. I found his speeches on how to actually address a paradigm change incomplete, like the cartoon with the mathematicians who, in the middle of a lavishly complex chalkboard equation, wrote "and then a miracle occurs". Like the caption, I think Dr. Covey needs to be a little clearer on this point. This book has made at least as big of an impact on society as Dr. David Burns's "Feeling Good" from 1980. Perhaps Burns's books could address the paradigm shifting problem and make a good companion to Dr. Covey's book. Although Burns, a psychologist, was helping depressed people and Covey is geared towards healthy people, Burns's cognitive therapy approach is as close to Paradigm Shifting 101 as I've ever found and might fill that void in Covey's book nicely.
Rating:
Summary: Basic, Simplistic, to the point
Review: How anyone could have a problem with this book is beyond me. Is it easy to come to the conclusion that that many of the ideas are old, of course. Successful people have, since the days of Moses, possessed many of the same qualities. Einstein, the Right brothers, Michael Jordan, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sabestian Bach where all men who possessed similar qualities that made their lives successful during their times on this planet. There is no reason to think that a book written in the 1980's about principals that have been around since 1980 BC is not worth reading. Most of us do not feed our minds the diet that this book provides. I have read it twice and I have made it a christmas gift for many of my friends. Pick it up and start...you will not put it down.
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Summary: This is a SUPER BOOK
Review: Although I have read many personal development books, 7 Habits is by far the best. No hype, hoopla, pyscho-babble that is so prevalent today, however, I submit that 7 Habits will be around long after the hypsters are gone. I work in a 1,500 staff facility and 7 Habits is required reading for all management staff. I also recommend Superself, possibly one of the most underrated books out there and Financial Self Defense which in my opinion, is the financial book version of 7 Habits.
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