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Summary: Helpful information
Review: This book is informative and would make a great resource for any family eager to improve their communication and family involvement. Gets a bit wordy after awhile and there are lots of testimonials touting Covey's other books, but overall this was a well-written & informative read.
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Summary: Here is a guide to get you started in the right direction
Review: This book is proving to be a saviour in my situation. An American trying to join into a Brazilian family, with two children (girl 6 & boy 11)that don't speak English and me not speaking Portuguese. This book is avaiable in Portuguese and gives the mother and I a way to agree about things across cultural differences and to communicate to the children what we are trying to create in our lives as a family while including the children. The information is powerful and inspiring all you have to do is "DO IT" Read the book through and then go back and start doing. I am sure it will make an amazing difference in your life if you are not lazy and and want a better family life. His other books are great too. I have several on tape and frequently power up my brain by listening while driving or flying.
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Summary: Here is the way to build a loving, nurturing family
Review: This book presents a series of concepts that allow people to understand how to create a family environment most conducive for growth, understanding, and strong relationships. These concepts are illustrated with many anecdotes and first person accounts. The concepts presented are excellent. They are easy to understand and give everyone a common vocabulary for communicating their needs and desires. I can not think of a better book for anyone looking to build a stronger family. CON:
I will mention a quibble I have with the book. It is not serious and is easily overcome. There is a strong nostalgia myth throughout. Along the lines of "Forty years ago society supported families, but now it erodes them." Forty years ago many people lived in smaller communities. This did in fact help support families. But in reality, forty years ago parents were just as threatened by changes in society and their children's behavior as they are today. As a matter of fact, gender roles and expectations may have been more deterimental to strong families than many issues we face today. This problem is easily overcome for me by understanding that the basic idea behind the presentation of this mythology is that one must help children understand society, and that one must make commitments to the family that may meet with resistance in one's everyday life. I am sure the this problem will be overcome for most folks by readily accepting the nostalgia myth.
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Summary: A much more accessible "7 Habits"!!!
Review: This book takes the concepts outlined in "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" to a much more accessible level.
While the original "7 Habits" were lauded for their content, at times they were criticized for the generally business oriented approach chosen. "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families" renders these principles much more accessible and provides easy to follow advice that can be applied in day to day life. Subsequently, by applying the principles presented in "The 7 Habits", they will become just that - Habits! As habits they are exercised/applied without thinking about them anymore, therefore eliminating the need to constantly focus on them. The experience is somewhat similar to learning to drive a car. Initially a lot of attention to operating the car is required, because it is such an unfamiliar process. After a while, however, driving the car becomes a matter of habit, mostly executed on a sub-conscious level, while the attention can be focused almost solely on the traffic and environment. For anyone not familiar with either one of the "7 Habits" books, I recommend to start out with this one, and then - if necessary, or desired - to read "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" at a later point of time for the primary purpose of its more business oriented approach. In order to be able to focus on business, it is worthwhile to already have ones house in order; therefore the family should come first - including the family's "7 Habits". For a multi-sensory approach, I suggest to also listen to the corresponding book on CD. This will trigger different areas of the brain and therefore lead to a faster learning curve. Reading by its very approach has to happen on the conscious level, while listening can happen in situation where the primary focus is on something else, i.e. stop-and-go traffic. Dr. Covey's soothing voice in such scenarios will manage to engage the listener on a subconscious level, driving the message home even more effectively.
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Summary: The Best Motivational Book ont he Market!
Review: This is definitely a cult book in the working world. I use this daily as a pick-me-up and recommend it to everyone I meet. This book is a keeper and must become part of everyone's library. Never has there been a book that hits all aspects of a person's llife with a central focus on family except the Bible. And if my mom read it and raved about the content, that gets a big star from me!
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Summary: Better than the original 7 Habits
Review: This is far more applicable than the original 7 habits book. The family setting is one of the best for applying the Covey principles, and this book helped me understand the 7 habits and give ideas on how to practice them in my family setting. I would recommend this book to both those who have strong families and those who would like to have strong families. Read it together.
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Summary: An Excellent Insight into Building a Successful Family
Review: This material is for all families who are open to new perspectives on repairing and building family relationships. The Author's sincerity is striking. His examples are powerful. Well done Stephen!
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Summary: This Book Transformed our Family
Review: We discovered this book after being introduced to Stephen Covey's work through business (7 Habits of Highly Successful People.) We were delighted that he and his wife have applied these principles to family life, and we set to work on applying what we learned to our family.
For example, we have made a concerted effort at changing the way we listen to each other in our family. Now we truly have adopted the culture of listening first to understand, and what a gift that has been to our relationships. Time after time, we catch ourselves from going down the old useless and hurtful path of arguing/debating/proving who's experience is right, and instead stop and listen with empathy to understand.
We also recommend the picture book If I Ran The Family, for sharing these insights with kids.
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Summary: A Bit Too Sappy For Me
Review: While this book had some good insights and "a-ha" moments, it was too sappy for me to get past the third chapter. I enjoy a good metaphor for life as much as the next person, but there were so many in this book that the author's real messages got clouded by them. I much prefered Family First by Dr. Phil McGraw.
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