An okay book if you don't know how to manage your life it's probably really helpful but if you've thought about how to make yourself more productive or effective a lot of it's intuitive. Also like a lot of these books can only tell you things you have to make the changes yourself which is always the hard part so. This one was better written than most which I appreciate.

Wow... I knew everyone liked this book, but I didn't know why. Yeah, I was sceptical, as always. But now I truly understand the reason behind all this hype.
Honestly, I started to understand myself better after reading this book. And my family. Now I can see how blind I actually was. I'm glad I've read this book now. And I will definitely reread it after some time.
There are some things we have to constantly remind ourselves, unfortunately. Human's memory is very inconvenient thing.

This is my husband's favorite book. Obviously he is more effective than I am.

Dividing my life into squares, writing in those squares the things I have to do, then doing the "most important" may make me effective, but is that my best life?

Choosing to do the things that I want to do rather than the things I need to do, adds interest to my existence. If I take the scenic route, and run out of gas doing it, I find adventure, and often meet AAA wrecker drivers who could write books on their experiences. By forgetting birthdays and anniversaries, I find out who really loves me for myself. By forgetting about the time and shimming the door knob that has been bothering me for weeks, and then remembering that it is time to pick up my child from school, he learns independence and I can cross the darn rattling doorknob off my to do list. It's been driving me nuts.

I am tempted to write the 7 habits of highly haphazard people.

1. Be creative with your to-do list. Add color and doodles. If you can read it, you are not trying hard enough. Lose it.
2. Buy something you will never use, but if you can use it in a unique way (for which it was not intended) do that. (Colanders make great Halloween alien helmets. Add pipe cleaners for antennae.)
3. Set some clocks in your home ahead by a few minutes and some behind for a few minutes. You will learn a great deal about yourself and others.
4. Get a cat. Dogs make you feel important. Cats teach you humility.
5. Relish the wonder of soap bubbles blown in the sun.
6. Take the road that you've always been curious about. See where it goes. Learn how to turn around quickly in tight places.
7. Really listen to a small child as often as possible.

I am enjoying writing this, especially since I have company coming in a few moments and scads of things to do before they get here.

One of the best books to digest. Habits, good or bad, have an effect on each of us. This book clearly demonstrates 7-key habits of highly effective people that formulate a mindset that when a habit, becomes automatic. These habits can and should be formulated in whatever you do.

This book is life-altering ! I read it a second time right after I finished it (yes, it is THIS good). I’ve been recommending it to everyone I know since. A must-read for sure !

** هناك تعقيب مهم جدًا في نهاية المراجعة**
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الكتاب الأشهر في كتب التنمية البشرية وتطوير الذات.. العادات السبع للناس الأكثر فاعلية
يبدأ الكتاب بمقدمة مهمة جدًا عن علاقة العقلية بالفعالية.. يتكلم الكاتب باالتحديد عن المفهوم أو التصور الذهني عن النجاح الذي يوحي لصاحبه أن التميز والنجاح هو ناتج موهبة فطرية أو عوامل تنشئة معينة.. ولا يمكنك أن تبدع أو تتفوق في شئ معين إلا إذا كنت موهوبًا فيه بالفطرة، وبالتالي يجب أن تكتشف موهبتك الدفينة! وهذا التصور بالطبع خاطئ تمامًا ويدفعك للإنسحاب من تعلم أي مهارة عندما تواجه بها صعوبة لأنك تظن أنك غير موهوب بها.. بينما التصور الصحيح هو أنه لا يشترط وجود موهبة فطرية ولكن هناك جد ومثابرة في التعلم وهي التي تفرق بين الناجح والفاشل وليس الموهبة المتصورة.
بعد ذلك ينخرط الكاتب في ذكر العادات السبع وهي بالترتيب كالآتي بدون تفصيل:
أولا: كن مبادرًا
ثانيًا: ابدأ والغاية في ذهنك
ثالثا: ابدأ بالأهم قبل المهم (رتب أولوياتك)
رابعًا: عقلية المكسب المشترك (اربح واجعل الجميع يربح.. Win-Win Sitiuation
خامسا: اسع لفهمهم ثم اسع أن يفهموك
سادسا: التعاون الابداعي
سابعًا: اشحذ المنشار (طور نفسك وكن مستعد دائمًا)
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الكتاب لم يأخذ مع الكثير من الوقت لسببين رئيسيين: الأول هو أنني كثير القراءة في كتب التنمية الذاتية وبالتالي كثير من الأفكار مرت علي من قبل.. لأن معظم الكتب استقت الكثيرمن هذا الكتاب.. والسبب الثاني هو سماعي لها ملخصًا في حلقة من 25 دقيقة من اعداد الرائع (على محمد علي).. صاحب سلسلة حلقات (على وكتاب) في القناة الموجودة باسمه على يوتيوب.. وهو بالفعل أغناني هذا العام عن قراءة الكثير من كتب التنمية البشرية نظرًا لما تتمع به ملخصاته من اختيار جيد للكتب ابتداء ثم شرح وافي لأهم أفكار الكتاب وبطريقة عملية وممتعة مع إضافة بعد النصائح لتطبيق ما تم تعلمه.. وهذا هو التعقيب الذي ذكرته في بداية المراجعة.. وأنصح الجميع بمتابعته
رابط الحلقة على اليوتيوب
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmFA1...

I first read this book fifteen years ago. I loved it then.

Since then, a lot has happened in my life, so I read this book again to see if I react to it the same way. I didn't. I still agree with what Dr. Covey says in the first part of his book, that is, for the first three habits with respect to oneself (be proactive, begin with the end in mind, and put first thing first).

I also agree with his third part, that is, the importance of renewal.

For the second part of this book, that is, for his three habits with respect to dealing with others (think win-win, seek first to understand and then to be understood, and enact synergy) my life experiences make it difficult for me to agree. I believe his intentions are indeed noble. His expansive soul assumes that everybody out there acts by these three principles. The reality is far from this.

I still believe, if we lived in an environment where everybody thought and behaved this way, we would create synergy and add value to life by following these three principles for dealing with others. But if the reality is contrary, those using them will exhaust themselves and become dependent on others.

I give this book five stars because of its noble intention, but I advise caution for readers. If someone lacks experience and is in a vulnerable phase of life, the three principles governing relationship with others can open up new pits for deception and push the reader into despair and depression.

On the contrary, I whole-heartedly agree with and advocate the first three principles and the last one, that is, the four principles for self-management. They're indeed universal and timeless. In addition to increasing efficiency and effectiveness, they also lift our self-regard and render us positive.

I'm not able to rate this fairly as a reader coming to it in 2017. This was one of the first "personal development" books, and the other 4 thousand books I've read on the topic all borrow from it heavily. The thing is, they borrow from it, and then make it better in every way: more interesting, more relevant, better writing, more concise writing, better anecdotes and examples.

This is a classic, but I don't recommend reading it.

Excellent system for getting more out of life and becoming more who we want to be. Like any such system, it can only work to the extent that you put it into practice, but consistent application of its principles does generate positive change. I find this book to be excellent on re-reading as well. It never fails to inspire me with hope and determination. We really do have enormous amounts of power to change our lives, far more than we usually realize. Showing us that power, and how to put it to good use, is the topic of this book.

I spent four years at Columbia University in New York City in the mid-eighties. I thought I was getting an education -- but I wasn't. You see, I've learned the hard way that "education" really means learning how to deal with people, and one's emotional needs, and make plans for a rewarding future. The books I had to read at Columbia had nothing to do with anything as mundane as making a living or liking yourself or understanding how to work constructively with other people.

But the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is different. I really, really wish I had read this book as a Columbia freshman in 1981. Of course it wasn't written till 1989. But I'm convinced that reading the 7 Habits would have taught me more than reading Homer's ILIAD or Plato's REPUBLIC.

What Stephen R. Covey does is so much more than just telling sales types how to win friends and influence people. He teaches you how to think about what you really want from life, and how to express those goals, frame them in a workable context, and make them possible by connecting with other people. Those are all skills I didn't have when I entered Carman Hall in the fall of 1981, and I didn't have them when I left Furnald Hall for the last time in 1985.

It seems to me that these fancy Ivy League colleges do nothing but rip people off, especially in the Humanities divisions. They don't teach practical job skills, or self-development, or leadership, or anything else. They don't encourage skepticism or independent thought. Nobody even pretends that reading Homer's ILIAD will help students find a job, or even know how to look for a job. Jobs aren't important, because, hey, only rich kids go to Columbia! And if you're not rich, you don't really belong, so who are you to question the curriculum?

Of course no one expressed it in quite that way. When I was at Columbia in the Reagan Eighties, a lot of the more left wing professors took pleasure in sneering at kids my age as being materialistic and lacking ideals. They really made you feel that you had no business hoping for any kind of practical benefits from your education. And they were really, really clear on the fact that undergraduates had no business asking for help. They weren't there to help. They were there to lecture. And they weren't thinking win-win!

If I could have my college education to do over again I wouldn't go to Columbia. I wouldn't read Homer's Iliad or Plato's Republic. But I would definitely read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People!

My boss really hates the word synergy and now I know why.

Decidedly a classic in business books but I have to agree with other reviewers...this book made such a difference that the principles embedded themselves in business culture. And so it felt like it didn't teach me anything new. But I respect the difference it made! I did like the author's reflections at the end.

Tikėjausi daugiau. Tam neturėjau jokio pagrindo, tik tai, kad šią knygą man rekomendavo žmogus kuriuo žaviuosi. Na, bent žavėjausi.

Nors autorius neklysta, kad šių principų pritaikymas gali pagerinti žmogaus gyvenimą, man buvo apverktinai nuobodu. Akys bėgo per tekstą, tikėdamosi užkibti už įdomesnio žodžio ar idėjos. Galiausiai pasidaviau knygos neperskaičius—niekas nekibo.

Patarimai, į gyvenimą žiūrint supaprastintai, gali būti naudingi. Prisiimk atsakomybę už savo gyvenimą (nebūk aplinkybių auka), turėk tikslą, dėl ko darai dalykus, tą tikslą prioritetizuok, ir stenkis, kad būtų gerai ne tik tau, bet ir kitiems. Nusižiovaujau rašydama. Šie principai nėra beverčiai, jų laikymasis, manau, padėtų kai kuriems žmonėms. Tačiau man tai skamba kaip savaime suprantami dalykai.