The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Self-help classics like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and How to Win Friends and Influence People teach principles I still apply today at work. Books didn't change my career path, people whom I knew and interacted with did.

Ovidiu listed this book among the ones that had the biggest impact on him.

I am currently reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and I’ve already experienced subtle changes in mindset that can help me do more with the resources I have, so I’m closely following my goal. This book is a revelation! I’ve seen it be recommended so many times that I was almost sure it couldn’t possibly live up to the hype. Contrary to my expectations, it did and quite brilliantly.

First, a word on career paths. In time, I realised that career paths are like one-way streets. Magic happens in unexplored territories. Plus life is how you choose to live every moment, every day. So today, rather than building a career, I prefer to make lateral moves in life, working with great people and being part of ambitious projects impacting the world. There are a few books that got me here: [...] Stephen R. Covey "7 Habits of Highly Effective People".

Also Stephen Covey had a strong influence on me in terms of management and business some years ago and the advice in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People are still the principles I turn to in my life always.

This revolutionized my work day!

A classic, 7 Habits of Highly Effective people. It had been recommended to me before and I wish I had of read it earlier. I use the techniques in this book to organise my day, be far more effective, have more impact, less stress and more free time

The Best! This book blew me away when I first read it. It was written in 1989 so the ideas won't seem new or groundbreaking. The author has a particular way of putting things that just makes sense to me. I loved this book so much that I read it again as soon as I finished it. I go back and reread it every couple of years. It's that good!

Habit 2 of Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” states “Begin with the end in mind.” This helped me immensely and immediately on a macro level in terms of motivating me to clarify exactly where I want to be and what I want to be doing in 10-20-30 years. However, it also helped me on a micro level when starting a new project or venture. Starting anything, be it a hobby, business, sport, etc. can be daunting and I believe we often hide by getting caught up in minutiae which takes our eyes off the big “scary” goal (ex. what font should I use on the website?, what putter should I buy?, what programming language should I learn first?). By beginning with the end in mind, I force myself to clearly spell out what success looks like for a particular undertaking and anything trivial that disrupts me from arriving at said goal is tabled.

The other books that contributed to my learnings are “How to win friends and influence people”, “The Lean Startup” & “ The 7 habits of highly effective people” I’m sure you have gotten much responses regarding those books and how much they have helped managers/CEOs/entrepreneurs. The lessons from these books were very critical in providing me a direction. They don’t often provide clear answers on how to create a successful business, but what they teach are the principles and techniques to run one.

At a young age it wasn’t the academical books as the material presented at school wasn’t that interesting but I was lucky that both my parents loved reading and I was brought up to read and it became a habit. Later at life the first book that had an impact on me was “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” that made me question certain things about my life and my perspective towards it. As for my career I would say it’s “Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader” “Working Identity” & “Coach & Couch".

This book is very helpful and insightful book that I like to refer back to when my schedule or commitments get too rushed or chaotic. Sometimes we have to step back, re-prioritize and refocus to stay effective and proactive rather than falling into the trap of becoming just reactive. This is a great book for that purpose.

Also, the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen R. Covey) and How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie) had a big impact on how I interact with other people at work and in my personal life.

When I read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People I was hungry to set a direction for my life and to start making things happen. I was 25 years old, but did not understand anything about how business or careers worked. I assumed you worked for a company and stayed there forever or that there was supposed to be a career ladder. This book showed me that for win or lose it was going to be up to me and the actions I took along the way.

My favorite business book is probably the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as it's helped me focus on the things that really move the needle.

I still remember reading 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People when I was in my mid-twenties and trying to determine the course my life would take. The idea of sharpening the saw hit me hard, and I remember dedicating myself to daily study and improvement at that very moment. It has paid profound dividends in my life ever since.

It provides an excellent framework for life design. Being a successful entrepreneur requires you to truly internalize why you do what you do and how it connects to your inner values, motivations, and goals. This book will help you build your own framework to help you achieve that.

The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People provided me with an excellent set of principles I could build off of for goal setting and personal development.

Another self-help classic, this time geared towards productivity and discipline. Timeless.