I recently re-read the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey, for my book club. Since this is one of the classics of the self-help genre, I wanted to do a deep dive into it, and talk about each of the habits.
I believe in the importance of habits in self-improvement. But Covey is using a different definition of habit than how most people would think of it. You would typically think of a habit as something you regularly do. But the first six habits are more about how you think and who you are as a person.
This is fundamental to Covey’s approach. Most self-help books are external facing, in that they deal with actions and interactions with other people. But Seven Habits is more internal facing. Covey believes that our actions and the way we live our lives stems from our personal character, so this book is focused on helping the reader develop the right character ethic.… Read more