My second recommendation of must-read books for anyone considering entrepreneurship or just about any other area of life is the timeless 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is a self-help book written by Stephen Covey that aims to help people improve their personal and professional effectiveness. The book’s central theme is that people should focus on “principle-centered” living, which means living according to a set of universal and timeless principles.
The seven habits outlined in the book are:
- Be proactive: Take initiative and responsibility for your life, rather than being reactive to circumstances.
- Begin with the end in mind: Set clear goals and a plan for achieving them.
- Put first things first: Prioritize important tasks and manage your time effectively.
- Think win-win: Seek mutually beneficial solutions to conflicts and problems.
- Seek first to understand, then to be understood: Listen actively to others and seek to understand their perspective before communicating your own.
- Synergize: Work effectively with others to achieve greater results.
- Sharpen the saw: Take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to maintain effectiveness over the long term.
Overall, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People encourages readers to adopt a proactive, goal-oriented, and principle-centered approach to personal and professional development. It has become a popular and influential book, with millions of copies sold worldwide.
A Great Book and a classic. Required reading for any management class. What I would really like is if you can expand the information with a discussion on what this book has done for you and how it has changed the way you work and do business. Have you put these principles into practice in your own business and work? A good start with lots of potential.
I do better with some of the principals than others, but I feel like I improve a little bit each time I wok through them.
Hi…This book is a classic and I agree with you that one should keep this book on their bookcase and re-read it every few years. However, I always struggle with #7 (Sharpen the saw: Take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to maintain effectiveness over the long term).
Can offer (either from your experience or something that the book suggests) a pathway to get from where there may be some bad habits that have formed to where we are embracing the true meaning of rule #7?
Thank you!
-Mike
It is definitely a book I cycle back to every few years. You would think I know it well, but I pick up new things and find solutions to problems with each read.
Thanks for the reminder on this book. I read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People quite some time ago and found it not only helpful in business but in all the departments of my life. Ever since reading the book my personal and business life has been predicated on a win-win solution to all challenges and problems in life. Now may just be a good time for a re-read. Much appreciated.
The win-win principle is so key for my life. Thank you for sharing!