7 habits of highly effective people - Stephan R. Covey
To be honest I had trouble with this book. I would recommend it only because of the habits it inhabited (ha!). The foot traffic of this book was either study/technical jargon or examples of the problems he would come across...
However, the 7 habits he talks about are pretty good for life, I think. It's all based on a natural law principle system. Habit 1, 2, and 3 are private victories (freedom of deciding what to do, how to do it, and the physical act of doing it): habit 1 is being proactive (choosing to do it), habit 2, is begin with the end in mind (visualizing the end result) and habit 3 is putting first (important) things first (rather than last). The next 3 habits reflect public victories (respect, understanding, and the actual creating). Habit 4 thinks in win/win terms for all things (how can both "sides" benefit). Habit 5 is seeking to first understand (the other "side") and then to be understood (emphatic listening) and habit 6 is putting it all together, to be synergized (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts), the relationship between all SIX habits and how you balance them together. Habit 7, he called "sharpening the saw" which basically means to replenish and rejuvenate one's self so the balance linked between everything can be productive (a sharpened saw is easier to cut with then a dull one).
However, the 7 habits he talks about are pretty good for life, I think. It's all based on a natural law principle system. Habit 1, 2, and 3 are private victories (freedom of deciding what to do, how to do it, and the physical act of doing it): habit 1 is being proactive (choosing to do it), habit 2, is begin with the end in mind (visualizing the end result) and habit 3 is putting first (important) things first (rather than last). The next 3 habits reflect public victories (respect, understanding, and the actual creating). Habit 4 thinks in win/win terms for all things (how can both "sides" benefit). Habit 5 is seeking to first understand (the other "side") and then to be understood (emphatic listening) and habit 6 is putting it all together, to be synergized (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts), the relationship between all SIX habits and how you balance them together. Habit 7, he called "sharpening the saw" which basically means to replenish and rejuvenate one's self so the balance linked between everything can be productive (a sharpened saw is easier to cut with then a dull one).
This copy I found was a reprint of its original (printed in the 1980s) and in it, he mentions that in the 20+ years this has been circulating, our culture has also found another habit to be effective: a sense of voice. He has a whole separate book about this 8th habit, however, in regards to finding and using one's voice effectively and productively and helping pass this trait along to others.
