December Book Review
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is perhaps one of the most well-known self-help books in the world. It was published in 1989 by Stephen R. Covey, an influential American educator and cofounder of a global leadership firm, and immediately became a cornerstone in personal development. It is recognized specifically for its timeless framework and impact on leadership and productivity.
Covey introduces a set of principles for achieving effectiveness in all areas of life. He organizes his ideas around seven habits designed to shift readers from a reactive, dependent approach to a proactive, interdependent mindset. His framework helps people build essential skills to become more self-aware, purposeful, and capable of prioritizing effectively.
I personally found his approach simple yet incredibly insightful and effective. Certain statements he made seem trivial and given, and yet reading them so clearly felt like a revelation. For women navigating career changes, overlapping goals, and long-term projects with everyday responsibilities, his habits can help offer clarity and direction.
He distills this approach into 7 main habits:
Be Proactive – Take responsibility for your reactions and choices. Focus on what you can control.
Begin with the End in Mind – Define a clear vision of your goals and align your actions accordingly.
Put First Things First – Prioritize tasks based on importance rather than urgency, managing time with intention.
Think Win-Win – Seek mutual benefit in interactions, promoting collaboration and relationships over competition.
Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood – Practice empathetic listening to foster trust and communication.
Synergize – Value diverse perspectives to create innovative solutions that are better than individual contributions.
Sharpen the Saw – Regularly renew your physical, mental, and emotional resources to stay balanced and effective.
Oftentimes self-help books, especially ones aiming to ‘organize your life’ tend to either be too amorphic or too detailed. I was looking for advice practical enough to implement yet simple enough to do so with minimal fuss. In his book, Covey provides various practical tools to tackle those ideas. I want to address the ones I found most useful:
The Personal Mission Statement
Define who you want to be and where you want to go. This doesn’t have to be grand or ambitious—just identify what truly matters to you. Your mission could revolve around areas like relationships, career, personal growth, or faith. By clarifying these objectives, it becomes easier to take meaningful steps toward them.
Set Up Goals
Make sure the goals support your efforts in becoming your aspired, mission statement self. Take a moment to consider the values you wish to adopt alongside your actions.
Covey’s Time Management Matrix (And my favorite one)
Covey's categorizes tasks into four quadrants:
Urgent & Important – Immediate crises or deadlines.
Not Urgent but Important – Long-term goals and strategic priorities.
Urgent but Not Important – Distractions that feel pressing.
Not Urgent & Not Important – Time-wasters.
The second quadrant, which focuses on long-term goals, often gets overlooked amid daily urgencies. Small, consistent efforts here—like exercising or learning a skill—build the foundation for lasting success. And yet, we tend to overlook them because we are busy and overwhelmed.
Having the matrix visible reminds me of what truly matters and helps me prioritize. Creating your own is simple: divide a page into four quadrants, label them, and update regularly. Focus on filling the "Not Urgent but Important" section—it’s where meaningful progress happens.
I hope you find these tools as useful as I have. I highly recommend giving this book a read—it's filled with valuable insights and little gems!
Reviewed by
Ofri Ben David