First of all, if you are going to read this book, I HIGHLY suggest you get the ACTUAL hard copy book, not the e-book. I got the e-book and I think it hindered my enjoyment and understanding of the material within. There are charts and appendices and things like that, which are much easier to find when you can flip through actual pages.

The title is a little misleading. Sure, there are seven habits. That part is correct. But who are the highly effective people? There are no concrete examples of people who lived by the seven habits and therefore were highly effective. And just what does “highly effective” mean? I can be highly effective in sitting on the couch. I am an expert in couch sitting. But is that what the book means?

It took me several months to get through this ebook. It was kind of my “in-betweener” book that I’d slog through when I just finished another ebook, or I was sitting in a doctor’s office, waiting for my name to be called. I didn’t devote any great amount of time or energy to getting through it. So for me to write a review that is comprehensive and fair to the entire book might be a stretch.

I will say that I took some things away from this book. I mean, the gist is to be proactive, be a good listener, understand others’ needs, the art of a compromise, etc. But the rest was just kind of filler material, in my mind. I glazed over a lot of this filler to get to the meat. Mmmmm. Meat.

I was hoping for more case study-type material in this book, some real-life examples of these principles at work and how using them would make me a highly effective person. I don’t think this mission was accomplished. I got way more out of Poke the Box by Seth Godin and that was probably 1/10 the length of this one.

Anyway, this book is highly acclaimed and popular the world over, so perhaps I am missing the boat here. It just wasn’t my thing.