The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

2nd ed. [25th Anniversary]

Some great points to think about. Great insight why it's important to figure out what you stand for and stick to it.

I wanted to read this book because it's a classic and I've read good reviews of it. The book brings precious and timeless advice but I didn't like the way they were delivered. I think the writing style is boring and the author tries to “over-explain” concepts that are not that complex. And the examples he brings of his real cases with clients or with his family didn't catch my attention, I thought they were uninteresting at the majority of times.
In short, I think the book lacks objectivity and over complicates the subjects. It wasn't a good read for me at all.

Parts of this book that I love, and parts that I detest. Not sure where it places it as a whole.

As a whole, I would avoid reading, and would recommend Nathaniel Branden isntead.

The parts I like: It is to look at things at their core, to realise that any outward manifestation is only meaningful only insofar as it is a genuine expression of inwards. So when you celebrate those things - you can enjoy your achievements, and that's not a paradox, that's not vanity. Because you're enjoying that you have acted in accordance with your own essence. And this is what helps you withstand the consequences when they are negative, too. But all these quick “tools” - behavioural tactics - ultimately are doomed to failure, insofar as this expression isn't the downstream manifestation of this inner source.

Problems:
This book was written on the train of the sneering Viktor Frankl Western Buddhism thing
Alongside it not being supported by the neuroscience (can expand on this later).
Is that it doesn't give any weight to the role of suffering
We didn't evolve to suffer and feel sadness for no reason. These aren't just parts of ourselves that we should try to meditate ourselves out of. We are not just these plain people who can subjectively ascribe any meaning to our experiences. Moreover, nor should we want to do so. We were not given pain so that we can simply look for some meditative tool to avoid it. No, instead we have to experience the pain, lean it into it.

This book was a DNF. I firmly believe that this book could be summarized in a 5 page article. There is so much useless text that the author added to hit a quota. There was nothing groundbreaking, or overly informative. Anything that is helpful, has been smothered or buried in unnecessary text.