A classic by any standards, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", is by far one of the best books I have ever had the privilege of reading. Regardless of what your ambitions in life may be this is simply a book that you must read. Knowing that better than 80% of the people in world will never read a book once they have completed their formal education, I realize that I am talking to a very small crowd in the grand scheme of things.

I have just recently decided to take Stephen Covey up on his recommendation that this book is not simply a book to read through once and put on a shelf somewhere….which by the way is exactly what I did. For whatever reason I picked it up again and began from page one with the intent of reading it again from cover to cover.

As I began, something seemed to have jumped off the page at me. Very clearly Stephen points out that the material in this book is setup such that it is designed to be a companion as we go through this process of changing, growing, and understanding. While I distinctly remember this being there before it impacted me differently this time through.

Closely behind that, Mr. Stephen Covey asks that as the reader we shift our paradigm from that of the learner to that of a teacher. As he plainly describes that with the knowledge that we will be sharing this information, we are bound to take away a much deeper level of understanding. So, in keeping with his recommendation that within 48 hours of reading/learning the material from “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, I will be doing my best to explain what I have learned from this fantastic book, how I plan to implement the recommendations contained with these pages and lastly how I see it impacting my life.

While I will be sharing this information one on one with a number of close friends and family, I feel that by taking the time to express these thoughts through the written word I may actually see these lessons in yet another light. With that said I would welcome thoughts feedback, questions, etc, etc. I am very certain that with an ongoing exchange of ideas I will not only learn from what Stephen Covey has to say, but will learn much from you, the readers of the Persistence Marketing Blog.

For those of you who have never been so fortunate to read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, you may be wondering what to expect. The short answer is that regardless of your goals (Personal Development, Improved Leadership Skills, More Success in Life, More Success in your Network Marketing, More Success in your Career, etc, etc), this book has well defined set of steps that will give you a tremendous start.

Right from the cover of the book you will see that Stephen Covey provides you with a step by step process for living life with fairness, honesty, integrity and a integrated principle centered approach to solving both personal and professional challenges. As you can see from the previous statement, Covey has provided us with material for a solid foundation in life regardless of our dreams, goals or current situation.

Maybe I will be so lucky has to have a few of you read through the book at roughly the same time, thereby increasing our ability to share ideas and exchange thoughts on this classic.

As you are well aware my primary focus on a day to day basis is in the Network Marketing (MLM) industry and helping those that have a desire to succeed in freeing themselves from the limitations of a conventional job. With that said please do not let that prevent you from participating as I spent far too many years in what I consider classic employment, after which I owned my own company for a number of years and then was blessed enough to move to the world of Network Marketing. With that said I hope that you can see that I can probably relate to whatever your current situation may be at this time.

Oh, did I mention that I was the victim of a major company downsizing and shortly there after found myself more broke/broken than I had ever been. Pretty much felt that I had hit bottom. A massive change of status for someone that made VERY good money and pretty much did as I wanted. Life is not fair and at times may deal what we think is a unfair hand, but something I have come to learn. God always has my back and he has me right where I am supposed to be. Further more I am a firm believer that we never fail till we quit getting up. If you don't believe that look at all the great accomplishments in this world that were preceded by multiple failures.

Looking forward to a great exchange of ideas regardless of your current situation and where you may be heading in life.