Before I started to read this book I could sense it wasn't a regular one. Perhaps it was because some people at Southworks highly recommended it. Or it might have been due to the several quotes at the beginning of the book claiming its greatness. Or maybe it was just my intuition. Regardless I started reading with great enthusiasm.

After a few pages I was really into it. It might have been, as Covey would later say, because my paradigm was preset and I had to make it fulfill. But I do not think that was the reason.

I liked the book because of it's main principle: the empowering of the character ethics. I have personally been told a lot of times, because of having some sort of an idealistic personality, that I can't expect everything as it should be. That justice and fairness usually do not exist in the world.

Therefore, Covey's idea about a man based on his principles was appealing to me. Through the seven habits, he demonstrated that with will power and a sense of rightness in self actions, considering the human being's responsibility for his actions, almost everything is up to us (Habit 1: Pro-activity). With the right set of values, defined be each person's goals (Habit 2: Beginning with the end in mind) and a way to determine what actions should be taken in each time (Habit 3: First things first) you will achieve what is define as Private Victory. This PRIVATE is what you need for a PUBLIC victory, applying an inside-out approach.

The public victory is reached with a philosophy that there is plenty for all of us to share (ABUNDANCE MENTALITY). Thus we need to think of situations were all parties feel they have been benefited (Habit 4: Think Win-Win). To get this situation to take place, people should first understand what the other side(s) wants and then explain their point of view. (Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood). An when that happens usually the outcome is greater than the sum of the parts (Habit 6 Synergy). All this habits have to be practiced (redundant since they are habits, but I'm trying to make a point), and that brings renewal (Habit 7: Sharpen the saw).

Personally the public victory habits are extremely hard to apply. Not because the things needed for them are complex (they are, but can be accomplished with patience), but because the society we live in has a Paradigm that almost specifically destroys habits 4 & 5. Most people usually think Win-Lose, and first to express their point of view. Differences are cause of fear and defensive behavior instead of seeing them as an opportunity to learn from the other.

In an utopic society values would be the center stone, and most habits in this book would be followed by all, but it is not the case. To set an example, when I told my friends about this book and how much I liked it, some of them laugh at me because they considered I was reading a book for "self-help". This shows that they did not sought to understand first (for example reading the book).

Although I am currently not able to say to which extent I plan on practicing the 7 habits, I can say that this book has had a deep effect in me. Somehow I know that this isn't the last time I'm going to read its contents.