# The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

4 Hacker News commenters recommended The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a practical day-to-day guide, more complete and specific than similar books. One critic says it plays on insecurities and promises silver bullets.

## Why people recommend it

- Practical for day-to-day issues (1 comments): "consistently been useful in actually navigating issues day to day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47259246))
- More complete than similar books (1 comments): "covers similar ground and is more complete and more specific" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48010645))
- Great book despite criticism (1 comments): "even the much maligned Seven Habits is a really great book" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48017904))
- Habits seem sound to readers (1 comments): "the 7 habits seem like good ones to me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48017384))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie](https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people.md): 67 recommend
- [Atomic Habits by James Clear](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atomic-habits.md): 20 recommend
- [The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr](https://hackerapproved.com/p/easy-way-to-stop-smoking.md): 9 recommend
- [Feeling Good by David Burns](https://hackerapproved.com/p/feeling-good.md): 8 recommend
- [The Art of Money Getting by P.T. Barnum](https://hackerapproved.com/p/art-of-money-getting.md): 8 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1471195708?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781471195709) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey", https://hackerapproved.com/p/7-habits-of-highly-effective-people/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).