The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Coveyby Stephen Covey
Shares rank 13 of 22 self-help books by recommenders
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.
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.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Practical for day-to-day issues
“consistently been useful in actually navigating issues day to day”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “The Self-Help Trap: What 20 Years of "Optimizing" Has Taught Me” More complete than similar books
“covers similar ground and is more complete and more specific”
Comment from 4 May 2026 in “Talking to 35 Strangers at the Gym” Great book despite criticism
“even the much maligned Seven Habits is a really great book”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Talking to 35 Strangers at the Gym” Habits seem sound to readers
“the 7 habits seem like good ones to me”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Talking to 35 Strangers at the Gym”
Other self-help books people recommend
The four most recommended other self-help books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How to Win Friends and Influence Peopleby Dale Carnegie | 67 | 25 | 73% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Atomic Habitsby James Clear | 20 | 2 | 91% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Easy Way to Stop Smokingby Allen Carr | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Feeling Goodby David Burns | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peopleby Stephen CoveyThis page | 4 | 2 | 67% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“even the much maligned Seven Habits is a really great book”
“the 7 habits seem like good ones to me”
“covers similar ground and is more complete and more specific”
“consistently been useful in actually navigating issues day to day”
“They play on your insecurities and promise silver bullets.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.