Having a healthy skepticism of "self-help" books caused me to be lacking in enthusiasm when this book was recommended to me by my older brother. He had been studying it with some friends at work and had high praise for its content. I think I would never have picked it up except that I happened to be at my brother's house while he and my mom read a chapter aloud. Wow. It wasn't anything like what I had expected and turned out to be quite good. I believe that this book has helped me to deal with and understand others better, focus my energy more on helpful and productive things and overcome some of the frustrations I've experienced as a mother of small children. I used to scoff at the idea of "writing down goals" and such. After I read the book, I purchased a planner - a binder which includes a detailed calendar, address book, check register, and room for other important information. Using the planner and the ideas from Mr. Covey's book really helped me get the ball rolling on my plans and ideas for homeschooling.