6 years ago, I began reading the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

At the time, I was lining my bookshelf with books that would improve my leadership, and this one fit the bill.

Immediately, I was drawn to two core ideas outlined in the book:

1. Build inner character first – private victory before public victory
2. The Personality and Character Ethics – how many now perceive Personality as more essential to success than Character

Something inside clicked.  I couldn’t put words to it, but I knew this was both deeply personal to me and widely representative of society.

As I read on, that inner voice continued its nod of approval.  This was gold.

But another feeling started to rise up in me.  A gulf between the reality of what this book was saying and my personal experience.

I finally made it to the end of Habit 1 – Be Proactive.  101 pages in, I put the book down, and didn’t pick it back up for months.  I’ve done this 2 times since then.  Read a chunk, put the book down, revisit.  And I sense another round coming.  

But why read a book like this?  I certainly didn’t plan to take it this slow.  I secretly cringe when someone asks for a book reco, and I bring this one up because it has had a major impact on my life, but I’m just over halfway through it after 6 years!

The reality is, I got to page 101 and was overwhelmed by the gulf.  And deeply convicted.  I just simply hadn’t taken the time to cultivate very much character at all.  Much of the good content that resonated were aspirations for the kind of life I wanted to live, and the not so good resonated because it was the life I was currently living.

It was a huge reality check.

So I could have plowed through and checked the box to say I read it.  But by taking the slow road, throwing out the agenda and just living in light of these new insights with intention, I’ve seen actual character develop within myself that wasn’t there before.  I’ve seen a truer me emerge.

There’s a short-list of books that have had this level of an impact on me.  The ones that deserve re-reading.  Going slow.  That, if given permission and space, will deeply form and transform.  Paradigm shifters.  That serve as a roadmap to the terrain of life.

• Becoming a King – Morgan Snyder
• Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (and Leader) – Pete Scazerro
• Fire Your Boss – Aaron McHugh
• The Gifts of Imperfection – Brene Brown