7 Habits of Highly Effective People Audiobook

Ths seems like a good idea, but it could be a rather bad one.

If a sighted person were to digest the “7 Habits” via an audio file, then this could arguably be setting up a sort of oxymoron.

The average speaking speed is said to be about 150 wpm (words per minute), and the average reading speed is 200 to 250wpm. A speed reader could read around 400 to 600wpm.

Taking information on board through the earholes would be highly inefficient and relatively ineffective when compared to reading. This would be not only because of the above gap in wpm speeds, but also because the reader can refer to different parts of the book – as and when necessary, to improve comprehension and understanding – either to previous bits of the book that have already been read, or to other sections of the book yet to be read. It is not so easy to do this when reading from a computer screen, as opposed to a physical book, but it is impossible to do this when listening and trying to absorb a stream of audio, unless you keep rewinding and listening again or forward fast forward winding (a very slow and inefficient process).

If you compound the relative inefficiency and ineffectiveness of audio input by listening “…in your car while driving”, as suggested in this post, then you risk either distracting your attention from the audio (thus missing huge chunks of what is being said) or distracting your attention from your driving (thus risking an accident).

Now compound this some more – try answering your cellphone whilst driving and listenting to an audio tape and you can really increase the probability of you and/or your passengers succeeding in becoming paraplegic as a result of some horrific car accident.

To maximise your knowledge uptake whilst at the same time optimising your chanes of a long and healthy life, I would thus strongly recommend buying the book from a secondhand bookstore – or you could get it online from Amazon very cheaply, either new or used. i.e., Do yourself a favour and do by considering *not* following the suggestions in this post.

You forgot to mention you need to register there…

Thanks Amit. But this is only for citizens of certain countries… I got this message :-(

We’re Sorry

We are sorry but your geographic location prevents us from selling you The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. We have removed the item from your cart.

Return to the Audible.com homepage, or use the links below to find what you’re looking for.

Thank you Amit for giving the tip . Looking in future for updates.

@Sanjeev – i have just downloaded it. its not a problem. just use an email address like yahoo.com etc and not yahoo.co.in and country as USA.you will be able to download through itunes or their audible manager ( which u need to download). alternatively you can check the link here link for other places to download its ebooks etc

Any response(s) to the first comment ?? he seems trollish but I think he does have a point.

Well, this advertisement for audible made sure I won’t be purchasing there ever.

First they tell you it’s an MP3, then when you try to download you have to install some download manager. The download manager can’t find my iPod, and when I finally get a song downloaded, it tells me that iTunes isn’t installed correctly and so I can’t listen to the song anyways.

And the file I downloaded isn’t an MP3, it’s some DRM-laden thing that it of no use to me due to the technical issues that aren’t worth my time to resolve since they effect nothing else on my computer.

Thanks for an unpleasant half hour audible. I’ll just pirate it instead thanks.

Re: First response. I listen to audio books all the time in my car. As I am on the road a lot, it makes more efficient use of my time. W/good audio books, I usually listen several times to absorb more of the information. Furthermore, I am a “verbal” person, I take in information more readily via voice and retain it better. As for answering a cell phone, I stop the audio book before answering (like everyone else who actually listens to a.b’s). It is not inefficient, because I’m using “dead” time for learning/inspiration. I don’t make outgoing calls while driving as I feel that is distracting. Finally, some people can listen to audio books while driving (and not be distracted by them). Some people can’t. If you can, do. If you can’t, don’t. I usually average 30 – 50 audio books/year in my car. I’ve learned so much and they’ve led to inspiration in my career and home life. As for them being a distraction? I have a clean driving record.

Well, in response to the first comment, you can actually choose not to listen to it in your car if you feel it increases the risk of accidents. I can easily find ways people can benefit from it without risking accidents.

For instance, you can be commuting in the subway and listen to it safely. You can also be listening to it in your long flight. Believe me, it takes the boredom away. Plus, you can also be sitting in a park after a jog and listen to it while you enjoy the view. Well, there are just so many ways you can enjoy and audio file.

Just like a book, you can listen to it over and over again to gain new insights every time you listen to it. Like everything else, anything is a double edged sword. It’s what you make of it that counts. Misuse of anything is never good but the proper use of something will bring you its potential benefits.

Thanks ayuvid. It was happening because of the ‘country’ thingy. Managed to download the file..

thanks again.

Thanks Amit for this. I am a regular reader of labnol & you publish some really good helpful posts. I have downloaded the book & would be listning it while driving to my office
thanks again!!! & keep writing such good posts