Steven and Sandra Covey

Author Stephen Covey and his wife Sandra went through some struggles with one of their sons. He did poorly in school, found it hard to follow directions, and was physically weak and uncoordinated. Other kids laughed at him. Covy and his wife encouraged him and tried to help however they could but nothing helped.

In his studies and research, Covey ran across the “Pygmalion effect,” which focused on how perceptions are formed and how they are deeply entrenched within us. Covey and his wife looked in the mirror and realized that they perceived their son to be inadequate, behind for his age. They also realized they were conveying this perception to their son. They realized they had to change.

Covey was also deeply involved in “success” literature published since 1776. The more he scrutinized it, it became clear that most of these works over the...