Family Foundations- A Great Read

One of the best books Mr. Dunbar and I ever read was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. It had been sitting on the bookshelf at my parents house for years, so one day I grabbed it and brought it home. Unfortunately, one of the Habits is not "taking things from your parents house." (That's just a really bad habit of mine. See here.)

Of course Highly Effective Families is related to the best-seller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and the habits are pretty much the same. If you've never read these books here are the habits:
#1 Be Proactive.

#2 Begin with the end in mind.

#3 First things first.

#4 Think win win.

#5 Seek first to understand then be understood.

#6 Synergize

#7 Sharpen the saw.

You will of course, have to read the books, to understand what each habit truly entails.

The thing I liked about the Families version is that, well, it focuses on families. Epiphany, I know. That's just where we're at right now in the Dunbar home. Our sons are still young, focusing on them and their life is a major priority for Mr. Dunbar and I. This book just really simplified lots of things, like figuring out what is important, truly important to us and putting it on paper for both or all of us to see. Almost like cementing it in concrete, sort of. Did you ever have your handprint done in the cement outside your home when you were a kid? Loved that.

Anyhow, this book is not a fix it for your family. Hardly, but Highly Effective Families does offer a framework for making your home a unit with a goal. It uses business concepts like writing a mission statement and focusing on communication as well as putting your family first for generations.

I liked this concept.

Anyone else have some great family books?