The sad news came out earlier today that author and personal development guru, Stephen Covey, passed away.

If you’re not familiar with him, Mr. Covey is probably best known for his work, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” which sold 20 million copies and is commonly referred to as the most influential book for businesses. This is a book I’ve used in my coaching and training for years and it’s also a personal favorite. If you’ve never read it and don’t have the inclination to do so, the Wall Street Journal did a great, very brief overview of it here. However, I strongly recommend you take the time to read the whole book. Then re-read it. Then dissect it. And re-read it again.

That’s how important I believe this book is.

Mr. Covey authored many other bestselling books on personal and professional development and was also one of the founders of FranklinCovey, the company that creates some of the best time management and organizational products and training programs around.

In short, Mr. Covey was exceptionally successful, globally influential and a mentor to many. When we talk about the people who have shaped our lives, Mr. Covey’s name is frequently mentioned. He lived a great life from what I can tell. I say that as an outsider looking in, so I could very well be wrong. But he certainly contributed to the world in a big way. He touched a lot of people.

He will be sorely missed by people like me—people who are always striving to achieve more, to grow, and to find the best of themselves in every day life. He brought many new and exciting ideas to the mainstream. He changed the lives of millions of people, including me. And through me, he will continue to change lives.

So let’s honor him by doing great things with the short time we have on this planet. Let’s put our big ideas out there. Let’s aim to always be growing and learning. Let’s never settle for low expectations. Let’s use our time wisely, as he did.

More importantly, let’s live like highly effective people. That’s his legacy, after all.