His family reported his death as the result of “residual effects” of an April bicycling accident, Deseretnews.com reported.

“He had a bike accident in April and he’s been weakening since,” his son Sean Covey said in the report. “We didn’t think he would go so soon, but he, all of the sudden, woke up and wasn’t feeling well.”

In his book “Spiritual Roots,” published in the 1970s, Covey stated:

“The roots of the problems we face in the world, in our national life and in our family and personal lives, are spiritual. The symptomatic manifestations (branches) of these problems are social, economic and political, but the roots are moral and spiritual. And they lie first within each individual and then within the family. Since the problems are rooted spiritually, the solutions are also. To not accept and act on this face is comparable to giving aspirin for headaches and covering sores with bandages. We must work on the causes, the roots.”

In the past, Time magazine named Covey one of the 25 Most Influential Americans. His book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” sold more than 20 million copies in 38 languages, according to the report. He also founded the Cover Leadership Center, which merged with Franklin Quest in 1997 to form FranklinCovey Co., a company focused on leadership, strategy and individual effectiveness.