About the author:
Brian Tracy is a Canadian-American motivational speaker and a writer of more than 70 top-selling books which have been translated to more than seven languages. Currently, he is one of the world’s most sought-after public speakers as he addresses an average of 250,000 individuals annually to help them achieve their goals.
Who should read?
I would recommend this book to anyone who strives to excel in a particular area of choice.
My personal take-away:
In all probabilities, this is the most comprehensive book I have read on the subject so far. What I loved about it is the practical advice Brian gives to help us design our lives around achieving the goals we most desire. He recommends a 12-step process that can help us to excel in anything that we want to achieve. I have found this process extremely profound and pragmatic, so thought of sharing it with you.
Summary:
Here is a quick look at the 12-step approach author suggests:
- Have a desire: Figure out one thing that makes you feel excited and has the potential to keep you awake at nights. When you do that, put your logic aside, listen to your heart and allow yourself to dream big.
- Believe in it: You have to absolutely believe that the set goal can be achieved. If you start doubting your potential, failure is bound to happen. Instead you must divide the bigger goal into smaller, practical chunks and measure your progress against them.
- Write it down: Psychologists have proven that we become more committed to what we write down versus what we say. So write down your goals in present tense and positive sense. (For example: I visit Hawaii for vacation by the end of this year.)
- Analyze your starting point: Analyzing where you are now allows you to understand how should the path to future look like. Be honest with yourself and (if need be) face brutal truth.
- Determine why: When we start working on a new project, we are very excited and super motivated but those feelings don’t last forever. They usually come and go- so take some time to write down at least 5 reasons why you want to achieve the mentioned goal.
- Set a deadline: Having a deadline helps in two ways: firstly, it allows you to plan and secondly it adds the needed pressure. Deadline is your best guess about when the goal should be achieved. Don’t worry so much about not meeting it- in case you don’t, it doesn’t mean you have failed.
- Identify the obstacles: Brian applies the famous Pareto rule towards difficulties we encounter while targeting for a goal by stating that 80% of all obstacles faced come from within us and only 20% are due to external factors. This means that we have clear control over those 80% that could stop us from achieving our goals.
- Determine the additional knowledge and skill you need: Now that you have a goal, ask yourself why is it that this goal is not yet a reality? Figure out the skills you probably need to get there.
- Determine the people you’ll need: Identify people that can help you achieve success and start working on relationships with these people. However, don’t use anybody for your goals, rather create real relationships that are beneficial for both of you.
- Make a plan: Having a plan for achieving your goal is essential to your success. Make a plan but stay flexible. Observe how the environment changes and adjust your plan accordingly. We have limited resources (like time and energy) and you need to make sure that they are being put to the right use.
- Visualize: Create a habit of visualizing what you want. Visualizing achievement of your goals makes you behave in a way that you notice all the possibilities and dismiss any obstacles. When you do that, the right people and the right opportunities magically fall in your way.
- Never give up: No matter how much talent you have- if you don’t persist, you might just give up right before your big breakthrough. Don’t let any failures discourage you. Once you decide you want to achieve a goal, make a decision to never ever give up.