Top 10 lessons from Eat That Frog - Brian Tracy's classic book
The key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity is for you to develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each morning.
They say that we should have a laser like focus on this one task and ignore all others until it’s finished.
Am I going to be successful in life ? For me to be successful I must develop the lifelong habit of tackling my major task first thing in the morning. Don’t think about it too long, just do it.
?Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the key determinant of your success in life and in work.
2. If you have a list with 10 tasks on it, do you tackle the small ones first ? The message in this book is that 2 of those tasks are more valuable than the other 8 so we must know which of these tasks are most important and tackle them first.
Long term thinking improves short term decision making.
3. Our time horizon has a huge impact on our choices. Something that is important has long term consequences. Something that is unimportant has no long term consequences. Before starting a job ask myself ‘what are the long term consequences of doing or not doing this job ?’
4. Classify all jobs as A,B,C. never do a B task until all the A’s are finished. Don’t be distracted by a tadpole while the frog is sitting there waiting to be eaten.
Eat the whole frog and don’t be distracted until it’s finished.
?What one skill, if I developed and did in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my career ?
5. Goethe once famously said that
There is never enough time to do everything but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.
This saying sums up some much about this book and the 80:20 approach to planning our time so that we maximize our output and our efficiency.
I’m slow to use the word time management as I think much of that approach focuses in trying to get a gallon into a pint glass. Much of time management focuses on efficiency whereas the ‘frog’ approach and 80:20 talks about doing the most important tasks and many of the lesser tasks will have to wait.
There is no point scrambling very efficiently up the ladder of success if it’s leaning against the wrong wall.
Some other questions we need to ask ourselves on a regular basis.
What are my most high value activities ?
What can I and only I do that, if done well, will make a big difference ?
What is the most valuable use of my time right now ?
领英推荐
(this is a question we should ask ourselves at least 3 times per day)
6. Plan your next day in advance
Before you finish up for the day, plan the next day in advance. This system works even better if there was already a plan for the week and before that a plan for the month and the year.
7. Upgrade your skills all the time
Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.
8. Identify your key constraints
Most of us have dreams and goals so have you ever wondered why you have not achieved yours already ?
Most of the constraints that hold us back are internal so we identify them and work to eliminate them completely.
9. Are you a morning person or an evening one ?
We all have certain times when we’re at our best so know when yours is and save your most important tasks (frogs) for that time.
10. Learn to say ‘NO’.
One of the things that differentiates high performers from low ones is what they choose to procrastinate on. High performers have no problem saying no, in a nice way, as they know quite often that saying yes to a tadpole means not having time for their frog.
?Summary
?The key messages in this book is that we need to know our most important tasks (frogs), our 80:20 jobs and do them first thing in the morning.
There is never enough time to do everything but there is always enough time to eat your frog.
Long term thinking improves short term decision making.
Why are you on the payroll ?
What is the most valuable use of my time right now ?
(this is a question we should ask ourselves at least 3 times per day)
?Neil?
Certified Brand Architect : : Sparking Transformation Beyond Boundaries. Harmoniously disrupting and quietly challenging the traditional, reshaping business perception. Sustainable, Innovative, Human Centred Brand Design
1 年Interesting article Neil. I love your question ‘what are the long term consequences of doing or not doing this job ?’ Isn’t there a theory that you fill the hours you have with the tasks you have to do?? Procrastination is a killer!!
Enabling Growth Through Inspired Leadership and Effective Teamwork
1 年There's a lot of great ideas in there Neil. Using you time to best effect is really important - and it's important to realize that some things are more important than others. And I do plan my day - I usually write down a list of the important calls I need to make tomorrow. I already know who's on the list for tomorrow.
Fractional CSO| Lead Generation Specialist | Sales Specialist | LinkedIn Sales Navigator | Sales Growth | Sales Conversion | Objection Handling | Sales Scripts ? NEW FOR 2025 ?| Team of Smilers & Dialers |
1 年I love anything that Brian Tracy writes... Eat the frog ?? ?? I'd a great way to start the day.. you get that instant dopamine hit from crossing off the harder tasks on the aul to do list. And if I don't eat the frog first thing then I end up putting it off... the frog gets a bit stinkier and harder to 'eat' then I get into danger of bargaining with myself.... 'sure, I will just EAT 2 FROGS tomorrow' and sure that never happens. Eat the frog first thing ??
Balanced Living | Where Wellness Meets Sustainability
1 年Thank you for sharing this Neil, this book has been on my read list for a while now, just haven't got around to it yet. Love the idea of asking....What is the most valuable use of my time right now ? Will be taking this onboard for sure.
Drive more consistency into your sales results | Training | Coaching | Consulting | SKO Keynote Speaker
1 年The French were on to something.....wonderful metaphor