Book Review: "Eat that Frog" by Brian Tracy

The famous Canadian-American Author Brian Tracy has published this self-help book in 2001 which consists of 123 pages. After I have received many recommendations from different readers, I have decided to add it in my 2019 reading list. Due to the Ramadan Month and my busy schedule, it took me 15 days to read this small book.

Upon available data on Google, Brian Tracy is an author, keynote and motivational speaker who wrote more than seventy books which is translated into many languages, his areas of writing and speeches include leadership, Self-Esteem, Goals, Strategy, Creativity, Success Psychology, sales and marketing, investments, real estate development and syndication, importation, distribution and management consulting. The main reason that he wrote this book is to help people in dealing with their procrastination problems. Besides, this book, the psychology of achievement is the most popular book among his other books.

To continue with my review, this book teaches us many insights about completing your tasks in a simple way. It encourages us to focus on our most important tasks. The author enumerates how important is to engage with fruitful activities like reading, exercising, learning new words on foreign language, calling your prospective customers and etc.

The book illustrates the imperativeness of planning, it says that 10-20 minutes of planning will save 2 hours in implementation, the book warns us to begin our day with doing low-value tasks instead it encourages us, to start with our most important tasks, it says no matter the difficult and important of the task, what matters is the beginning, by the time you start it, your brain will automatically work to finish it. It also says that the time to do low value task is simply equal the time you can do with an important task.

One of the surprising facts in the book says that, having long-time perspective or future plans contribute to the success more than Family background, Education, Race, intelligence, Connections, and etc. It is always better to engage in meaningful activities that helps you in your future, than doing low-value activities that brings you temporary pleasure in the short term.

I have learned that the most important word in time management is NO, it is recommended for everyone to use it regularly as part of his/her time management vocabularies.  In addition, it is advised to divide your tasks into ABCDE-defining A as the most important task and E as the least important one respectively. Life is not all about work, it is proved the happiest moments in your life comes from the time you spend with your loved ones, make sure that your time at work is effective and to spend more time at home than the work.

“The only way to overcome your fears is to “do the thing you fear” and other life changing quotes in the books is what makes it breathtaking one, It is very important to break the tasks into parts and finish one part at a time, Have you ever thought about how the best-selling books are the results of small number of pages written on a daily basis. Never underestimate your little efforts, their results are very huge.
 

Many people fail to upgrade their skills, they have forgotten the fact that “if you are not getting better, you are getting worse” by Pat Riley, You may be a good professional today, but always improve yourself and learn new skills, because the market will always demand the competent ones who are equipped with the latest skills, keep in mind every skill is learnable.

The secret of life is very simple, develop the things that you enjoy doing it, there are always some jobs that you never tired on them, your talent lies there, just take courses and seminars on that area, and excel it. Scrutinize what is holding you back, ask questions to yourself about the main constraints that prevents you from achieving your goal. 

Research shows that only 2% of the people can work independently without supervision, teach yourself to do all your stuff without anyone else pressuring you. Allow yourself to rest, get a day off every week, spend a time with your friends and engage activities that relax your body like swimming, walking out and etc.

Many people check their cell phone or internet right after they wake up, and as a result, they see themselves doing unimportant stuff and wasting their time till 11:00 AM, never check your electronic devices unless you have set your daily schedule and use them as a means of completing your tasks.

Finally, make sure to be self-disciplined, I mean, do you what you should do on time, whether you like it or not.