Eat That Frog!

Lesson 1. Chalk out your plan of action.

Every successful plan begins with a clear-cut goal. You need to have clarity regarding what you want to achieve. Once the goal is clear in your mind, you can work on your plan of action. 

It is important to write your goal down at the beginning. Did you know that those who have written goals accomplish five to ten times more than others who don’t? 

So you’ve managed to set down a definite goal on paper. What next? Plan your time in advance. Break your goal down into a series of steps which you can cover one at a time. 

You can also use checklists. Using checklists is an effective method that helps you visualize your goal beforehand. Every time you finish a task, mark it as complete on your checklist. This really helps keep you motivated. It will give you a sense of accomplishment, and push you to work towards your final objective.

Also, research has shown that productivity and success improve by 25 percent, when you work from a list. You also save a lot of time, since the entire plan of action is already laid out in front of you. You don’t have to sit and wonder what to do next. 

Tracy lays down something called the 80/20 rule or the Pareto Principle. According to this rule, every list of ten tasks should contain two which are more important than the rest. Focus more on these two.

We have a general tendency to emphasize on the easier tasks. However, the 80/20 rule will help you not lose sight of the two most difficult tasks.

Lesson 2. Importance of having long-term goals and prioritizing your tasks.

So you have a definite goal and you’ve also broken it down into a set of smaller tasks. Now how do you go about executing these tasks?

Having long-term goals is extremely beneficial. A study conducted by Harvard University has shown that having long-term goals is the biggest indicator of whether someone will succeed in achieving their goals. It’s an even bigger indicator than educational or social background. So be far-sighted and have long-term goals! You’ll have greater chances of being successful!

Sort your tasks according to their priority. The ABCDE method is something you can use to prioritize your tasks. This method involves assigning a letter to each of the tasks you’ve written down, depending on their priority. The one with the letter A will have a higher priority than the one with