Eat that frog: Key Takeaways.

Favorite quote: “One of the very worst uses of time is to do something very well that need not be done at all.”

Top 10 lessons from Eat That Frog book.

1. “If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.”
   This is another way of saying that if you have two important tasks before you, start with the biggest, hardest, and most important task first.”
2. “Rule: Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.”
3. “Everyone procrastinates. The difference between high performers and low performers is largely determined by what they choose to procrastinate on.”
4. “The Key to Success is Action”
5. “People who take a long view of their lives and careers always seem to make much better decisions about their time and activities than people who give very little thought to the future.”
6. “The law of Forced Efficiency says that “There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.”
7. “Rule: It is the quality of time at work that counts and the quantity of time at home that matters.”
8. “Say no to anything that is not a high-value use of your time and your life.”
9. “Anytime you stop striving to get better, you’re bound to get worse.”
10. “Refuse to allow a weakness or a lack of ability in any area to hold you back. Everything is learnable. And what others have learned, you can learn as well.”

Action steps from Eat That Frog book.

Take a clean sheet of paper right now and make a list of ten goals you want to accomplish in the next year. Write your goals as though a year has already passed and they are now a reality.

Use the present tense, positive voice, and first person singular so that they are immediately accepted by your subconscious mind. For example, you could write, “I earn x number of dollars per year by this date” or “I weigh x number of pounds by this date” or “I drive such and such a car by this date.”

(For a detailed book summary of eat that frog click here.)

Whatever that goal is, write it on a separate sheet of paper, set a deadline, make a plan, take action on your plan, and then do something every single day that moves you toward that goal.

This exercise alone could change your life!

Begin today to plan every day, week, and month in advance.

Think on paper! Always work from a list. You’ll be amazed at how much more productive you become and how much easier it is to eat your frog.

Make a list of all the key goals, activities, projects, and responsibilities in your life today. Which of them are, or could be, in the top 10 or 20 percent of tasks that represent, or could represent, 80 or 90 percent of your results?

Determine the most important thing you could be doing every hour of every day, and then discipline yourself to work continually on the most valuable use of your time. What is this for you right now?

Examine each of your personal and work activities and evaluate it based on your current situation. Select at least one activity to abandon immediately or at least deliberately put off until your more important goals have been achieved.

Review your work list right now and put an A, B, C, D, or E next to each task or activity.

To know about ABCDE in more detail click here.

Select your A-1 job or project and begin on it immediately.

Discipline yourself to do nothing else until this one job is complete.

Identify the key result areas of your work. What are they? Write down the key results you have to get to do your job in an excellent fashion. Give yourself a grade from one to ten on each one. And then determine the one key skill that, if you did it in an excellent manner, would help you the most in your work.

Identify your three most important goals in each area of your life. Organize them by priority. Make plans for their accomplishment, and work on your plans every single day. You will be amazed at what you achieve in the months and years ahead.

Sometimes all you need to do to get started is to sit down and complete one item on the list. And then do one more, and so on. You will be amazed at what you eventually accomplish.

Write out every step of a major job or project before you begin. Determine how many minutes and hours you will require to complete each phase. Then race against your own clock. Beat your own deadlines. Make it a game and resolve to win!

Control your thoughts. Remember, you become what you think about most of the time. Be sure that you are thinking and talking about the things you want rather than the things you don’t want.

Become action-oriented. A common quality of high performers is that when they hear a good idea, they take action on it immediately. Don’t delay. Try it today!

Make every minute count. Work steadily and continuously without diversion or distraction by planning and preparing your work in advance. Most of all, keep focused on the most important results for which you are responsible.

Resolve today to develop a sense of urgency in everything you do. Select one area where you have a tendency to procrastinate and make a decision to develop the habit of fast action in that area.

Once you start your most important task, discipline yourself to persevere without diversion or distraction until it is 100 percent complete.

Thank you for your time.