Eat That Frog! is a masterly and polished production, a self help book that not only pitches well but delivers real and lasting value. Brian Tracy is a doyen of the self-improvement and sales movement, a speaker who fulfils that quaint and rather old-fashioned virtue of delivering on the spiel he preaches. There is one concept that forms the heart of the book and which inspires the alluring, attention-grabbing title: get the most important task of the day done first. In a world that relishes complexity and thrives on the esoteric, this kind of direct, simple advice is exhilarating. There are no mantras to memorise, complex tasks to perform or obscure psychological theories to grapple with.
Simplicity is power, and Occam’s Razor showed us long ago that the simplest and quickest solution is usually the best. Tracy expands this basic idea by delivering a series of punchy and downright revolutionary premises: apply the Pareto (80/20) rule to every task; obey the law of forced efficiency, leverage your special talents and knock down your key constraints. The power of focus and concentration is awesome, and the power of consistent focus applied relentlessly over time can genuinely change the world.
That is of course, as long as it focuses on the right things. The Pareto rule, as advocated by Richard Koch, shows how focusing on the “vital few” inputs can multiply and leverage the impact and results of any activity, in some cases with exponential force. Constantly evaluate your actions and goals to ensure that you are really targeting these key actions. Apply “zero-based thinking” at every opportunity – if you were starting from scratch, is this what you would be doing?
The key to achieving all this is the power of habit, which is why it is important to develop “frog-eating” as a daily routine. Of course this assumes that we have some degree of autonomy or control over our work schedule, and the ability to attack problems with limited interruptions. I would argue that seizing control of your working environment is a key to making Tracy’s approach deliver maximum benefits.
Self-books don’t get any more concise than Eat that Frog. In just 130 pages, you will find enough distilled wisdom to pad out five volumes in the hands of any other author. The time management principles expounded here are an essential counterpart to the idea of lifestyle design that Tim Ferriss and others advocate. The secrets and tools are all contained within this book – as ever, they must be applied consistently and fearlessly to yield maximum benefit. Let us close with one of the many quotes that pepper this inspiring and compelling self help book.
“When every physical and mental resource is focused, one’s power to solve a problem multiplies tremendously” – Norman Vincent Peale
Clarity is power. Eat that frog.