No Excuses! The Power of Self-Discipline

Now in his late 60s, the author draws on decades of experience working with companies and individuals. He includes anecdotes from people who've applied his principles with great effect, and he throws in quotes from philosophers, business leaders, and fellow writers.

So who's this book for? Well, it covers such a wide range of topics that there's pretty much something in it for everyone. Whether you're a manager of a big corporation, on the bottom rung of the ladder, or starting out on your own, you'll learn how self-discipline can help you improve your business and advance your career.

If you're a parent, you'll learn how to manage your finances better and have more time for yourself and your family. If you feel too busy, you'll learn how to prioritize better and make more time for what's important to you.

Now, if you're fully satisfied with where you are in life – with your work, home, marriage, health, and fitness – this book probably isn't for you. But how many of us can honestly say that?

To quote the author, he's writing for "ambitious, determined men and women who want to achieve everything that's possible for them in life," for "people who are "hungry" to do more, to have more, and to be more than they ever have been before".

The author could be describing himself. He started off as a young laborer, having failed to graduate from college. But one day he asked himself a question that changed his life: Why are some people more successful than others? The answer was self-discipline, and from then on, he applied it in all areas of his life. He caught up on his schooling and went from one business success to another – from auto sales to real estate to management consulting.

He's now a renowned motivational speaker, author, and business consultant whose audio and video programs, books, seminars and training programs have generated more than $500 million worldwide. He's consulted for more than 1000 companies and trained more than five million people in live seminars and talks.

It's this catalog of success that makes the author such an authority on the subject of self-discipline, particularly in the areas of time management, goal setting, business, and sales. He's written more than 45 books on these and other topics.

In the areas of personal happiness, health, diet, and family life, some might argue he's no more experienced than anyone else. But the book shows how the same techniques of self-control and delayed gratification are transferable to so many areas of our lives.

So keep listening to hear some top tips on setting and achieving goals, to learn how to solve problems in business and in the home, and to hear what seven health habits may help you live a longer life.

The book kicks off with the Mark Twain quote: "There are a thousand excuses for failure but never a good reason." The author says we're all suffering from a disease called "excusitis," coming up with a myriad of reasons why we shouldn't do what we really know we should.

Self-discipline is the cure – it's the key ingredient to success. In the words of the prolific American writer Elbert Hubbard, self-discipline is "the ability to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not."

With that definition in mind, the author shows how self-discipline can be applied in 21 areas of our lives, and the benefits that come from doing so.

The book is divided into three parts: Self-Discipline and Personal Success; Self-Discipline in Business, Sales, and Finances; and Self-Discipline and the Good Life, which is about health and happiness.

Each part has seven chapters and each chapter ends with seven action exercises that readers are encouraged to look at before moving on. You'll definitely get more out of the book if you take time to reflect on these questions.

By now, you'll have realized the book is very structured, and the number seven crops up a lot. This makes for a quick, easy, and accessible read. It also means you can dip in and out of it, pick it up at various stages of your work or personal life, when a particular chapter is relevant.

That said, some readers might find the author's style and the book's structure a bit too simplistic. And they might think they've heard most of the theories before.

There's also a fair amount of repetition, which will either help to drum the messages home or will start to grate after a while. The author's tone and language may also take some getting used to. He makes some pretty bold claims about the effectiveness of his teaching – and his self-confidence can, at times, come across as superiority.

But if you can get beyond any reservations, there's no doubting the usefulness of the tips and techniques he offers. Pretty soon into the book, you'll start reflecting on your own life, catching yourself when you're putting off an action or wasting time on superfluous tasks.

So let's take a look at goal setting, featured in the first section of the book on personal success. This is a field the author's written reams about and developed programs on. Here, he condenses his longer teaching programs into a punchy seven-step plan. These tips will be familiar to people who've explored the goal-setting resources at Mind Tools.

Step One is to decide exactly what you want, and to be specific. Don't just say you want to earn more money, but specifically how much you want to earn.

Secondly, write it down. This is a hugely important step. Goals that aren't written down can be easily forgotten or ignored. By writing them down, we give them the importance they deserve.

The author says that only three percent of adults have written goals and plans, but this three percent earns more than the other 97 percent put together. Unfortunately, he doesn't say where this statistic comes from. This is a bit of a pattern in the book, and it might irk some readers who like information to be backed up with studies. The author does make a number of assertions that aren't supported, and drops in statistics without sourcing them.

The next step is to set a deadline for your goal. Pick a reasonable timetable. Think how much more effectively you work when you're under pressure to meet a deadline. You cut out all surplus activities and knuckle down. But what if you don't achieve your goal within the deadline? Well, you just set another one. A deadline is a guide, a "guesstimate," as the author calls it.

Fourthly, make a list of everything you can think of that you could possibly do to achieve your goal. This includes all the hurdles and difficulties you know you'll have to overcome, plus all the knowledge and skills required to meet your goal, and the people whose cooperation and support you'll need.

Next, organize the list you wrote in Step Four by sequence and priority. Decide what needs to be done first, second, and third, and what can be left until later on. Let's say you want to start up your own Web design business. Your first step could be to read a few books or enroll in a class to learn about Web design.

Step Six is to take action, to get moving on your plan immediately. Don't stall, don't procrastinate and don't make excuses. Successful people take action.

Finally, do something every day, no matter how small, that moves you in the direction of your goal – that's every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. This will give you momentum, which will inspire and energize you to take more action.

In the second section of the book – Self-Discipline in Business, Sales and Finances – the author gives top tips to motivate dejected sales people. He also lists the qualities of successful leaders, and offers techniques to those individuals or businesses who always find themselves in the red.

Let's take a closer look at his advice on problem solving. There's a lot of literature out there on problem solving and you'll find some great articles on the topic on Mind Tools already. The author hasn't come up with anything particularly new here. But his advice is simple, practical, and easy to apply in all areas of our lives.

This time, there are nine steps.

Start by defining the problem clearly. An accurate diagnosis is vital in order to come up with the right cure. So get everyone involved to agree on the exact nature of the problem before you try to solve it.

Next, ask yourself if it's really a problem that can be solved. Maybe it's a fact that can't be changed. Or maybe it's an opportunity. Maybe the problem doesn't need to be solved at all, but rather, you or your organization need to move in a different direction, which might even be better in the long-run.

Thirdly, ask yourself "What else is the problem?" When the author works with corporations whose sales are below a desired level, they get to restate the problem in different ways. Each restatement of the problem leads to a different solution and often to a different direction for the organization.

For example, if the problem is "our sales are too low," the solution might be to beef up advertising, promotion and sales activities.

If re-stated as "our competitors? sales are too high," you instead might decide to improve your products, change your product line, lower your prices, or move into a different business altogether. By doing this, you'll get to the correct definition of the problem, which will lead to a workable solution.

Next, ask how the problem occurred. Understand the causes of the problem, so it doesn't happen again. If a problem recurs repeatedly, this is a sign your business is poorly structured or some systems aren't working.

The following step is to ask what are all the possible solutions to the problem. The more possible solutions you have, the more likely it is that you'll find the right one.

Next, ask what is the best solution at this time. Most problems are best solved immediately.

Now make a decision, choose a solution and decide on a course of action.

Next, assign responsibility for that action. Be absolutely clear whose job it is.

And finally, ask yourself what you're trying to accomplish with the decision or solution, and how you'll measure the results – how will you know it's worked?

The more you get into the habit of rapidly and effectively solving problems, starting with small ones, the more competent you'll feel to solve big problems as they come along. If you're in business, this will earn you respect and responsibility. If you're solving problems in your personal life, you'll be less anxious when problems arise, as you'll know you've solved many before.

The last section of the book – Self-Discipline and the Good Life – is more touchy-feely. It's about happiness, health, and peace of mind, as well as success in marriage, friendships, and family life.

In his chapter on health, the author refers to the Alameda Study, an analysis of health habits over more than 20 years, which began in 1965 in Alameda County, California. The study identified seven key health habits that contributed to long life. These were to eat regularly, to eat lightly, to avoid snacking between meals, to exercise regularly, to wear a seatbelt, not to smoke, and to drink alcohol in moderation. These seven factors are a matter of self-discipline, a matter of choice.

The author adds to this what he calls his five Ps of excellent health: proper weight, proper diet – defined as lean-source protein, a variety of fruits and vegetables and lots of water – proper exercise, proper rest, and proper attitude, defined as optimism and positive thinking.

You might think all this is pretty obvious, but the key ingredient again is self-discipline. Olympic athletes are where they are because of self-discipline. Prima ballerinas wouldn't be performing if they didn't control their food intake and train rigorously.

For those of us who live a more mundane existence and are struggling with excess weight, the author suggests avoiding what he calls the three white poisons – sugar, salt and flour – to maintain a healthy weight.

Now, as you heard earlier, the author isn't as qualified to talk about diet as he is to talk about sales, and some readers and experts may question his suggestions on cutting out certain substances completely.

Nevertheless, the author's formula has undoubtedly worked for some. He includes an anecdote about one man who heard his advice on the three poisons, cut them out, and dropped 22 lbs in six months, keeping the weight off for two years.

If you're in need of a bit of motivation on health and fitness, you'll like the anecdote about the 68 year old woman who suddenly decided she was going to run a marathon, although she'd never run at all before. She started off slowly, walking, then jogging and finally running. By the time she was seventy-five, she'd run ten marathons!

This little story illustrates the author's big point: that anything is possible if we put our minds to it. It's not a new message. In fact, it's a pretty old one. But it seems it's a message most of us need to keep hearing in order for it to sink in.

This is where "No Excuses!" is effective. The author doesn't pull any punches. He doesn't let anyone off the hook. His message is repeated over and over. It's tough and unrelenting, but it may just give you the push you need to achieve what you want to achieve.

"No Excuses! The Power of Self-Discipline," by Brian Tracy, is published by Vanguard Press.

That's the end of this episode of Book Insights. Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Thanks for listening.