Bull's Eye: The Power of Focus

08 Jan 2022

This post is my notes from reading the book Bull’s Eye: The Power of Focus by Brian Tracy. They had been sitting in my 3-ring binder for the past seven years. This book has a lot in common with another Brian Tracy book called Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want – Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible . Goals! was published in 2010 and Bull’s Eye in 2015. I read Bull’s Eye first and while I liked Goals! it covered the same territory. The author might disagree, but my notes are the same.

I really do like reading Brian Tracy a lot. I have over seven of his books in my Kindle library and have given numerous copies of Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time away as gifts (and I use that word lightly). His books tend to repeat a lot of his ideas, but sometimes it is good to be told the truth again.

Clarity, Focus, and Concentration

  1. Set goals. Decide exactly what you want and be specific.
  2. Write it down. Make it measurable. Only 3 percent of adults have written goals.
  3. Set a deadline. Setting a deadline forces your subconscious mind to “solve the problem” and accomplish the goal.
  4. Make a list. Write down everything you will have to do to achieve your goal.
  5. Organize the list into a plan. Once you have a written list of activities organized by sequence and priority, you have a plan to accomplish any goal you set for yourself.
  6. Take action on your list of activities. The key to success has always been to have courage, overcome inertia most people have, and simply take the first step.
    1. Do something every day that moves you toward your most important goal. You start to move faster and faster toward your goal, and your goal starts to move faster and faster toward you.

The Three P Formula

  1. Personal means that you use I and an action verb for each goal. For example, you say “I earn…”, or “I achieve…”
  2. Write it in the positive tense. Instead of saying “I will quit smoking,” you say, “I am a nonsmoker.”
  3. Write it in the present tense. Write your goal as though the time has passed, and you have already achieved your goal. You are describing it as though it is a current reality.

Prioritize Your Plan

  1. A = MUST DO
  2. B = SHOULD DO
  3. C = NICE TO DO
  4. D = DELEGATE
  5. E = ELIMINATE

7 Great Behaviors

  1. Never criticize, condemn, or complain about people or their behaviors.
  2. Don’t generate a negative personality.
  3. Be agreeable. If it’s not really important just let it go. Be cheerful, open and friendly.
  4. Practice acceptance. How do you practice acceptance? Simple – just smile.
  5. Express appreciation. How do you express appreciation? Simple – just say thank you.
  6. Express admiration. Each time you compliment a person you make them feel more valuable and important.
  7. Express approval. Continually praise people when they do something right, at the same time, refuse to criticize or complain when they make a mistake.
  8. Pay attention. In effective listening, you should listen without interrupting or making any attempt to interrupt.
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