Tim Ikels

Tim Ikels

Creator, Publisher, Marketer. Freedom advocate.

No Excuses! The Power Of Self-Discipline By Brian Tracy

These are my book notes on No Excuses! The Power Of Self-Discipline by the author Brian Tracy.

Let’s dive in.

Facts

  • Title: No Excuses! The Power Of Self-Discipline
  • Subtitle: 21 Ways to Achieve Lasting Happiness And Succes
  • Author: Brian Tracy
  • Author’s website: briantracy.com
  • First published: 2010
  • Type: non fiction
  • Genre: self-help / self-development
  • Rating: 5/5
  • Recommended: Yes (Hell, Yeah!)

Self-discipline is the ability to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.
- Brian Tracy

Table Of Contents Of The Book

  • Title Page
  • Dedication
  • Introduction
  • PART I - Self-Discipline and Personal Success
  • Chapter 1 - Self-Discipline and Success
    • Describe Your Ideal Life
    • Do Your Own Thing
    • Join the Top 20 Percent
    • Starting with Nothing
    • Hard Work Is the Key
    • The Great Law
    • Success Is Predictable
    • The Secrets of Success
    • Pay the Price
    • Learn from the Experts
    • Mental and Physical Fitness Need to Be Ongoing
    • Become All You Can Be
    • Success Is Its Own Reward
  • Chapter 2 - Self-Discipline and Character
    • The Great Virtues
    • The Test of Character
    • The Big Payoff
    • The Development of Character
    • The Structure of Personality
    • Always Behave Consistently
    • Do the Right Thing
    • What You Dwell Upon Grows
  • Chapter 3 - Self-Discipline and Responsibility
    • From Childhood to Maturity
    • Get Over the Mistakes Your Parents Made
    • The Fatal Fallacy
    • An Attitude of Irresponsibility
    • Eliminating Negative Emotions
    • Psychosomatic Illness
    • Blaming Is Easy
    • The Antidote to Negative Emotions
    • Money and Emotions
    • Responsibility and Control
    • Never Complain, Never Explain
    • Self-Mastery and Self-Control
    • The Only Antidote Is Action
  • Chapter 4 - Self-Discipline and Goals
    • The 3 Percent Factor
    • Multiply Your Chances of Success
    • The Discipline of Writing
    • Success Versus Failure Mechanisms
    • Take Control of Your Life
    • The Seven-Step Method to Achieving Your Goals
    • The Ten-Goal Exercise
    • Select One Goal
    • Make a Plan
    • Use “Mindstorming” to Get Started
    • The Great Law of Cause and Effect
  • Chapter 5 - Self-Discipline and Personal Excellence
    • Your Biggest Investment
    • You Are the President
    • What Got You Here Won’t Get You Any Further
    • Join the Top 20 Percent
    • No Limits on Your Potential
    • The Keys to the Twenty-First Century
    • Ordinary into Extraordinary
    • Make a Decision
    • Follow the Leaders, Not the Followers
    • The Answers Have All Been Found
    • Set High Income as a Goal
    • Use the 3 Percent Formula to Invest in Yourself
    • Three Simple Steps to Become the Best
    • The Achievement of Mastery
    • Talent Is Not Enough
    • Two Hours Each Day Will Get You to the Top
    • Form the Habit of Continuous Learning
    • You Can Be Rich or Poor: It’s Your Decision
    • Increase Your Income 1,000 Percent
    • One Half of 1 Percent Per Week
    • 26 Percent Better Each Year
    • Seven Steps to the Top
    • Be the Best!
  • Chapter 6 - Self-Discipline and Courage
    • Fears Can Be Unlearned
    • Fear Paralyzes Action
    • Do the Opposite
    • Visualize Yourself as Unafraid
    • Learn to Speak on Your Feet
    • Eliminate Two Fears at Once
    • Confront Your Fears
    • Move Toward the Fear
    • Leaders Have Two Types of Courage
    • Deal With the Fear Directly
    • The Disaster Report
    • The Real Antidote
  • Chapter 7 - Self-Discipline and Persistence
    • The Reward of Persistence
    • Your Ability to Respond
    • Optimism Gives You Resilience
    • Be Proactive Versus Reactive
    • Look for the Gift
    • Resolve in Advance
  • PART II - Self-Discipline in Business, Sales, and Finances
  • Chapter 8 - Self-Discipline and Work
    • Separate the Relevant from the Irrelevant
    • Develop an Excellent Reputation
    • The Law of Three Helps You Prioritize
    • Calculate Your Hourly Rate
    • Get on the Same Page About What Work Is Most Important
    • Work All the Time You Work
    • Who Works Hardest? The Secret Survey
    • Pay the Price
    • The Forty Plus Formula
    • Look the Part: Dress for Success
  • Chapter 9 - Self-Discipline and Leadership
    • Four Stages of Development
    • Leaders Have Vision
    • A Leader Is a Standard Bearer
    • Walk the Talk
    • Set the Standards
    • Set Values and Principles
    • Seven Principles of Leadership
    • The Inevitable Crisis
    • Self-Control and Leadership
    • Leadership Qualities
    • Leaders Rise to the Top
  • Chapter 10 - Self-Discipline and Business
    • The Law of Competition
    • The Customer Is Always Right
    • You Must Be Better
    • Challenge Your Assumptions
    • Identify Your Ideal Customer
    • Know Your True Costs
    • The Purpose of a Business Is to Please Its Customers
    • Set High Standards
    • Think About the Solution
  • Chapter 11 - Self-Discipline and Sales
    • Business Success or Failure
    • The Discipline of Generating Sales
    • Overcome Your Fear of Rejection
    • Increase Face Time with Customers and Prospects
    • Remain Positive and Optimistic
    • How to Double Your Sales Income
    • Control Your Sales Activities
    • Improve Your Ratios
    • Keys to Sales Success
    • Start Early
    • Set Higher Standards for Yourself
    • All Sales Skills Are Learnable
  • Chapter 12 - Self-Discipline and Money
    • The Reasons for Financial Failure
    • Spending Makes You Happy
    • Rewire Your Responses About Money
    • Associate Happiness with Saving
    • Save Throughout Your Lifetime
    • Practice the 1 Percent Formula
    • The Payoff Is Tremendous
    • Income Increases Don’t Help
    • Practice the Wedge Principle
    • The Miracle of Compound Interest
  • Chapter 13 - Self-Discipline and Time Management
    • You Can’t “Save” Time
    • Assess the True Value of Everything You Do
    • Personal Strategic Planning
    • Think Before You Act
    • Priorities versus Posteriorities
    • Identify the Consequences
    • Managing Your Time
    • Practice Single-Handling
    • 1,000 Percent Return on Investment
    • Keep Yourself Focused
    • Start Today
  • Chapter 14 - Self-Discipline and Problem Solving
    • The Inevitable and Unavoidable Crisis
    • Perform at Your Best
    • Keep Your Mind Clear
    • Stepping Stones to Success
    • A Nine-Step Method for Solving Problems Effectively
    • The Big Reward
    • The Determinant of Your Success
  • PART III - Self-Discipline and the Good Life
  • ​Chapter 15 - Self-Discipline and Happiness
    • The Law of Control
    • The Reason for Happiness
    • Happiness Is a By-Product
    • Five Ingredients of Happiness
    • Five Ingredients of Happiness
    • Never Be Satisfied
  • Chapter 16 - Self-Discipline and Personal Health
    • Living a Long Life
    • Seven Key Health Habits
    • The Five Ps of Excellent Health
    • Get Your Weight Under Control
    • Change Your Set Point
    • The Fatal Flaw in Dieting
    • The Formula for Permanent Weight Loss
    • Live to Be One Hundred
  • Chapter 17 - Self-Discipline and Physical Fitness
    • Listen to the Experts
    • Get Started First Thing
    • Trick Yourself
    • Increase Your Intelligence
    • Make Exercise a Part of Your Lifestyle
    • Join an Organized Sport
    • Develop New and Better Habits
  • Chapter 18 - Self-Discipline and Marriage
    • The Key to a Happy Marriage
    • Birds of a Feather
    • Love Is Our Greatest Need in Life
    • Different Strokes Require Tolerance and Understanding
    • Male-Female Communication Styles
    • Relationship-Building Takes Effort
    • The Disciplines of Listening
    • Total Commitment Is Essential
    • Be Willing to Change
    • The Four Questions You Should Ask
    • Your Spouse Should Be Your Best Friend
  • Chapter 19 - Self-Discipline and Children
    • Your Greatest Responsibility
    • How Children Spell “Love”
    • Setting New Priorities
    • Long-Term Thinking
    • The Greatest Gift Is Love
    • Discipline Versus Development
    • Question Your Beliefs
    • Set a Good Example
    • Be a Role Model
    • Building Character
    • Always Tell the Truth
    • The Foundation of Self-Confidence
    • The Power of Forgiveness
    • Teaching Your Children Is Never Ending
    • Be Their Role Model
  • Chapter 20 - Self-Discipline and Friendship
    • The Core of Personality
    • The Key to Happiness
    • The Law of Indirect Effort
    • Raise Other People’s Self-Esteem
    • Seven Ways to Make People Feel Important
    • Be Concerned About Other People
  • Chapter 21 - Self-Discipline and Peace of Mind
    • Outer Versus Inner Success
    • The Need to Be Right
    • Refuse to Blame Anyone for Anything
    • Give Up Your Suffering
    • Practice Forgiveness
    • The Forgetting Curve
    • Get Over It and Get On with It
    • Forgiveness Is Selfish
    • Accept Responsibility and Forgive
  • Copyright Page

Key Concepts & Ideas

No more excuses!

Do it or don’t do it - but don’t make excuses.

Stop using your incredible brain to think up elaborate rationalizations and justifications for not taking action.

Do something.

Do anything.

Get on with it!

Repeat to yourself:

“If it’s to be, it’s up to me!”

Losers make excuses; winners make progress.

Brian Tracy On Why Some People Are Succeeding, While Others Are Not

Discipline is what you must have to resist the lure of excuses.

I discovered that you can achieve almost any goal you set for yourself if you have the discipline to pay the price, to do what you need to do, and to never give up.

The most important insight of all with regard to success is that to achieve greatly, you must become a different person.

It is not the material things you accomplish or acquire that matter so much as it is the quality of the person you must become to accomplish well above the average.

The development of self-discipline is the high road that makes everything possible for you.

Self-Discipline I The Key To Personal Greatness

Every day, and every minute of every day, there is a battle going on inside of you between doing what is right, hard, and necessary or doing what is fun, easy, and of little or no value.

Every minute of every day, you must fight and win this battle with the Expediency Factor and resist the pull of the Path of Least Resistance if you truly desire to become everything you are capable of becoming.

Another definition of self-discipline is self-mastery.

Success is possible only when you can master your own emotions, appetites, and inclinations.

People who lack the ability to master their appetites become weak and dissolute, as well as unreliable in other things as well.

Self-discipline can also be defined as self-control.

Your ability to control yourself and your actions, control what you say and do, and ensure that your behaviors are consistent with your long-term goals and objectives is the mark of the superior person.

Discipline has been defined as self-denial.

This requires that you deny yourself the easy pleasures, the temptations that lead so many people astray, and instead discipline yourself to do only those things that you know are right for the long term and appropriate for the moment.

Self-discipline requires delayed gratification, the ability to put off satisfaction in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term.

There are a thousand excuses for failure but never a good reason.
- Mark Twain

The most successful people are long-term thinkers.

Successful people make sure that everything they do in the short term is consistent with where they want to end up in the long term.

They practice self-discipline at all times.

Perhaps the most important word in long-term thinking is sacrifice.

Successful people make a habit of doing the things that unsuccessful people don’t like to do.
- Herbert Grey

Successful people are more concerned with “pleasing results,” whereas failures were more concerned about “pleasing methods.”

Successful, happy people were more concerned with the positive, long-term consequences of their behaviors, whereas unsuccessful people were more concerned with personal enjoyment and immediate gratification.

The top people were those who were more concerned with activities that were “goal achieving,” whereas average people were more concerned with activities that were “tension relieving.”

It is hard to form the habits of self-discipline, self-mastery, and self-control, but once you have developed them, they become automatic and easy to practice.

When the habits of self-discipline are firmly entrenched in your behavior, you start to feel uncomfortable when you are not behaving in a self-disciplined manner.

The development and maintenance of the habit of self-discipline are a lifelong task, an ongoing battle.

It never ends.

The temptation to follow the path of least resistance and the expediency factor lurk continually in the back of your mind.

They are always waiting for an opportunity to pounce, to lead you astray into doing what is fun, easy, and unimportant rather than what is hard, necessary, and life- enhancing.

The development of self-discipline is your guarantee that you will eventually overcome all your obstacles and create a wonderful life for yourself.

The ability to practice self-discipline is the real reason why some people are more successful and happy than others.

When you master the power of self-discipline, you will become unstoppable, like a force of nature.

You will never make excuses for not making progress.

You will accomplish more in the next few months and years than most people accomplish in a lifetime.

The first and best victory is to conquer self.
- Plato

If you want to achieve success in any area, you must determine how success is achieved in that area and then practice those skills and activities repeatedly until you achieve the same results.

==> Here’s The How.

==> Then, Execute.

If you do what other successful people do, over and over again, nothing can stop you from eventually enjoying the same rewards that they do.
- Brian Tracy

But if you don’t do what successful people do, nothing can help you.”

Closing Thoughts

My book notes only cover small parts of the book.

So if you like what you read, please consider buying the book from the author.

Thank you for reading and stay awesome,

Tim for Online Business Dude

PS: Start And Grow Your Own, Profitable Online Business From Scratch, Step-by-Step, Today!

==> Download The Free Online Business Blueprint (PDF)