No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline [Paperback]

Brian Tracy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 2011

Most people think success comes from good luck or enormous talent, but many successful people achieve their accomplishments in a simpler way: through self-discipline. No Excuses! shows you how you can achieve success in all three major areas of your life, including your personal goals, business and money goals, and overall happiness.

Each of the 21 chapters in this book shows you how to be more disciplined in one aspect of your life, with end-of-chapter exercises to help you apply the "no excuses" approach to your own life. With these guidelines, you can learn how to be more successful in everything you do--instead of wistfully envying others you think are just "luckier" than you. A little self-discipline goes a long way…so stop making excuses and read this book!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian Tracy was born in eastern Canada in 1944 and grew up in California. After dropping out of high school, he traveled and worked his way around the world, eventually visiting eighty countries on six continents. His extensive personal studies in business, sales, management, marketing, and economics enabled him to move up to become the head of a $265 million company before he turned his attention to consulting, training, and personal development. He is the president of three companies with operations worldwide. Brian Tracy is married, has four children, and lives in San Diego, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Vanguard Press (March 22, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593156324
• ISBN-13: 978-1593156329
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 85 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Read This if You're Itching to Get Your Act Together May 14, 2011

By Drea Knufken

Format:Paperback

What's the secret of success?

Self-discipline, of course. At least that's what self-help guru Brian Tracy claims in "No Excuses! 21 Ways to Achieve Lasting Happiness and Success." Tracy's latest book describes how you can use self-discipline to become a successful, "superior" person in 21 areas of your life.

Yes, Tracy does occasionally use the rather Nietzschian language of "superior people" vs. "weak and irresolute people." But his advice throughout "No Excuses" is so sound, and the book is so readable, that Tracy may just convert you into a self-disciplinarian by the last page. He certainly had me interested long before that.

What's Inside

Tracy quotes Elbert Hubbard to define self-discipline as "the ability to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not." He tells you how to employ self-discipline in 21 well-organized, easy to follow chapters. These chapters are clustered into groups of seven, which in turn make up the three parts of the book.

Part I covers self-discipline and personal success. This part covers things like goals, courage, and persistence, and how self-discipline helps you master them. Part II tells you how to use self-discipline in business, sales, and finances. Part III talks about quality-of-life issues like personal health, fitness, and marriage, and how you can use--you guessed it--self-discipline to achieve success in those areas.

Each chapter features a number of end-of-chapter exercises to get you moving in the right direction. Unlike many other books I've read, these exercises are good. Tracy truly helps you figure out where you are in each area of your life, and what you need to do to find success.... If you do all the exercises in the book, you'll make book worth your time and money.

Likes and Dislikes

Overall, I give "No Excuses" a ready thumbs-up. Tracy does a fine job of offering simple definitions of oft-foggy concepts like leadership, time management and character. He then tells you how to cultivate them using the secret sauce of self-discipline. Throughout the book, he uses studies, anecdotes, business concepts like the 80/20 principle, and self-help ideas like the Law of Attraction to support his points. It's an easy but profound read.

Two things about "No Excuses" gave me pause, although I don't believe they affect the quality of Tracy's advice. One, Tracy uses a lot of universal language without necessarily backing up where he got all of his ideas. "The Law of Concentration says that `whatever you dwell upon grows and increases in your life'" and "the core virtue of character is truth" are examples from the book. Perhaps it's self-help guru syndrome, but I did find myself wondering what gives Tracy, even with his years of study and experience, the authority to tell me what I should be doing in everything from my career to my marriage.

When I browsed Tracy's website to find out more about him, I discovered that he's actually a man of faith. This may explain that "universal truth" angle I picked up in some places.

Onto my second point, or digression, however you may classify it. Tracy's self-discipline reflects a well-honed Protestant work ethic. He advocates that you have, at the least, a full and productive day. After getting enough sleep, he writes that you should read something uplifting before getting out of bed. After reading, you get up and exercise. Then you go to work an hour early, work through lunch, and leave an hour late. Every day.

I can't imagine being relaxed, living like that. But there's little in the book about managing stress. I can only assume that what makes this kind of heavy schedule tolerable is the right mindset. That kind of mindset is really hard to cultivate, unless you had fabulous parents, or you're religious. And I can't help but think that for Tracy, that mindset is supported by God, though he doesn't mention anything about faith or religion in the book. A minor gripe, considering that it's a good book overall, but I'd feel remiss not to mention it.

Conclusion

"No Excuses" is a very good self-help tome. It's motivational by virtue of being simple, effective, and, I'm guessing, quite true. I'd recommend it across the board, especially if you're itching to get your act together. (Book review by Drea Knufken) Read more ›

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Build the life you want. November 18, 2010

By Monty Rainey VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

One of my favorite movie scenes is when Al Pacino is dressing down the faculty at the Baird School in "Scent of a Woman" when he tells of the many times he has come to the crossroads in his life. He says he always knew what was the right thing to do but never did it because it was just too hard. Too many people go through life just like the Colonel. That's why books like NO EXCUSES: THE POWER OF SELF DISCIPLINE, by Brian Tracy are necessary.

As the introduction states, "Your ability to think, plan and work hard in the short term and to discipline yourself to do what is right and necessary before you do what is fun and easy is the key to creating a wonderful future for yourself." Just like the Colonel, we know the right things to do, but often choose an easier route. This is why self discipline is the key ingredient needed to break the habit of mediocrity.

All of Brian Tracy's books are well worth reading, and I have to put this one in the top two or three. Here Tracy explores self discipline and how its' refinement and application benefit so many aspects of life. This is self discipline as it applies to everything from money to relationships; goal setting to problem solving.

The book is broken into three main parts, Self Discipline and Personal Success; Self Discipline and Business, Sales and Finances; and finally Self Discipline and The Good Life. Each part has 7 related chapters. Each chapter concludes with Action Exercises.

You won't have much success getting where you want to be in life without a big dose of self discipline. This book will help show you the way; how to build it, and how to apply it.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Multidimensional success through self-discipline November 18, 2010

By Rolf Dobelli HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

In this ambitious work, Brian Tracy presents a formula for overcoming life's major challenges. It boils down to applying self-discipline to achieve overall success and happiness. Tracy's topics range from acting with integrity to making sales to strengthening your marriage. With such a broad span, his advice is necessarily general and elementary. However, if you avoid looking for specific solutions, and focus on the overall theme of the book, you will find it quite helpful. Tracy espouses that you need to accept responsibility for your own contentment and career. His "No Excuses" approach eliminates handy scapegoats and teaches that you must take charge of your own destiny. getAbstract recognizes that much of the book's counsel appears in various forms in this prolific author's previous work. However, that's no excuse for not giving it a thorough read.

36 of 44 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars not for newbies to Brian Tracy October 4, 2010

By Sonia the Reader

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As someone who had never read anything by Brian Tracy before I found myself a little disappointed; there are short chapters on a variety of topics but none of the chapters go very in-depth into the subject at hand. I feel like this is a good refresher or reference book for those already familiar with his works, but probably not the best place to start if you want to learn more about his philosophy to success. I've bought another book by Tracy and I'm hoping that book will be more useful.

43 of 57 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Same Information Reworded November 26, 2010

By Bill Mack

Format:Audible Audio Edition

I have read many of Brian Tracy's books and most were very informative and useful. He is very knowlegible in the self improvement field. Unfortuantely, he now seems to be writing new books with the same basic information as before but simply subsitutes new words. For example in No Excuses, what he now says is self discipline had been previously referred to as determination, resolve, willpower, perseverance, etc. Also, I would not recommend the audio version. Mr.Tracy has a very monotone voice that makes keeping your attention a challenge.