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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2014
An excellent, perspicacious, and thoughtful book on why a goal without a plan is nothing more than a wish.
Mr. Tracy starts off talking about why goals are important, and how people with written goals are significantly better off than even people with goals, but which are unwritten.
And, as Mr. Tracy says, if writing your goals down once a year is good, writing them down more often -- even daily -- is even better.
Unlike his "Success" lecture recordings this book actually contains useful, actionable information, without the unnecessary partisan political claptrap that really has nothing to do with success, or goal-setting.
The book is geared more towards people with sales careers. There is plenty in the book that is adaptable to the lives of non-sales people. (Also, as Mr. Tracy sometimes points out, to a certain extent, we're all in sales: the "business" of selling ourselves.)
Mr. Tracy is not afraid to share how he came to understand the importance of goals in his own life. As a criminal defense attorney, I frequently purchase this book for some of my clients -- particularly juveniles. (Oh how I wish there were a Brian Tracy book for delinquent teenagers!) Chapter Two, where Mr. Tracy talks about his epiphany, is something that always catches the attention of my juvenile clients.
From there, I point out that the book covers, in detail, not just WHY written goals are important, but what they've done for Mr. Tracy. After we look at Chapter Two, I emphasize for them that "he's come a long way, baby, to get where he's got to today." And I point out that, as he says, he got there by following the principles outlined in the book.
Tracy walks you through clarifying your values, an analyzing your beliefs, to help you see how you are responsible for what happens to you, enabling you to create your own future. Many people have self-limiting beliefs, and Tracy talks about how that will hold you back, and encourages you in overcoming them, but also how to use your own weaknesses to help you grow -- as when he talks about making something out of your fears.
Tracy talks about financial goals (there's quite a bit on this, as perhaps befits someone whose major "fear" was of being poor), family goals (you don't spend more intimate time with others, do you?), health goals (I've met him; one of my goals is to be as fit as he is), and finding your "major definite purpose" in life (you can only have one!).
At times, the book gets a little bogged down in clichés. On the other hand, there's no denying that if you actually live them, those clichés can help. I also have the audio version of this book, which I've probably listened to at least two dozen times: I always get hung up on the sentence "For example, if your value is that this is a good world to live in and your belief is that you are going to be very successful in life, you will expect that everything that happens to you is helping you in some way." (Kindle Locations 429-430.) I mean, for goodness sake, isn't "this is a good world to live in," actually a BELIEF? Still, the point that your limiting beliefs are the major obstacle to success and happiness in life is pretty much undeniable.
All-in-all, to borrow a term from all the cooking shows I like watching, Mr. Tracy's book constitutes a kind of "reduction" of all the best self-help books I've ever read, and I've read a lot.
If, after reading Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible, you find yourself unable to reach your goals, that can only mean one thing.
You read, but did not understand, Mr. Tracy's book.
Mr. Tracy starts off talking about why goals are important, and how people with written goals are significantly better off than even people with goals, but which are unwritten.
And, as Mr. Tracy says, if writing your goals down once a year is good, writing them down more often -- even daily -- is even better.
Unlike his "Success" lecture recordings this book actually contains useful, actionable information, without the unnecessary partisan political claptrap that really has nothing to do with success, or goal-setting.
The book is geared more towards people with sales careers. There is plenty in the book that is adaptable to the lives of non-sales people. (Also, as Mr. Tracy sometimes points out, to a certain extent, we're all in sales: the "business" of selling ourselves.)
Mr. Tracy is not afraid to share how he came to understand the importance of goals in his own life. As a criminal defense attorney, I frequently purchase this book for some of my clients -- particularly juveniles. (Oh how I wish there were a Brian Tracy book for delinquent teenagers!) Chapter Two, where Mr. Tracy talks about his epiphany, is something that always catches the attention of my juvenile clients.
From there, I point out that the book covers, in detail, not just WHY written goals are important, but what they've done for Mr. Tracy. After we look at Chapter Two, I emphasize for them that "he's come a long way, baby, to get where he's got to today." And I point out that, as he says, he got there by following the principles outlined in the book.
Tracy walks you through clarifying your values, an analyzing your beliefs, to help you see how you are responsible for what happens to you, enabling you to create your own future. Many people have self-limiting beliefs, and Tracy talks about how that will hold you back, and encourages you in overcoming them, but also how to use your own weaknesses to help you grow -- as when he talks about making something out of your fears.
Tracy talks about financial goals (there's quite a bit on this, as perhaps befits someone whose major "fear" was of being poor), family goals (you don't spend more intimate time with others, do you?), health goals (I've met him; one of my goals is to be as fit as he is), and finding your "major definite purpose" in life (you can only have one!).
At times, the book gets a little bogged down in clichés. On the other hand, there's no denying that if you actually live them, those clichés can help. I also have the audio version of this book, which I've probably listened to at least two dozen times: I always get hung up on the sentence "For example, if your value is that this is a good world to live in and your belief is that you are going to be very successful in life, you will expect that everything that happens to you is helping you in some way." (Kindle Locations 429-430.) I mean, for goodness sake, isn't "this is a good world to live in," actually a BELIEF? Still, the point that your limiting beliefs are the major obstacle to success and happiness in life is pretty much undeniable.
All-in-all, to borrow a term from all the cooking shows I like watching, Mr. Tracy's book constitutes a kind of "reduction" of all the best self-help books I've ever read, and I've read a lot.
If, after reading Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible, you find yourself unable to reach your goals, that can only mean one thing.
You read, but did not understand, Mr. Tracy's book.
