The Laws of Time Management

By Brian Tracy

Everything you are today and everything you become in the future will be determined by the way you think and the way you use your time. Your attitude toward time is a critical factor in all you do and everything you accomplish.

The Law of Clarity
The clearer you are about your goals and objectives, the more efficient and effective you will be in achieving them. Clarity accounts for probably 80 percent of success and happiness. People with clear, written goals accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.

The Law of Priorities
Your ability to set clear and accurate priorities on your time determines the entire quality of your life. To achieve great things, you must always be concentrating on the small number of activities that contribute the greatest value to your life and your work.

The Law of Posteriorities
Before you start something new, you must discontinue something old. You can gain control of your life only to the degree to which you stop doing things that are no longer as valuable or as important to you as other thing you could be doing.

"A Goal Without a Plan is Only a Dream…" If you dream of achieving great things in life, planning for making them a reality on paper is vital to your success. The Life Planning Process is a step-by-step manual to help you set and achieve your goals. Using this Action Workbook will guarantee that you stay on course, on time and on target. Learn more here >>

The Law of the Most Valuable Asset
Your most valuable asset is your earning ability. Your ability to earn money is the most valuable asset you have. Your earning ability is a depreciating asset, like a car or a piece of equipment. You must continually maintain and upgrade the quality of your earning ability to keep yourself at the same high level of productivity, performance and output.

The Law of Planning
Every minute spent in planning saves ten minutes in execution. The purpose of "personal strategic planning" is for you to increase your "return energy," and return on the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual capital you have invested in your life and career.

The Law of Rewards
Your rewards will always be determined by your results. You will always be paid in direct proportion to what you do, how well you do it, and the difficulty in replacing you. The fastest way to get paid more and promoted faster is for you to achieve a greater quality and quantity of results for your company and yourself.

The Law of Sequentiality
Time management enables you to control the sequence of events in your life. Your entire life today is the sum total result of the quality of your choices and decisions to this moment. If you are not happy with any part of your life, it is up to you to begin to make different choices and better decisions.

Action Exercise
Analyze the way you spend a typical day or a typical week. What are the things you need to do more of, sooner, in order to improve the quality and quantity of your output and results?