Coming from an unsuccessful background, I had developed deep

feelings of inferiority and inadequacy. I had fallen into the mental

trap of assuming that people who were doing better than me were
actually better than me. What I learned was that this was not
necessarily true. They were just doing things differently, and what
they had learned to do, within reason, I could learn as well.
This was a revelation to me. I was both amazed and excited with this
discovery. I still am. I realized that I could change my life and
achieve almost any goal I could set if I just found out what others
were doing in that area and then did it myself until I got the same
results they were getting.

Throughout my career, I have discovered and rediscovered a simple

truth. It is this: the ability to concentrate single-mindedly on your
most important task, to do it well and to finish it completely, is the
key to great success, achievement, respect, status and happiness in
life. This key insight is the heart and soul of this book.
This book is written to show you how to get ahead more rapidly in
your career and to simultaneously enrich your personal life. These
pages contain the twenty-one most powerful principles on personal
effectiveness I have ever discovered
Every idea in this book is focused on increasing your overall levels of
productivity, performance and output, and on making you more
valuable in whatever you do. You can apply many of these ideas to
your personal life as well.
The key to success is action. These principles work to bring about
fast, predictable improvements in performance and results. The faster
you learn and apply them, the faster you will move ahead in your
career, guaranteed!
If you are like most people today, you are overwhelmed with too
much to do and too little time. As you struggle to get caught up, new
tasks and responsibilities just keep rolling in, like the waves of the
ocean. Because of this, you will never be able to do everything you
have to do. You will never be caught up. You will always be behind
in some of your tasks and responsibilities, and probably in many of
them.

The Need to Be Selective

For this reason, and perhaps more than ever before, your ability to
select your most important task at each moment, and then to get
started on that task and to get it done both quickly and well, will
probably have more of an impact on your success than any other
quality or skill you can develop.

Mark Twain once said that if the first thing you do each morning is to
eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of
knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen
to you all day long.
Your "frog" is your biggest, most important task, the one you are
most likely to procrastinate on if you don't do something about it.
It is also the one task that can have the greatest positive impact on
your life and results at the moment.

The first rule of frog-eating is: "If you have to eat two frogs, eat the
ugliest one first."

This is another way of saying that, if you have two important tasks
before you, start with the biggest, hardest and most important task
first. Discipline yourself to begin immediately and then to persist
until the task is complete before you go on to something else

Think of this as a “test.” Treat it like a personal challenge. Resist the

temptation to start with the easier task. Continually remind yourself
that one of the most important decisions you make each day is your
choice of what you will do immediately and what you will do later, if
you do it at all.

The second rule of frog-eating is: "If you have to eat a live frog at all,
it doesn't pay to sit and look at it for very long."

The key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity is

for you to develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first
thing each morning. You must develop the routine of "Eating your
frog" before you do anything else, and without taking too much time
to think about it.

Take Action Immediately

after study of men and women who get paid more and
promoted faster, the quality of "action orientation," stands out as the
most observable and consistent behavior they demonstrate in
everything they do. Successful, effective people are those who launch
directly into their major tasks and then discipline themselves to work
steadily and single mindedly until those tasks are complete.
In our world, and especially in our business world, you are paid and
promoted for getting specific, measurable results. You are paid for
making a valuable contribution and especially, for making the most
important contribution that is expected of you.
"Failure to execute" is one of the biggest problems in organizations
today. Many people confuse activity with accomplishment. They talk
continually, hold endless meetings and make wonderful plans, but,
in the final analysis, no one does the job and gets the results required.

Develop the Habits of Success

Your success in life and work will be determined by the kinds of
habits that you develop over time. The habit of setting priorities,
overcoming procrastination and getting on with your most important
task is a mental and physical skill. As such, this habit is learnable
through practice and repetition, over and over again, until it locks
into your subconscious mind and becomes a permanent part of your
behavior. Once it becomes a habit, it becomes both automatic and
easy to do.
This habit of starting and completing important tasks has immediate
and continuous payoff. You are designed mentally and emotionally
in such a way that task completion gives you a positive feeling. It
makes you happy. It makes you feel like a winner.
Whenever you complete a task, of any size or importance, you feel a
surge of energy, enthusiasm and self-esteem. The more important the
completed task, the happier, more confident and powerful you feel
about yourself and your world.

Important task completion triggers the release of endorphins in your

brain. These endorphins give you a natural “high.” The endorphin
rush that follows successful completion of any task makes you feel
more positive, personable, creative and confident.
Develop a Positive Addiction
Here is one of the most important of the so-called “secrets of
success.” It is that you can actually develop a "positive addition" to
endorphins and to the feeling of enhanced clarity, confidence and
competence that they trigger. When you develop this “addiction,”
you will, at an unconscious level, begin to organize your life in such a
way that you are continually starting and completing ever more
important tasks and projects. You actually become addicted, in a very
positive sense, to success and contribution.
One of the keys to your living a wonderful life, having a successful
career and feeling terrific about yourself is for you to develop the
habit of starting and finishing important jobs. At that point, this
behavior takes on a power of its own and you find it easier to
complete important tasks than not to complete them.

No Short Cuts
Practice is the key to mastering any skill. Fortunately, your mind is
like a muscle. It grows stronger and more capable with use. With
practice, you can learn any behavior or develop any habit that you
consider either desirable or necessary.

The Three D’s of New Habit Formation

You need three key qualities to develop the habits of focus and
concentration. They are all learnable. They are decision, discipline,
and determination.
First, make a decision to develop the habit of task completion.
Second, discipline yourself to practice the principles you are about to
learn over and over until they become automatic. And third, back
everything you do with determination until the habit is locked in
and becomes a permanent part of your personality.

CHAPTER 1
Set the Table
“There is one quality that one must possess to win,
and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants
and a burning desire to achieve it.”
Napoleon Hill

Before you can determine your “frog” and get on with the job of
eating it, you have to decide exactly what it is you want to achieve in
each area of your life. Clarity is perhaps the most important concept
in personal productivity. The number one reason why some people
get more work done faster is because they are absolutely clear about
their goals and objectives and they don’t deviate from them.

The greater clarity you have regarding what you want and the steps you
will have to take to achieve it, the easier it will be for you to overcome
procrastination, eat your frog and complete the task before you.
A major reason for procrastination and lack of motivation is
vagueness, confusion and fuzzy mindedness about what it is you are
trying to do, and in what order and for what reason. You must avoid
this common condition with all your strength by striving for ever
greater clarity in your major goals and tasks.

Here is a great rule for success: "Think on paper."

Only about 3% of adults have clear, written goals. These people

accomplish five and ten times as much as people of equal or better
education and ability but who, for whatever reason, have never taken
the time to write out exactly what it is they want.
There is a powerful formula for setting and achieving goals that you
can use for the rest of your life. It consists of seven simple steps. Any
one of these steps can double and triple your productivity if you are
not currently using it. Many of my graduates have increased their
incomes dramatically in a matter of a few years, or even a few
months, with this simple, seven-part method

Step One: Decide exactly what you want.

Either decide for yourself or sit down with your boss and discuss
your goals and objectives until you are absolutely, crystal clear about
what is expected of you and in what order of priority. It is amazing
how many people are working away, day after day, on low value
tasks because they have not had this critical discussion with their
manager.
Rule: “One of the very worst uses of time is to do something very
well that need not be done at all

Stephen Covey says that, "Before you begin scrambling up the ladder
of success, make sure that it is leaning against the right building."

Step Two: Write it down.

Think on paper. When you write your goal down, you crystallize it
and give it tangible form. You create something that you can touch
and see. On the other hand, a goal or objective that is not in writing is
merely a wish or a fantasy. It has no energy behind it. Unwritten
goals lead to confusion, vagueness, misdirection and numerous
mistakes

Step Three: Set a deadline on your goal. Set sub-deadlines if

necessary.
A goal or decision without a deadline has no urgency. It has no real
beginning or end. Without a definite deadline accompanied by the
assignment or acceptance of specific responsibilities for completion,
you will naturally procrastinate and get very little done.

Step Four: Make a list of everything that you can think of that you
are going to have to do to achieve your goal.

---------------------
My Lists
Master list:
Monthly list:
Weekly list:

Daily list:

Daily journal:
Completed items
In progress
Blockers/issues

---------------------
idea:
related to atulya nashik, kumbhmela etc
classified listing website with lead commission or client conversion percentage.
we can convert some advertiser to their business site and also sell their products
on our ecommerce portal.

------------------
task:
Project
Bankifsc
create plan

atulyanashik
kumbhmela
create plan

----------------------------------------------------

Planning a Project

When you have a project of any kind, begin by making a list of every
step that you will have to complete to finish the project from
beginning to end. Organize the project by priority and sequence. Lay
out the project in front of you on paper, or on a computer so that you
can see every step and task. Then go to work on one task at a time.
You will be amazed at how much you get done in this way.
As you work through your lists, you will feel more and more
effective and powerful. You will feel more in control of your life. You
will be naturally motivated to do even more. You will think better
and more creatively and you will get more and better insights that
enable you to do your work even faster.
As you work steadily through your lists, you will develop a sense of
positive forward momentum that enables you to overcome
procrastination. This feeling of progress gives you more energy and
keeps you going throughout the day.
One of the most important rules of personal effectiveness is the 10/90
Rule. This rule says that the first 10% of time that you spend
planning and organizing your work, before you begin, will save you
as much as 90% of the time in getting the job done once you get
started. You only have to try this rule once to prove it to yourself
When you plan each day in advance, you find it much easier to get
going and to keep going. The work goes faster and smoother than ever
before. You feel more powerful and competent. You get more done
faster than you thought possible. Eventually, you become unstoppable.

Activity:
1. Begin today to plan every day, week and month in advance. Take
a notepad or sheet of paper, or use your PDA or Blackberry, and
make a list of everything you have to do in the next 24 hours. Add to
it as new items come up. Make a list of all your projects, the big
multi-task jobs that are important to your future.
Lay out each of your major goals, projects or tasks by priority,
what is most important, and by sequence, what has to be done first,
what comes second and so forth. Start with the end in mind and
work backward.
Think on paper! Always work from a list. You’ll be amazed at how
much more productive you become, and how much easier it is to eat
your frog.
----------------
Use the ABCDE Method Continually

The more thought you invest in planning and setting priorities before
you begin, the more important things you will do and the faster you
will get them done once you get started.
The more important and valuable the task is to you, the more likely
you will be motivated to overcome procrastination and launch
yourself into the job.
The ABCDE Method is a powerful priority setting technique that you
can use every single day. This technique is so simple and effective
that it can, all by itself, make you one of the most efficient and
effective people in your field.
Think on Paper
The power of this technique lies in its simplicity. Here’s how it works:
You start with a list of everything you have to do for the coming day.
Think on paper.

You then place an A, B, C, D or E before each item on your list before

you begin the first task.
An "A" item is defined as something that is very important. This is
something that you must do. This is a task for which there can be
serious consequences if you do it or fail to do it, like visiting a key
customer or finishing a report for your boss that she needs for an
upcoming board meeting. These are the frogs of your life.
If you have more than one "A" task, you prioritize these tasks by
writing A-1, A-2, A-3, and so on in front of each item. Your A-1
task is your biggest, ugliest frog of all.
“Shoulds” versus “Musts”
A "B" item is defined as a task that you should do. But it only has mild
consequences. These are the tadpoles of your work life. This means
that someone may be unhappy or inconvenienced if you don't do it,
but it is nowhere as important as an "A" task. Returning an
unimportant telephone message or reviewing your email would be a
"B" task.
The rule is that you should never do a "B" task when there is an "A"
task left undone. You should never be distracted by a tadpole when
there is a big frog sitting there waiting to be eaten.
A "C" task is defined as something that would be nice to do, but for
which there are no consequences at all, whether you do it or not. "C"

tasks include phoning a friend, having coffee or lunch with a

coworker or completing some personal business during work hours.
This sort of activity has no affect at all on your work life.
A "D" task is defined as something you can delegate to someone else.
The rule is that you should delegate everything that anyone else can
do so that you can free up more time for the "A" tasks that only you
can do.
An "E" task is defined as something that you can eliminate altogether
and it won't make any real difference.
This may be a task that was important at one time but which is no
longer relevant to yourself or anyone else. Often it is something you
continue to do out of habit or because you enjoy it. But every minute
that you spend on an “E” task is time taken away from a task or
activity that can make a real difference in your life.
After you have applied the ABCDE Method to your list, you will now
be completely organized and ready to get more important things
done faster.