No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline by Brian Tracy

No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline Reviews

• 
  Tony Rogers Jr.

  Ive read almost two thousand books on a variety of subjects over the years and I can honestly say if someone asked me to give them one book to help them become successful in life it would be this one. Its full of simple, straight-forward advice in 21 key areas of life such as: relationships, career success, leadership, finances, health, courage, happiness, character(my favorite), responsibility, time-management, peace of my mind, and many others. Brian really knocked it out the park with this one. This is one I will re-read every year.
  
  
  **Update 3/2015**
  Since this book has 21 reasonably short chapters, I read one chapter every morning completing the book every 21 days. It takes me about 15-20 min each day.(depending on the length of each chapter) Its a great way to get your day started, you may want to try this as well.
  
  Update 2017**
  To be clear, there are better personal development books on the market but very few are more easy to read, practical and cover a broad range of topics like this book.
  
  Update 2021
  I still love this book, it has helped me and everyone I’ve recommended it to a lot. There are two other personal development books I think are incredible: the essence of success by earl nightingale(get the full length audio version not the book) and the law of success by Napoleon hill.
  
  
  Tony Rogers Jr
  Author of Visionary: Making a difference in a world that needs YOU
• 
  Greg Swierad

  I was not ready to like this book so much, because the title is quite cheesy. However, Brain Tracy gives much more than the title of the book promises. It gives very concrete strategies and habits that will improve one’s performance. My top 3 takeaways are:
  * Invest at least 3% of your annual income in yourself.
  * Develop your character by practicing the values you respect.
  * Be a good parent by being a role model.
  You can read a summary and complete list of all strategies and principles here and also in the BooksInAction app:
  https://www.mentorist.app/books/no-ex...
• 
  Brian

  I have mixed opinions about this book: on one hand, the information is useful and worth learning. Yet, on the other hand, the information is shallow and often fallacious.
  
  What do I mean? Some of my favorite parts of the book are quotes from someone other than the author. Overall, the book feels like study notes that the author took while reading other people's books. The result is brief discussions regarding some useful information, such as his advice on friendship, which is taken almost directly from Dale Carnegie's books. You get a list of things to do to make people like you. And here I go into my second opinion on the book.
  
  When the author says things like "this is the Law of Reversibility" and "this works for everyone", he sets himself for inaccurate statements. In other words, he is overgeneralizing ideas and statements and turning good ideas into misleading Laws.
  
  My last struggle with the book is his emphasis on money. From this book, it would appear that the author values money over all else. It is possible he figures that 90% of his target market values money first and so he is appealing to that demand, as I'm sure his business experience has taught him. However, when people visit my funeral, I sure hope they have more to say than "he sure was rich".
  
  My nitpicks aside, this book has some very good information regarding self-discipline. He really explains how self-discipline is crucial and to what areas in your life it can and should be applied. It's inspiring, and it's motivational.
• 
  Susan

  OK, Goodreads really should have an 'I tried to read this book but it was so bad I could not even think of finishing it option...'
  
  This book is so bad I almost made it to 10% complete before shutting it down. I now feel like I need to do an energy cleanse for having read that far into it.
  
  The author, Brian Tracy, seems to think that success = having lots of money, that people who have lots of money are 'superior' (and yes, he uses the phrase 'superior people' several times), that if you do not have lots of money you are an excuse-making "loser" (yes, he uses that word too), and that the top 20% and/or 1% (he interchanges the two) are in these brackets strictly, and only, because these 'superior people' work harder than the 'losers' who have not attained this level of financial greatness.
  
  The book is complete BS and not worth spending any time on. I am sorry that I read as much as I did. Now, I need to go shower and scrub away the pollution from this book.
• 
  Vaishali

  Just fantastic. No time spent with a Brian Tracy book is ever, ever wasted. Here, he hones in on 9 major disciplines :
  
  1. Clear-thinking
  *** Fast decisions are usually wrong decisions
  *** Chunk off large amounts of time for thinking
  *** Think on paper; write it all out
  *** Wisdom = Experience + Reflection (Confucius)
  *** Keep your thinking open
  
  2. Daily Goal-Setting
  *** Focus and concentration are indispensable to success
  *** If you cannot focus and concentrate, then you will have to work for someone else... who will make you focus and concentrate, who will supervise you.
  *** Never work on less than 10 goals per year.
  *** Write these goals in a spiral notebook every morning, and reprogram your mind everyday.
  
  3. Daily Planning
  *** Every minute spent in planning saves 10 minutes in execution
  *** Just keep working your plan
  *** Discipline yourself not to do things of low-value
  *** Daily eliminate/delegate any task which does not have serious consequences that only you can do
  *** Start your A-1 task first every morning, and stay with it until that task is done
  
  4. Courage
  *** Force yourself to do what you know you should do
  *** Practice courage whenever courage is required
  
  5. Excellent Health
  *** Start off with a clear picture of your perfect body
  *** Exercise everyday
  
  6. Saving & Investing
  *** "Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe." - Albert Einstein
  *** 2/3 of success in investing and business is avoiding making mistakes
  
  7. Hard work
  *** Work all the time you work. Don't waste a single minute.
  
  8. Continuous Learning
  *** Read in your field daily
  *** The more you learn, the more you earn
  
  9. Persistence
  *** Drive yourself forward to complete your tasks 100%
  *** Persistence is self-discipline in action
  *** "Persistence is to the character of a man like carbon is to steel." - Napolean Hill
  *** Your persistence is your measure of your belief in yourself.
  
  "You must learn how to focus and concentrate to sell more of your products and services to more customers at better prices."
  
  "Self-discipline is the master key to riches, If you can do this, your future will be unlimited."
  
  
  .
• 
  Amanda Webster

  First, let me say that I began skimming this book at about page 25. I became greatly annoyed by Tracy's shallow analysis of issues and his over-simplification of solutions. If you need a cheerleader, this book may be for you; if you need implementable advice, you'll only lose patience.
  
  This book could easily be reduced by half. It contained too much redundancy, unnecessary analogies given the simple content, and descriptions of alternatives when they could be easily deduced. Tracy makes broad generalizations about human psychology and populations when he has no qualification for doing so. He also regularly draws conclusions or attempts to create parallels for his own purposes and doesn't cite any sources that support his claim(s).
  
  "This feeling of inadequacy or worthlessness lies at the root of most personality problems in our lives as well as most political and social problems in our world, both nationally and internationally."
  
  Some other things that I found annoying:
  1. Every chapter (20) contains seven questions at the end. It isn't coincidence because some questions are unrelated to chapter content and appear to have been added to reach this 'magical' number.
  
  2. Many of his lists rely heavily on alliteration. In one instance this was done by beginning each item with "Proper" to make it a 4 P list.
  
  3. The book's focus is self-discipline. If all 20 chapters begin with "Self-Discipline and" everyone understands that it is excessive and you just remove those three words without losing anything of value.
  
  He spent a paragraph using the analogy of kids loving candy to describe the propensity for humans to not delay gratification. Candy is sweet. It is delicious. Candy has a wonderful, sugary flavor (wonderful = delicious, sugary flavor = sweet). Children like candy and can't get enough. Kids will often eat it until it makes them sick. Paraphrasing, but not an exaggeration. It annoys me as much typing it as it did reading it.
  
  I'll close with two of my 'favorites' from the book:
  
  People need love like roses need rain.
  Never, never be unfaithful.
  
  My suggestion is to never, never waste your time with this book.
• 
  Ashraf Kacimi

  Listened to this on my way to college with very low expectations. Despite some good point, I think that I spent most time like this :
  
• 
  Lisa M.

  I know Brian Tracy is kind of a cliche, an old school "you can be successful too!" trainer a la Zig Ziglar and late night infomercials, but when New Years rolls around, and you're in resolutions mode, "No Excuses" is just the kind of book you need. Basically Tracy spends 300 pages breaking down every aspect of your life -- your average day, your work, your attitude, your health, your family, your friends -- and explains why, no matter how much you want to blame it on someone else, it's your doing and you are the only one who will ever fix it, improve it or perpetuate it. And that without the art of self-discipline, you never will. Just the kick in the ass we all need come January 1st.
  
  The feminist out there will hate it though, since -- being the old school guy he is -- he actually says things like "to make women feel valued, tell them they're pretty because women are concerned with being attractive."
• 
  Bianca Tufail

  Although this book had action steps that I found useful, there were many things in the book that I didn't agree with. The book is written with a sales industry background, so many examples given were irrelevant in my own life. The author has an "old school" mentality giving advice such as, men and women shouldn't have business dinners or drinks in order to avoid jealously in their marriages (in my opinion this is straight sexist- and is the reason why many women have a hard time finding men mentors in the workplace). The author also gives the advice not to talk to co-workers during working hours (instead tell them you'll catch up at lunch or after work), and continues to say that to get ahead in life you must work through lunch and stay late at work. Basically become a robot.
  I wouldn't recommend this book, unless you are in a serious self-discipline crisis.
• 
  Ana Lelis

  I thought this book was supposed to help the average person to be better. But, no, the author wants you to become a robot. He believes success equals money. ''Do you think your life is not good? Just go to work one hour before everyone else and leave one hour later than them. Work more and make money. If you don't act like rich people you are lazy.''
  Excuse me? People shouldn't listen to that. You don't have to be your boss's bootlicker, you shouldn't waste precious time with your family to be a workaholic.
  There were a few good pieces of advice, but, overall I just wasted my time.
• 
  Ahmed A

  I read this book as a companion to Eat That Frog, by the same author, Brian Tracy. Eat that Frog is more into the practices methods of success, while this book is more detailed and focuses on the self-discipline in various aspects of life: Personal, Business, and the Good Life. Below is the detailed list of the aspects where Tracy discuss how to incorporate self-discipline into them:
  
  I- Personal Success
  1- Success
  2- Character.
  3- Responsibility.
  4- Goals.
  5- Personal Excellence.
  6- Courage.
  7- Persistence.
  
  II- Business, Sales, and Finances:
  8- Work.
  9- Leadership.
  10- Business.
  11- Sales.
  12- Money.
  13- Time Management.
  14- Problem Solving.
  
  III- The Good Life:
  15- Happiness.
  16- Personal Health
  17- Physical Fitness.
  18- Marriage
  19- Children
  20- Friendship
  21- Peace of Mind.
  
  This book is absolutely a Self-Discipline Bible. It worth reading more than once, well, this is the way to incorporate any change in your life, by practice. And by re-reading this book, to enforce and embed what this book has to offer into your mind and character. It is a very wide and deep content with action exercises throughout each chapter, let it be your self-discipline bible!
  
• 
  Vaishali

  Fantastic and loaded with pearls. I highly recommend the audiobook to hear Brian's soft, loving voice. It's then that his words come alive, and he becomes your best friend.
• 
  Mario Tomic

  Amazing book, if you ever read anything by Brian Tracy you know this guy delivers but in this book especially he nailed down every single aspect of success for each area of life through practice of self-discipline. If you implement any tip out of this book (and there's hundreds of them) the quality of your life will instantly go up. While going through the chapters I had a ton of aha moments and the content helped me set more clear goals in my own life. "No Excuses" will literally force you to stop making excuses that are holding you back and take responsibility for your happiness and success. Highly recommended!
• 
  nananatte

  ถ้าจะอ่านหนังสือของไบรอัน เทรซี่แค่ 1 เล่ม คุณควรอ่านเล่มนี้ค่ะ
  สรุปสุดยอดการจัดการชีวิต ทั้งเรื่องส่วนตัว การงาน และการมีชีวิตที่ดี(wellbeing) มาครบ ชัด ตรงประเด็น แนะทั้ง mindset และวิธีลงมือทำ แถมจบแต่ละบท ยังมีสรุปแบบฝึกหัดทิ้งท้ายให้ทบทวนได้ง่ายๆ ด้วย
  
  ไม่ว่าชีวิตจะแย่ไม่ก้าวหน้า การเงินชักหน้าไม่ถึงหลัง ไม่เคยมีเวลาเพียงพอเพื่อทำอะไร
  ไปจนถึงชีวิตสมรสพังพินาศ คุยกับใครก็เสียความรู้สึกอยู่เรื่อย หรือสุดท้ายก็กลายเป็นพ่อแม่แบบที่ตัวเองไม่ชอบใจ
  คือ... ครบทุกด้านจนเรางงว่า... เค้าใส่มาทุกเรื่องขนาดนี้ในหนึ่งเล่มเลยเหรอ
  Great book. Super Powerful ค่ะ
  
  เนื้อหาเต็ม แต่อ่านไม่ยาก เพียงแต่ต้องใช้เวลาอ่าน ค่อยๆ ย่อย
  เราว่าอ่านเล่ม no excuse มันครบถ้วนในตัวเองอยู่แล้ว แต่ถ้าอยากไปเจาะประเด็นอ่านเพิ่ม คุณไบรอันแกก็มีเขียนไว้เยอะมากให้ไปตามต่อได้ (ถ้าดูจาก audio กับคอร์สที่แกจัด ยิ่งเยอะเข้าไปใหญ่เลย)
  
  ขอชื่นชมนักแปลและบ.ก.วีเลิร์น แปลอ่านง่ายมากกกกกกกกกกก
  และราคาเป็นมิตรด้วยค่ะ :-)
• 
  Kika.Smile

  * القاسم المشترك للنجاح هو أن الناجحين قد اعتادوا القيام بالأمور التي لا يحب الفاشلون القيام بها .
  * الانضباط الذاتي هو أن تفعل مايجب عليك فعله سواء كنت راغبا فيه أو راغبا عنه.
  * استمتعت وانتفعت وتحفزت بهذا الكتاب جدا 💝
• 
  BookOfCinz

  Re-read January 21
  This book continues to act as a great reminder of what I need to achieve and values I should continue to emulate. This book offers a lot well rounded exercises for you to do deeper reflections on goals. A must read.
  
  
  Wow. Wow. Where have this book been all my life? This book is the bible of Self-Help, Motivation and Inspiration. Imagine if all the self-help books, success books, motivational books and how-to books had sex, “No Excuses: The Power of Self-Discipline” would be the love child. What a love child it is!
  
  If you are looking for a jump start in any area of your life, this is the book for you.
  
  If you are looking for a kick in the ass, a hard talking to, this is the book for you.
  
  If you are looking for advice on your finance, love, work, relationships, this is the book for you.
  
  If you are looking for a cheerleader, someone to tell you “YOU CAN!” this is the book for you.
  
  If you are looking for secrets to success and financial freedom, this is the book for you.
  
  If you are looking for a complete revolution in your current way of life, read this book!
  
  
  
  I feel like an evangelist when I start talking about this book, only because this book is guaranteed to change your life if you follow the instructions that are given. Not only is the book written in a clear format but you are given realistic instructions that you can start working on as you read.
  
  What I loved most about this book is that it really makes you take a step back and look at how you have been living and how you can now start living better. The exercises at the end of each chapter requires deep, honest “soul-searching” look at every area of your life. These exercises really go to the core of your problems and make you think on how you can solve them yourself.
  
  Brian Tracy did an amazing job with writing this book, I found myself highlight almost every sentence in this book. I definitely recommend that everyone not only read this book but get it in hard copy and re-read it at the start of every month.
  
• 
  Jim Truong

  Short audiobook that can be finished in an hour. Enthusiastic speaker. Self-discipline seems to be a multi-part plan -- a mind and body balancing act. But most important idea is -- SACRIFICE. There are some good tips and anecdotes when appropriate.
  
  Essentially, there needs to be a lot of hard work before you can reap the rewards. You need to keep things in focus and not let the goals be fuzzy. Make a top ten list. Visualize the success so that your subconscious will work toward it. Practice being courageous. Find what scares you and work at it; repeat to yourself, "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it" then do it. So the benefits are for nobody but you. There's also talk of exercising to help get the body discipline... get some oxygen to your brain -- get the endorphins flowing. And, very good for us readers, there's mention of continuous learning, such as reading one book a week will add up to 50 books a year -- where the average American barely reads one book a year. If you read 50 books within your given field, it's like studying for a PhD or so he says... and listening to audiobooks as you drive to work -- since all that driving time in a year will add up to a few months or semesters worth of time to learn.
  
  Bottom line: if you need that booster shot of motivation, it's a nice listen.
  
• 
  Eitvilė

  Pirmiausia, apie tai, kas patiko. 
  
  Du skyriai: 
  1) apie pinigų taupymą + savidiscipliną; 
  2) apie laiką + savidiscipliną. 
  + paskutinė knygos dalis, kurioje kalbama apie savidisciplinos įtaką geram gyvenimui ir sveikiems santykiams.
  
  Tai tiek. 🙃
  
  Įsigydama šią knygą tikrai nesitikėjau tokio patarimo - "ateik į darbą valanda anksčiau, dirbk per pietus ir pasilik valandą po darbo" - neva padėsiančio man pasiekti geresnių rezultatų ir rasti daugiau vidinės motyvacijos griebtis naujų iššūkių. Ir čia tik vienas iš knygoje pateiktų absurdiškų pavyzdžių. Apskritai, kone kiekviename skyriuje visa savidisciplina argumentuojama tuo, kad turi daugiau uždirbti - jei uždirbsi mažai, būsi (cituoju) "eilinis nevykėlis", "vidutinybė" ir that's it. Jausmas toks, kad taip ir nesupratau, ką autorius norėjo pasakyti šioje knygoje, nes mintys pakankamai padrikos ir atsikartojančios. Be to, nuvylė ir knygos vertimas, kuriame nemažai stiliaus ir netgi gramatinių klaidų.
• 
  Tuğçe Gürkan

  This book felt a lot like it was written by a disciplined father archetype to me. I personally never had that experience but I watched a lot of movies about it. I don’t mean to be rude but it feels it comes from a priviliged angle and I do not recommend this type of self-help for people who suffer from mental illnesses. “Go and f*ing do it” or “if you work hard enough” attitude of the book felt very old to me. Of course I respect the style but I don’t think we should fat shame and give diet advice (without even having a degree on it) in “self improvement” books. This is a bit outdated. Good information, yes, but be aware of the style.
• 
  Shadin Pranto

  এই বছরে প্রথম পড়া বই ব্রায়ান ট্রেসির লেখা আত্ম-উন্নয়নমূলক বই ''No Excuse: The Power Of Self-Decipline'। সাধারণত মোটিভেশনাল কেতাবসমূহে নানান অযৌক্তিক ও অবাস্তব কথার ফুলঝুরিতে পূর্ণ থাকে। ট্রেসির বইতে এক্ষেত্রে একটু আলাদা।
  
  শৃঙ্খলার সাথে সাফল্যের সম্পর্ক অত্যন্ত নিবিড়। যে কোনো অর্জনের পথে বড়���-ছোটো অনেক প্রতিবন্ধক আসে। সেগুলো ধৈর্য ধরে মোকাবিলা করতে না পারলে কিংবা বিশৃঙ্খল জীবনাচরণের মাধ্যমে কাঙ্ক্ষিত সাফল্য অর্জন করা সম্ভব হবে না। ট্রেসি লিখেছেন,
  
  'if you are not happy with your current “crop,” it is up to you, starting today, to plant a new crop, to begin doing more of those things that lead to success—and to stop engaging in those activities that lead nowhere.'
  
  ক্ষুদ্রাকায়  বেশুমার পরিচ্ছদে বইটি বিভক্ত। একবসায় পড়ার চাইতে অবসরের ধীরে ধীরে পড়তে পারেন। নিশ্চয়ই মন্দ লাগবে না।
• 
  Frank

  Zero stars. The book is all theory, there is no practical advice on how to achieve discipline in any area of life. It contains TONNES of filler. It would be better to read a book on avoiding procrastination.
• 
  Anna

  Inspiring and empowering -- this has made a Brian Tracy fan out of me. Just bought three more of his books.
• 
  CA Ram Melam

  This book is an excellent resource for self-discipline, business, growth, leadership, etc. Apart from self-discipline, it covers a lot of topics including business, growth, success, personal management, etc.
• 
  Tima ( in line with Tima )

  practical and useful.
• 
  Dew

  OK Wafa, what did we say? NO MORE SELF HELP BOOKS!!
  I dropped this after reading about 25% of the book. The same talk, the same words and the same feelings : excitement and then disappointment. I need to read more non fiction books but less of self help ones, do you hear me Wafa?
• 
  Brian Johnson

  “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. Now, how can you tell if your favorite excuse is valid or not? It’s simple. Look around and ask, ‘Is there anyone else who has my same excuse who is successful anyway?’ When you ask this question, if you are honest, you will have to admit that there are thousands and even millions of people who have had it far worse than you have who have gone on to do wonderful things with their lives. And what thousands and millions of others have done, you can do as well—if you try.”
  
  ~ Brian Tracy from No Excuses!
  
  Brian Tracy is one of my favorite old-school, kick-your-motivation-into-high-gear gurus.
  
  I’ve read a *lot* of his stuff and listened to a *lot* of his stuff as well. He asks some of THE most provocative questions and reading his books often leads to some long journaling sessions packed with insight.
  
  This book is packed with wisdom on how to get our self-discipline on. I highlighted nearly the whole thing in my Kindle and this Note is from Ideas in only the first half of it. :)
  
  “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.”
  
  If you’re resonating with the Ideas here, I think you’ll love the book!
  
  Here are some of the Big Ideas:
  
  1. Someday Isle - It’s time to vote yourself off.
  2. The Battle Within - Lawyers, wolves, and angels.
  3. Think Long-term - And rock it.
  4. The Law - Of sowing and reaping.
  5. Cool Peeps - Who would you hang with?
  
  Here’s to rockin’ our self-discipline as we get our teleos on and fully show up in this precious life of ours!
  
  Here's my video review:
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etNcD...
  
  And click here to find 250+ more of my reviews:
  
  http://bit.ly/BrianReviews
  
  Brian