Eat That Frog!

cdm reviewed Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

4 stars

Things that I learned:
- Set Deadlines for all my Projects
- Plan every Day, Week and Month ahead by creating lists with all the tasks and prioritize them. The most important task should be done first
The last few pages were empty (it has less than 120 pages with words on it)
Most of the topics in the book I've heard already, but it is a good summary and motivates

Taylor reviewed Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

Review of 'Eat That Frog' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This had a surprisingly good amount of solid advice and actionable directives. It's a good resource for general productivity, efficiency, action, goal-setting, and probably any closely related topics.

nekokat reviewed Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

Review of 'Eat That Frog!' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

This was on my to-read list for some reason... I no longer remember why.

Anyhow, it's got some mildly interesting ideas/tips in it, but is mostly a rehash of GTD, but written like a sales pitch and padded out with incredibly insipid tripe.

Here's an example, from the section on "Control Your Inner DIalogue" (which, by the way, is perfectly good advice in and of itself):

To keep yourself motivated and to overcome feelings of doubt or fear, continually tell yourself, "I can do it! I can do it!" When people ask how you are, always tell them, "I feel terrific!"

The whole book is like that. There's a marginally-useful (if sometimes a little obvious) strategy, which is then belabored for pages in a relentlessly upbeat writing style that will put your teeth on edge.

His theory of success is dopey and overly-simplistic; he smugly recounts his rise from nobody …

This was on my to-read list for some reason... I no longer remember why.

Anyhow, it's got some mildly interesting ideas/tips in it, but is mostly a rehash of GTD, but written like a sales pitch and padded out with incredibly insipid tripe.

Here's an example, from the section on "Control Your Inner DIalogue" (which, by the way, is perfectly good advice in and of itself):

To keep yourself motivated and to overcome feelings of doubt or fear, continually tell yourself, "I can do it! I can do it!" When people ask how you are, always tell them, "I feel terrific!"

The whole book is like that. There's a marginally-useful (if sometimes a little obvious) strategy, which is then belabored for pages in a relentlessly upbeat writing style that will put your teeth on edge.

His theory of success is dopey and overly-simplistic; he smugly recounts his rise from nobody to "self-made millionaire", saying that he "started off in life with few advantages, aside from a curious mind" (ugh white dudes staaaahhhp) and reveals the secret to his success: "Just find out what other successful people do and do the same things until you get the same results. Learn from the experts. Wow! What an idea."

I mean, I get that it's supposed to be motivational, but gosh that's a lot of meritocratic nonsense right there, especially given that dude has apparently made his fortune by peddling this particular brand of snake oil (at the end, the book kindly informed me that I can "call today" to book him to speak).

Oh, and there's this, too. If your procrastination is a symptom of other issues, this book will get you nowhere. I've read a lot of good stuff over the years about anxiety and depression, negative self-talk, mindfulness, habit-forming strategies, etc... and this book talks about exactly none of those things.

Just read GTD instead, it covers pretty much the same ground and won't make you want to stick sporks in your eyes.