Excerpts from ” Time Power: A Proven System for Getting More Done in Less Time Than You Ever Thought Possible
by Brian Tracy ”

Twelve Proven Principles for Peak Performance 

Here are twelve proven principles you can practice every day to get more out of yourself and improve your results in everything you do.

Principle 1. Time management enables you to increase the value of your contribution. Self-esteem comes from the knowledge that you are putting more into your life and work than you are taking out, that you are contributing more to your work than you are getting back. The greater the contribution you feel that you are making to your company and to your family, the greater will be your self-esteem. Good time management enables you to greatly improve your ability to contribute more and more value to whatever you are doing.

Principle 2. Your rewards, both tangible and intangible, will always be equal to the value of your service to other people. The more you put in, the more you get out. Through the Law of Sowing and Reaping, time management allows you to sow more and better, and therefore to reap more and better in every area of your life. If you want to increase the quality and quantity of your rewards, you need only seek ways to increase the value of your service. This is very much under your control.

Principle 3. Good time management requires that you see yourself as a ‘‘factory.’’ A factory has three phases of production. First of all, it has inputs of raw materials, time, labor, money, and resources. These are the ‘‘factors of production’’ that are necessary to create the end-product.

Second, inside the factory there are activities that take place. These are the production activities or work that are necessary to produce the product or service. The efficiency of operations within the factory determines the productivity of the factory and the productivity of each person involved in the production process.

Third, what emerges from the factory are the outputs or production of the factory. The value of the factory is determined by the quality and quantity of its outputs relative to its inputs. The central purpose of the management of the factory is to increase the quality and quantity of outputs.

One main difference between highly effective people and people who seem to produce very little is that top performers always focus on outputs or results. Average performers focus on inputs. Top performers focus on accomplishments; medium or low performers focus on activities.

Good time management requires that you continually ask yourself: What outputs are expected of me? What am I expected to produce? Why, exactly, am I on the payroll?

The more you focus on the required outputs of your position, the better and more effective you will become. As a result, you will create greater value and make a more important contribution. You will become more productive and, therefore, more valuable to yourself and to your company.

Principle 4. Everything you accomplish, or fail to accomplish, depends on your ability to use your time to its best advantage. Your levels of achievement and performance, in every area, are determined by your ability to think through and to apply the very best time management techniques available to you. You can only increase the quality and quantity of your results by increasing your ability to use your time effectively.

Principle 5. Time is the scarcest resource of accomplishment. In America today, the biggest problem most people have is ‘‘time poverty.’’ People may have money and material success, but they don’t have enough time to enjoy them. We are short of time in almost every area of our lives.

Time is inelastic; it cannot be stretched. Time is indispensable; all work and accomplishment requires it. Time is irreplaceable; there is no substitute for it. And time is perishable; it cannot be saved, preserved, or stored. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.

Principle 6. The practice of time management skills allows you to develop judgment, foresight, self-reliance, and self-discipline. These are the qualities of leadership and character. It is time management that enables you to get things done, and your ability to accomplish the tasks that are assigned to you is the chief measure of your value to your company, and to your world.

Principle 7. A focus on time management forces you to be intensely results-oriented. Results orientation is the key quality of successful men and women. Your ability to focus single-mindedly on the most important results required of you is the fastest and surest way to get paid more, promoted faster, and to eventually achieve financial independence.

Principle 8. Time management enables you to work smarter, not just harder. Many people who are failures actually work harder than successful people. But they produce less in the hours they work because of poor personal and time management skills.

Principle 9. Good time management is a source of energy, enthusiasm, and a positive mental attitude. The more productive you become, the more positive you feel about yourself. As you see yourself accomplishing large quantities of work, you actually experience a continuous inflow of additional energy that enables you to accomplish even more.

Principle 10. You grow as a person in direct proportion to the demands that you place on yourself. The self-discipline of time management builds character, confidence, and an unshakable belief in yourself and your abilities.

Principle 11. Lasting motivation only comes from a feeling of achievement and accomplishment. The more you get done, the better you feel about yourself, and the more eager you become to do even more.

Principle 12. Now, this minute, is all the time you have. If you manage yourself minute by minute, the hours and days will take care of themselves. The more tightly you manage your time, the more you are guaranteed that it will translate into a great life that’s hallmarked by purpose, power, control, and worthwhile accomplishments.