Goals 

Brian Tracy 
 

Book Overview from the Publisher 

Why  do  some  people achieve all their goals while others simply dream of having a better life? Bestselling 
author  Brian  Tracy  shows  that  the  path  from  frustration  to  fulfillment  has  already  been  discovered. 
Hundreds  of  thousands—even  millions—of  men  and  women  have  started  with  nothing  and  achieved 
great  success.  Here  Tracy  presents the essential principles you need to know to make ​your ​dreams come 
true. 
 
Tracy  presents  a  simple,  powerful,  and  effective  system  for  setting  and  achieving  goals—a  method that 
has  been  used  by  more  than  one  million  people  to  achieve  extraordinary  things.  In  this  revised  and 
expanded  second  edition  he  has added three new chapters addressing areas in which goals can be most 
rewarding but also the toughest to set and keep: finances, family, and health 
 
Using  the  twenty-one  strategies  Tracy  outlines,  you’ll  be  able  to  accomplish  any  goals  you  set  for 
yourself—no  matter  how  big.  You’ll  discover  how  to determine your own strengths, what you truly value 
in  life,  and  what  you  really  want  to  accomplish  in  the  years  ahead.  Tracy  shows  how  to  build  your 
self-esteem  and  self-confidence,  approach  every  problem  or  obstacle  effectively,  overcome  difficulties, 
respond  to  challenges,  and  continue  forward  toward  your  goals,  no  matter  what  happens.  Most 
importantly, you’ll learn a system for achievement that you will use for the rest of your life. 
 

KEY POINTS COVERED IN THIS SUMMARY: 

1. 6 keys to goal-setting ​- A guide to setting the right kind of goals 
2. 4 keys to visualization ​- How to get the most out of visualization 
3. You are always visualizing ​- Now make the best of it 
4. Tasks and endorphins -​ How to create good feelings as you work 
towards your goals 
5. Progress and measurement ​- How to measure your progress 
towards your goals 
6. 5 rings of personality ​- Understand yourself well when you are 
working on your goals 
7. Locus of control ​- Increase your chances of success through the 
locus of control 

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 1) 6 Keys to Goal-Setting 
 
You’ve probably heard of the popular concept of S.M.A.R.T. goals: 
 
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound  
While  that  is  a  good  rule to follow when it comes to setting goals, Brian Tracy says it goes a lot 
more deeper than that. 
 

 
 
1. Y
​ our goals need to be ​clear,​ s​ pecific​, ​detailed​ and w ​ ritten​.  
 
The  “written”  part  is  where  a  lot of people miss out. You got to write your goals down and they 
have  to  be  written  in  a  way  that  anyone  who  looks  at  the  goal  can  tell  exactly  what  you're 
going to accomplish.  
 
EXAMPLE:  A  lot  of  people  set  a  goal  like  “I  want  to  lose weight.” However, this is not a goal at 
all. It's just a pipe dream in some ways. It’s not clear, not specific, not detailed, not written.  
 
Indicate  how  much  weight,  by  what  time,  what kind of body composition, what fat percentage, 
and  so  on.  It  has  to  be  detailed  is  written  down  on  paper  or in your journal somewhere so that 
you have a record of it. That way you can remember that this is the goal you have for yourself.  
 

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2.​ It has to be m ​ easurable​ and o ​ bjective​.  
 
Again  when  it  comes  to  losing  weight,  for  example, measurable and objective would be saying 
you  will  lose  20  pounds  a  certain  date.  Anyone  can  tell  you  whether  you  achieved  the  goal  or 
did not achieve the goal. It's not subjective, and that's really important.  
 
3. I​ t should be time-bound​. There should be a deadline.  
 
You  need  to  have  exactly  the  timeline  by  which  you  will  accomplish  a  goal.  Mark  it  on  your 
calendar. Do whatever you need to do but have a deadline.  
 
4.  ​It  needs  to  be  challenging.  ​You  need  to  have  a  50%  chance  of  success.  It’s  not  a  100% 
chance  of  success,  not  even  80%. A 50% chance is going to stretch you. It's going to make you 
work  hard  for  it  and  it's  going  to  be  tough.  But  you  are  going  to win. You're going to come out 
stronger as a result of it.  
 
Of  course,  the  50%  chance  of  success  means  there's  a  strong  likelihood  that  you  will  fail  at  it, 
but  still  you  will have grown as a result of this goal. If the goal is too easy, it doesn't inspire you. 
You  need  a  goal that inspires you. Usually a goal that inspires you is going to challenge you and 
it's going to ask a lot more than what you thought was initially available inside of you.  
 
5.  It  has  to  be  aligned  with  your  values.  ​A  lot  of  times  we  set  goals which have no alignment 
with our values.  
 
Our  values  might  be  pointing  us  in  a  different  direction  compared  to  the  goal  that  we're  after. 
And the goals are probably not even set by us. They are set by other people or by society for us, 
and hence we are never really in alignment with those goals.  
 
A lot of times also, we have goals in different areas and they're pulling us in different directions.  
 
EXAMPLE:  You  have  a  goal  of  making  a  certain  amount  of  money  next  year,  but  at  the  same 
time  you  also  have  a  goal  of  spending  a  lot  of  time  with  the  family.  Indeed, it might be difficult 
to harmonize goals every single time.  
 
Therefore,  you've  got  to  align  your  values  and  harmonize  the  goals  with  each other. That's the 
only way to accomplish these goals.  
 
6. ​It has to be aligned with your major definite purpose.  
 
Whether  you  have  a  short-term,  medium-term,  or  long-term  goal,  you  have  to  think  of  it 
through  the  lens  of  your  major  purpose  in  life.  If  you  don't  have  that  yet,  you  need  to  start 
thinking  about  it.  This  is  because  if  your  goals  are  taking  you  in different directions and they're 

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not  serving  that  major  purpose  of  your  life,  then  they’ll  be  taking  you  away  from  what  that 
purpose that you want to fulfill.  
 
So  always  consider  your  major  purpose  when  setting  goals.  Identify  your  major  purpose  and 
make  sure  your  goals  are  in  alignment.  Otherwise  you're  just  wasting  time.  You're  climbing  a 
ladder that someone else has put together for you. Climb your own ladder instead.  

2) 4 Keys to Visualization 
 
1.  ​How  often  are  you  visualizing  your  goal?  How  often  are  you  visualizing  your  dream?  How 
often  are  you  dreaming  that.  How  often  are  you  spending  your  time  thinking  about  it?  All  that 
stuff.  How  the  repetition  of  visualization  is  really  key  to  program  that  goal  into  your  mind, into 
your  subconscious  mind.  Napoleon  Hill  talks  about  this  idea  a lot in “Think And Grow Rich.” So 
repetItion  is  a  really  important  key  in  terms  of  visualization  because  it  drills  that  idea  into  your 
mind, into your subconscious mind over and over and over again. So the more you visualize that 
goal, the more likely you're going to find a way to take action on it and realize that goal.  
 
2.  ​How  long  do  you  visualize  it  for?  Hopefully  not  just  a  couple  of  seconds  every  time  you 
visualize,  but  more  like  more  for  extended  periods  of  time.  So  the  the  longer  time  you  spend 
visualizing, the better your outcome, the better the results.  
 
3.  ​Intensity  ​- How strongly do you feel the emotions of the final outcome? How strongly do you 
feel  the  positive  outcome  in  your  reality  today?  How  strongly  do  those  emotions  touch  you  in 
some  ways?  That  is  really  important.  Intensity  has  to  be  really  strong.  The higher the intensity, 
the more likelihood or the higher the speed of accomplishment of that goal in some ways.  
 
4.  ​Clarity  ​-  So  rather  than  just a visualizing a hazy picture of the goal, you need to be very clear 
as  to  what  their  goal  might  be  for  you.  If  it's  a  house,  if  it's  a  car,  if  it's  your  body,  whatever  it 
might be, if it's a your business, wherever you want to take your business, whatever it might be, 
the  more  clear  you  are,  the  more  vivid  you  are,  the  faster  you  will  be  able  to  accomplish  your 
goal  because  once  the  goal  becomes  extremely  clear  in  your  subconscious  mind  then  it's  very 
easy for the mind to direct you to in order to get your goals.  
 
EXAMPLE: Michael Phelps 
 
The  great  Olympic  swimmer  Michael  Phelps  used  all  of  these  principles  to  great  effect  in  his 
visualization practices.  
● Every time he walks under a door frame, he would visualize.  
● He would affirm something.  
● He would visualize the an outcome he wanted.  
● He would visualize his races (before, during, after).  

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 ● He would visualize himself winning.  
● The  visualizations  were  long, like a videotape. His coach would always say, “Put it in the 
videotape, Michael.” There he can view everything. He was asked to do this visualization 
at nighttime, in the morning, all the time.  
● He would visualize the whole race all the way to him winning the race.  
● He  would  always  see  himself  winning  and  how  he  would  feel  if  he  had  won  that 
championship.  
● When  he visualizes, he would also hear the roar of the crowd and the splash against the 
water  as  he  was  swimming.  He  could  see  everyone  in  the  stands.  That's  how  visual, 
descriptive, and vivid his visualizations were.  

3) We Are Always Visualizing 

 
One  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  visualization  that  we're  all  subject  to  is  that  we  are  always 
visualizing.  No  matter  who  we  are,  no  matter  where  we  are  in  our  lives,  we're  always 
visualizing.  
 
A  lot  of  people  might  say  that  they  are  not  really  able  to  see,  and  hence  they  don't  really 
visualize.  But  the  truth  is  we  are  always,  always  making  pictures  in  our  minds.  Maybe  it's  a 
picture  of  the  future,  maybe  it's  the  past,  maybe  it's  a  present.  Whatever  it  is,  we  are  always 
creating these images in our mind.  
 
The  question  is  whether  we're doing it by default (which unfortunately 90% of us are doing), or 
by design.  
 

Visualize by design, not by default 

 
Visualizing  by  design  means  focusing  the  energy  on  that  one  goal  and  on  the  self  winning  in 
that scenario. That's the power of focus.  
 
So  while  all  of  us  are  always  visualizing,  the  person  who  wins  (i.e.,  the  person  who 
accomplishes  what  they  visualize)  is  the  one  who  realizes  that  they  need  to focus their energy 
on that one goal, rather than scatter their energy all over the place.  
 
When  we're  operating  by  default,  we  don't  even  know  what  kind  of  outcomes  we're  getting. 
We  just  know  that  sometimes  we  get  good  outcomes  and  sometimes  we  get  bad  outcomes, 
and then we keep wondering why this is happening.  
 

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The  key  is  to  be  very  deliberate  about  our  visualizations,  rather  than  let  the  visualizations 
happen automatically.  
 
Each of our lives is the sum of our visualizations, the pictures we are holding in our head.  
 
Be very careful of what you are visualizing.  
 

4) Tasks and Endorphins 

 
Our brain chemistry is very much involved in goal-setting.  
 
When  we  work  on  something  and  we  complete  that  task,  the  brain  releases  the  substance 
called  endorphins.  It  gives us a sense of elation, hence we call it an endorphin rush. It gives us a 
sense of well-being and happiness.  
 
The key here is ​completion​. We want to complete what we started.  
 
So  if  you  have  a  big  thing  that  you're  going  after,  maybe  some  project that will take 8 hours to 
complete --  
● Cut it down / slice it down / dice it down. Make the tasks so small.  
● You  may  just  identify  one  portion  of  the  tasks  that  you  can  accomplish  in  the  next  5  to 
10 minutes and go and accomplish that task.  
● When you complete that task, put a check mark against that task.  
 
Because  you’ve  completed  a  task,  you’ll  certainly  feel  good.  You  release  endorphins  in  your 
system, and that allows you to take even more action.  
 

Ways to trigger completion in your system 

  
1. Create  checklists  -  Checklists  are  really  easy.  Create  checklists  for  whatever  you're 
trying to do and then mark it off everytime you accomplish something.  
 
2. Use a timer​ - Use a timer and then just go work against that timer.  
 
So  set  something up for let's say 15 minutes and then you just work against the timer to 
get a task accomplished. When you do that, you get a great endorphin rush.  
 

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 3. Calendar  ​-  You  may  also  put  down  in  your  calendar  everything  that  you  want to do for 
the  day,  and  as  you  finish  any  of  them,  mark  those  things  out.  You’ll  get  the  same 
endorphin rush.  
 
That’s  the  power  of  completion.  If  you can create a sense of completion even if it means 
just  for  a  5-minute  window,  that's  still  good enough because that gives you endorphins 
and allows you to feel good about your progress. 
 

5) Progress and Measurement 

 
When  we  have  a  goal,  sometimes  we  lose  track  and  we  feel  like  we're  not  going  anywhere. 
This  shows  the  importance  of  being able to measure our progress, because progress gives us a 
sense of motivation that almost nothing else does.  
 
Progress  is  a  really  easy  way  to  manufacture  inspiration.  Therefore,  we  need  to  find  ways  to 
measure  our  progress.  We  can  get  really  fancy  with  measurements,  but  it's  more  important  to 
keep  it  simple  so  that  you  can  almost  see  it  on  a  daily  basis,  or hourly basis if needed, and you 
know exactly where you stand.  

2 Metrics of Progress 
 
1.  ​Identify  1  single  measure  that  you  will  measure  your overall success. Whenever you look at 
that  score,  you  know  exactly  where  you  are  with  your  goa.  You  will  know  exactly  how 
successful you are and how much progress you've made against that goal.  
 
One measure is all you need.  
 
Don't  confuse yourself with having too many measures because then you'll lose focus and you’ll 
lose direction and it becomes overwhelming.  
 
2.  ​Identify  your  most  valuable  activity​.  What's  the one important thing you do on a daily basis 
that  will  get  you  to  that  goal?  Identify  that  ​most  valuable activity of yours and then measure it 
on a daily basis.  
 
This is not an outcome measurement but more like an effort measurement: 
● how much you're putting in 
● how well you are doing against your most valuable activity 
 

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EXAMPLE​:  One  of  the  goals  for  our  YouTube  channel  right  now  is  to  grow  our  subscription 
base.  
 
My 1 single measure: T ​ he number of subscribers.  
My most valuable activity: C ​ reate more videos.  
 
The  more  videos  we  create  and  the  higher  their  quality,  the  higher  the  number  of  subscribers 
we're going to get on YouTube. It's a direct correlation.  
 
So  if  I  can  just measure the number of videos or the total hours of videos we have created, then 
that's  a  really  easy  indicator  of  my  daily  progress  on  my  most  valuable  activity.  And  if  I look at 
the  number  of  subscribers  every  time,  then  that's  a  really  simple  measure  of  how  I  am 
progressing towards our goal.  
 

Make Measuring Fun 

 
Now  that  you  know  these  2  metrics,  ​make it a game for yourself. So everyday you sit down to 
work,  you  know  the  things  you’re  working  against.  Now  you  set  some  benchmarks  or  some 
scorecards  to  go  against  them  and  to  win  against  them  on a daily basis. Make progress fun for 
yourself and you will accomplish your goals super fast. 
 

6) 5 Rings Of Personality 
 
When  we  are  confused  about  who  we  truly  are,  it's  difficult  to  accomplish  any  kinds  of  goals. 
We  feel  lost  because  we  have  no  sense  of  who  we  really  are  and  hence  we  are  not  able  to 
connect ourselves to our goals.  
 
So  understanding  ourselves  is  a  crucial  step  to accomplishing our goals. In order to understand 
ourselves,  the  book  encourages  the  use  a  tool  called  the  5  Rings  Of  Personality.  It's  all  about 
building our personality out starting from our inner core 
 
 
● Things that we hold very dearly to ourselves. 
● The most fundamental things we believe in. 
1st Ring: VALUES 
● Be clear on what your values are because they will allow you to 
identify with the goals you are going for. 

● Will shape your every interaction with the world 

2nd Ring: BELIEFS 
● Come from your fundamental values 

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 ● Ex: If your value is hard work, then you must have a belief that if 
you work hard, everything will be possible. 
● Your values and beliefs should match in order to move towards 
your goals. 

● Your  expectations  of  the world and your expectations from yourself 

shape your personality.  
● If  you  expect  everything  you  do  in  this  life  to  go  well, then you will 
3rd Ring:  have  a  very  good  outcome  compared  to  if  you  expect  it  to  go 
EXPECTATIONS  poorly.  
● Your  expectations  about  every  aspect  of  your  life  will  change  who 
you  are,  what  you  go  after,  and  the  dreams  that  you  should  go 
after.  

● Comes  as  a  result  of  your  values,  your  beliefs,  and  your 
expectations.  
● All of these will change your overall outcomes.  
● Attitude  will  also  change  the  way  you  approach  your  goals  -- 
4th Ring: ATTITUDE 
whether  you're  going  to  be  positive  and  uplifting  or  constantly sad 
and morose.  
● Your  attitude  will  define  a  lot  of  how  you  go  about  accomplishing 
your goals.  

Your  actions  will  always,  always  be  a  result of your attitudes, expectations, 

5th Ring: ACTION 
beliefs, and values.  

 
If  you  don't  understand  your  personality,  then  you  may  not  understand  why  you're  doing 
certain  things.  You  may  not  even  understand  why  you're  not  able  to  accomplish  certain  goals 
because  your  actions  may  not  be  in  alignment  with  what  you  are  truly after. So you have to be 
very careful in understanding your personality so that you can go and win big on your goals. 
 

7) Locus of Control 
 
Most  people  in  the  world  today  believe  that  their external circumstances control their life -- the 
people  in their life, the situations in their life, and so on. Hence they don't feel a sense of control. 
They don't feel that they are responsible.  
 
However,  the  rare  few  -- and hopefully you are one of those -- feel that you are in control. Your 
locus of control is inside of you.  
 
When  you  have  an  internal  locus  of  control,  you  feel  that you are in control of your life. You are 
completely  responsible  for  your  life  so  that  everything  that's  happening  to  you  in  your  life  is  a 
result of what you are doing.  

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You are at effect in life rather than life being at effect.  
 
If  you  constantly  believe  that  it's  the  external  circumstances  that  are  running  your  life  and  you 
are  not  in  control,  then  you  have  an  external  locus  of  control.  External  locus  of  control  is  very 
dangerous  because  that  keeps  you  away  from  accomplishing  a  goal.  If  you  don't  feel  you  are 
responsible,  there's  no  way  you're  going  to  make  things  happen.  Your  actions  are  going  to  be 
weak and you're gonna constantly be struggling.  
 
However,  if  you  feel  you  are  in  control  of  the  situation,  well  then  you  are  going  to  take  much 
more powerful action and you're going to make things happen. 
 
Related Books: 
●  
 
 
 
 

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