Goals! Summary

1-Sentence-Summary: Goals! By Brian Tracy shows you how to unleash the power of goal setting to help you get or become whatever you want, identifying ways to set goals that lead you to success by being specific, challenging yourself, thinking positively, preparing, adjusting your timelines on big goals, and more.

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Goals! Summary

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When I was about 15-years-old, my Dad taught me one of the most powerful life lessons I’ve ever discovered. This principle and practice has ended up shaping who I’ve become and helped me live life to the fullest. My life is far better than I ever imagined it could be all because of this one idea.

It was the power of goals and how to set them, and I’ve been using it every day, week, month, and year since I was a teenager.

The truth is, every big life change, achievement, or personal win starts with a goal. Nobody just suddenly is ready for a marathon or has a successful business. These things take time, effort, and most importantly, a specific goal and plan to get there.

You already know a great deal about goals and have set some yourself even. Maybe you’ve failed in the past and want to give up. But I’m here to let you know that it’s not because you don’t want your goals enough, it’s just that you haven’t learned how to make them stick—yet.

This is why I’m so excited to get to share one of my favorite books with you. It’s Brian Tracy’s classic Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want — Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible.

Here are 3 of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from this book:

  1. The first step in transforming your life is to get your mindset right.
  2. Set deadlines, challenge yourself, and be specific when setting goals.
  3. Dig deep to examine yourself if you want to achieve your goals.

Ready to discover how to finally set yourself on the path for success? Let’s go!

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Lesson 1: Getting your mindset right is vital if you want to reach your big dreams.

What would you attempt if you knew that you had the power to succeed in anything you did? Can you imagine how amazing your life would be if that were the case? Well, luckily for you, it’s the truth.

All you need to get everything in line and get what you want out of life is the right mindset.

Just look at anything you see, and it’s clear this is true. Everything, whether it’s the device in your hands or the chair you’re sitting in, was a thought in someone’s mind before it became a reality. 

But it only became a reality once they believed it was possible.

Successful people prove this to be true as well. When they’re asked about what they focus on most often, there are two common things:

  1. What they want.
  2. How they’ll get it.

In other words, successful people focus their attentional space on their goals. If you want to reach your dreams, you must do the same.

You have to proactively fight the tendency to concentrate on the negative. This is what unsuccessful people do. They spend time thinking about what they don’t want, worrying about problems, and blaming others, and that ends up being all they get out of life.

Lesson 2: The best goals include deadlines, are specific, and challenge yourself to rise to a higher level.

The problem most people have isn’t a lack of goals. It’s not understanding how to make those goals as effective and attainable as possible.

There are six principles of effective goal-setting that Tracy teaches:

  1. Specific: Set goals that are concrete that you can easily visualize. You might want to “be happy,” but this isn’t a good goal because it isn’t specific enough. Setting better goals will lead to happiness anyway.
  2. Measurable: Attach amounts to your goals. “Make $100,000 a year” is much better than “be rich” because you can measure whether or not you reach $100,000.
  3. Time-Bound: Add timelines for when you’ll accomplish your goals. Set deadlines, but be realistic. There’s no such thing as an unrealistic goal, just unrealistic timelines for accomplishing them.
  4. Challenging: Good goals get you outside of your comfort zone. Anytime you’re feeling a little stress, you’re in the growth zone. That stress can be good for you to help you improve.
  5. In Harmony With Other Goals: You can’t run a marathon and start a new company at the same time and expect to be successful at both. If your goals aren’t aligned, you’ll fail.
  6. Have One Overarching Goal: Some goals have a bigger impact on your life than others. Find out what these are and prioritize them above all others.

Lesson 3: Soul searching is one of the best ways to set you on a sure path to reaching your goals.

Now that you know the importance of goal-setting and how to set effective goals, it’s time to get your heart involved and make your goals even more powerful. To do this, ask yourself a few questions.

First, ask yourself if you really want your goal to become a reality. Make sure that you feel a strong desire to achieve every goal you set. Then, visualize yourself achieving it and consider how it feels to bring those feelings up from deep inside you.

You also need to believe that you deserve to reach your goals. This must come from the depths of your soul and be unshakeable, even if it takes time. Grow your faith in your ability to achieve goals by making them realistic, so you accomplish them more often and confirm your belief.

Next, ask yourself where you’re at right now to get a good starting point. For example, if you think you need to lose 20 pounds, but the scale says you’re actually 30 pounds from your ideal weight, you’re going to really struggle right from the start. 

Being honest with yourself about where you are might be hard, but it sets you up for success.

Last, consider how accomplishing your goal will improve your life. List as many ways as you can think of because the more reasons you have, the more you’ll want it.

Goals! Review

I love setting goals and learning how to do it effectively, so naturally, Goals! is one of my favorites. I’ve known about this book for a long time, and it’s really impacted the way I live and set goals, and I know it will do the same for you. Brian Tracy is a legend in the personal development world, and this book of his doesn’t disappoint!

Who would I recommend the Goals! summary to?

The 56-year-old entrepreneur that wants some inspiration and direction, the 20-year-old college student who’s looking for a good way to beat procrastination, and anyone that wants to get more out of life and reach their full potential.

Last Updated on May 25, 2023

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Luke Rowley

With over 450 summaries that he contributed to Four Minute Books, first as a part-time writer, then as our full-time Managing Editor until late 2021, Luke is our second-most prolific writer. He's also a professional, licensed engineer, working in the solar industry. Next to his day job, he also runs Goal Engineering, a website dedicated to achieving your goals with a unique, 4-4-4 system. Luke is also a husband, father, 75 Hard finisher, and lover of the outdoors. He lives in Utah with his wife and 3 kids.