As we move into FALL, our October Thought Partner Fridays will focus on various ways we can Fall (back) into Good Habits. Some of these ideas may be new to you, some may be refreshers, and some may have you saying: “I used to do that, why did I stop?”

I’ll share some of my own habits and some of those I’ve adopted from much more credible sources than I.

Today’s habit (if you haven’t already guessed it) comes from author, speaker and personal effectiveness guru, Brian Tracy. For many of you, this will be a refresher – but just because you KNOW this tidbit, you may not be PRACTICING this knowledge with the frequency that makes it a HABIT and an every day success STRATEGY.

The name of Tracy’s book, Eat That Frog!, comes from Mark Twain, who once said if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, you’ve got it behind you, and nothing else will be more difficult for the rest of the day.

Let’s start with a brutal truth. You’re never going to be caught up; you’ll always be behind on some project, task or deliverable. Therefore, your ability to prune away the “somewhat important things” in order to identify the most vital “thing” is crucial. This pruning is a skill on its own. However, when you’re crystal clear about your priorities, you can arrange them in the right order and discard those that do not support the frog(s) at the top of your list.

Yet, even if we’re decent pruners, most of us then opt for activity over accomplishment or more fragrantly, Frappuccino instead of Frog. We check our email first thing, we check our LinkedIn, we do the easy tasks first, incorrectly thinking we’re getting them out of the way before starting our bigger project. 

As Tracy says: “Your “frog” is your biggest, most important task, the one that you are more likely to procrastinate on but has the greatest positive impact on your life and results. You must develop the routine of “eating your frog” before you do anything else and without taking too much time to think about it.”

So what are the rules of Frog Eating according to Tracy and Stacy?

1. If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first. (Tracy)

2. If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesn’t pay to sit and look at it for very long. (Tracy)

3. If you have to eat a frog alone, eliminate all others that distract – close email, silence texts, and find your distraction-free zone for at least 90 minutes. (Stacy)

4. If you have to eat an insanely early frog, treat yourself and pair it with a croissant and cappuccino. (Stacy)

ACTION CREATES EMOTION. FAST ACTION CREATES SUCCESS.

SUCCESS IS ADDICTIVE.

EAT THAT FROG! TODAY. (After you finish reading this TPF, of course!)