Brian Tracy is one of my best mentors. I’ve read most of his books, watched most of his YouTube videos and purchased some of his training courses. I highly respect the guy and when it comes to leadership, personal development and business, he is one of the best people you can study.
Listed below are 15 business lessons and life lessons I learned from Brian Tracy. These are different lessons I learned from his books, courses and videos. The lessons are listed in no particular order. Each lesson is in bold. After each lesson, I will provide my point of view on the subject.
1. You will fail over and over; it’s one of the prices you pay to be successful. No one achieves success the first time around. You have to take massive action, fail, learn from your mistakes and keep pressing forward UNTIL you succeed. Most people will fail many, many times before they achieve success. Success is never a straight line. Instead, it’s a series of zigs and zags.
2. Fear of rejection holds people back more than anything else. Rejection is a normal part of life (and business). Not everyone is going to agree with you, do business with you or support you. If you spend all your time worrying about what others think, you will drive yourself crazy. When you get rejected, smile and realize that it’s part of life. Embrace it.
3. The way that we dress shows people who we are. Don’t sell yourself short by dressing like a bum. Dress like a professional. Make sure you are well groomed and dressed according to the industry you serve. This doesn’t mean you need to wear a suit and tie, but you do need to look professional. People will judge you by the way you look, so be the best you can be. First impressions are very important.
4. If you’re not getting better you’re getting worse. There’s no such thing as neutral in life. You are either moving forward with your life or moving backwards. Do something to get a little bit better every single day. Focus on your personal and professional development. Try to develop your potential and learn something new each day.
5. You can’t be good at everything. No one is good at everything. The key to success is to focus on what you are good at and hire others who compliment your weaknesses. We all have natural talents and abilities. The key to success is to figure out what your talents are to leverage them as much as possible.
6. Be careful who you listen to, you might end up just like them. When getting advice, find someone who has accomplished what you want to achieve and listen to them. Don’t take advice from someone not qualified to give it. Don’t let the dream stealers keep you from pursuing your goals and dreams. Surround yourself with people who uplift you and encourage you, not people who bring you down.
7. Everybody in the top 10% started in the bottom 10%. Very few, if anyone is born successful or rich. You have to earn your way to the top. Don’t expect anything on a silver platter. Make a decision that you will be successful and then go do something about it. Most professions will require you to invest 10,000 hours to become really successful at it. If you study your profession, your industry, and focus on getting better every day, eventually you will become part of the top 10% in your profession.
8. Nobody is better than you. Nobody is smarter than you. You have more brain power than you could possibly use in 100 lifetimes. Realize that you are unique to this world. There is no one else out there exactly like you. Think highly of yourself and don’t sell yourself short. You can do great things. You will amaze yourself at what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it. You can either be your own worst enemy or your greatest asset.
9. When you help others it will all come back to you. What goes around comes around. Follow the Golden Rule and treat people the way you want to be treated. Help other people get what they want and you will get what you want. I can’t speak for you, but whenever I help others without expecting anything in return, I normally benefit just as much as the person I helped.
10. When you have money you will get more opportunities to make more money. As you start to achieve success and build up your fortune, you will get access to opportunities you wouldn’t normally get. Having money always creates new opportunities to make more money.
11. 85% of success in business is word of mouth. Treat people right and they will tell people about you. Treat people wrong and they will tell even more people. I once heard that every time you treat a customer well they tell five people and every time you treat a customer badly they tell 100 people. If that’s the case, do what you can to make every customer have a good experience with you, your products, and your business.
12. People are attracted to positive people. Keep a positive attitude. Put a smile on your face. No one wants to hang around a sour puss. People like to do business with people they know, like and trust. Be that person. Do what you can to encourage and uplift others. Be the person that others enjoy being around, because you make them feel better about themselves.
13. Decision making is 100% emotional. Realize that people are emotional creatures and always justify their emotional decisions with logic. When possible, appeal to people’s emotions. This will lead to more sales and more profits in your business. Emotion trumps logic every day of the week.
14. When you’re in debt it’s all you think about. Do your best to stay out of debt. When you are in financial bondage it’s hard to make good decisions and move ahead. Keep your expenses low. Live within your means. And avoid debt at all costs. Remember, it’s not how much you make that matters. It’s how much you keep that matters!
15. It’s not what you achieve in life that matters. It’s what you become. On your way to success you will accomplish many great things, but the person you will become in the process is much more important. I once heard that you won’t hit your big goals as the person you are today. Instead, you must grow and develop before you are worthy and ready to hit those goals. For your bank account to grow, you must grow!
Final Thoughts
These are some of the most valuable life lessons and business lessons I learned from Brian Tracy. If you are trying to take your life or business to the next level, I highly suggest you study Brian Tracy. He is one of the most respected speakers, trainers and authors in the world. You can visit his website to learn more about him.
What are your thoughts? If you’ve ever studied Brian Tracy’s materials before, I would love to hear from you. Please share some valuable lessons you learned from him. Just leave a comment to do so.
Chuck Holmes
20+ Year Network Marketing Professional
Top Earner & Top Recruiter
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
P.S. Learn how to grow a successful network marketing business. Secret tips, training, and practical ideas. Free training delivered by email.
#1 is correct. One important lesson I learned through my experience is to fail fast.
Don’t let fear of failure stop you. Give it a shot, and the worst thing that can happen is you fail. But you can always do it again, learn from your mistakes and achieve better the second time around.
But if you don’t try, “You lose 100% of the shots you don’t make.”
#14 is also spot on. “Avoid debt at all costs.” it’s a very good advice to always keep in mind.
The quicker you fail the better. Learn from it and improve.
Fear of rejection is such a powerful thing. I know in my own life I have allowed that fear to keep me from pursuing goals that I later went on to regret. At some point, I just realized that life was too short to worry about whether or not I would be rejected. Worst case scenario I was rejected and then I would simply have to come up with an alternate option. Best case scenario I succeeded. And if the best case scenario is an option (which it always is), it is worth trying.
I’ve set my business up so I don’t have to deal with rejection.
Wow, I really gained a lot of insight just from these quotes. I have followed Brian Tracey for some time, and no matter what, every time I read or reread something of his, I learn something new.
I have been affiliated with Brian Tracey for some time through an affiliate site. I find that almost all of the material he offers is well accepted.
Some of the quotes you put here that really appeal to me are: #2. Fear of rejection is one of the biggest obstacles we must overcome. #6. I often tell others the same thing when they tell me “so and so” told them something, and when I see “so and so” is not an expert, I promptly point it out. And the last one really stands strong. If you have a nice home and a cool car, that is great, but if you are a mean and spiteful person, does it really matter?
Thanks for sharing some Brian Tracey. It made my day!
Great article. Very informative.