Management Growth Strategies

Staying On The Fast Track

Introduction
The quality of a persons life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. (Vince Lombardi)

ne of your main goals in life is to make a significant contribution to your company and to become extremely successful in your career.

Your success is going to be based on two principles, the Law of Accumulation and the Law of Incremental Improvement. The Law of Accumulation says that every extraordinary achievement in human life is a result of thousands of ordinary efforts that are seldom seen or appreciated. The Law of Incremental Improvement says that improvement is made gradually, one small step at a time. In this lesson you will learn some of the best ways to dramatically accelerate the speed at which you move to the top of your field.

In this lesson you will learn:

How to position yourself to get onto the fast track The importance of proactivity in pursuing new knowledge and skill Specific methods and techniques to stay on top of your field Identifying your key information needs and resources

Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

Staying On The Fast Track

1.

It has been said that knowledge is power, but only practical knowledge that can be put to some good use really translates into power in your work.
1) Your goal is to identify the specific knowledge you need to increase your effectiveness in your job and your life. 2) The top people in every field simple know more than others in that same field.

3)

Increasing your knowledge is one of the fastest ways to leverage and accelerate your career.

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Information and knowledge in our world is doubling every 2-3 years, and in some fields, it is doubling every year.
1) This means that your knowledge has to grow and double every couple of years as well. 2) The top 10% of money earners invest 2-3 hours per day reading in and around their fields, in the form of newspapers, magazines, newsletters and books.

3.

Your success in life will be in direct proportion to the amount of useful information you have at your fingertips.
1) One idea or piece of information can make all the difference in a particular situation. 2) The amount of practical information you have can be compared to water in a bucket.

Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

3)

As you increase your level of knowledge and information, you increase the level of your rewards.

4)

A certain amount of your knowledge drains out and becomes obsolete all the time.

5)

If you stop putting knowledge, like water, into the top of your bucket, and just coast on your existing knowledge, you start to slide backward.

6)

If you are not getting better, you are actually getting worse.

4.

One of the most powerful ways for you to keep up with your field, to stay on the fast track and to move ahead is for you to read one hour each day.
1) If you read one hour each day, this will accumulate into about one book per week. 2) One book per week will translate into 50 books per year, and into 500 books in 10 years.

3) 4)

The average adult reads less than one non-fiction book per year. If you were to read just one book per month, let alone one book per week, that would put you into the top 1% in our population in personal and professional development.

5)

Reading one hour a day can make you an expert in three years and a national authority in five years.

6)

The average working person has 72 discretionary, non-working, non-sleeping hours per week.

7)

If you invest 10% of that time, or 7.2 hours per week, you will become one of the best educated and highest paid people in your field.

Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

5.

The key to learning is to read and review the most important points until they stick in your memory.
1) Always read with a red pen in your hand, underlining the key points and sentences as you go. 2) Go back through the book and dictate the key points to be typed up for review later.

3)

Have your secretary go through the book and type up the key points herself so that you can have them for review.

4)

Put your book reviews in a 3-hole binder. This allows you to review the key points of a 300-page book in 10-15 minutes.

6.

In addition to books, you should read the most important magazines and publications in your field to keep current.
1) If you are in business, you should subscribe to Forbes, Fortune, Business Week and the other specific trade magazines written for your field. 2) Simultaneously, you should discontinue magazines, newspapers or publications that do not contribute to upgrading your knowledge and skills.

3)

Discipline yourself to avoid irrelevant reading material and excessive radio listening or television watching.

7.

A good way for you to stay on top of, and keep ahead of your field, is to practice the Rip and Read Method.
1) When you get a magazine, go straight to the table of contents and decide upon only those articles that you want to read.

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2)

Then go directly to the article you want and rip it out, placing it in a file and saving it to read at a later time.

3)

Avoid pile-itis, accumulating piles of magazines and information that eventually becomes obsolete.

4)

You must read only what is important, or you will end up wasting time and not be able to read anything of value.

5)

Take your file full of articles with you to read whenever you have a spare moment.

8.

Use Gifts of Time to stay current with your field.

1) Gifts of time are five, ten and even thirty minute blocks of time that occur during transition, between meetings, traveling and waiting. 2) 3) Always read with a red pen or a highlighter to note the critical ideas. Going back and re-reading a critical idea two or three times can enable you to memorize it for life.

9.

Practice reading a few minutes each day in the great books of literature.
1) There are about 100 of the Great Books which can be read in a lifetime by reading only 15 minutes per day. 2) If each day, before you go to bed, you read one poem, one short story and one essay, you will have read 1000 of each in three years at less than one hour per day.

3)

By reading in great literature like this, you will become one of the best-educated people alive today.

Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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. One of the best time savers and time management techniques of all is for you to learn speed reading.
1) A speed-reading course can increase your ability to read and retain information to 500 or 1000 words per minute in just a few lessons. 2) Use the OPIR Method of speed-reading: a) O = Overview read the front, back and table of contents to decide if you want to read it at all.

b) P = Preview

read through the book quickly, one page at a time, noticing the headings, key words and important ideas.

c) I = Inview

read on purpose, looking for the key ideas you picked up in your Preview.

d)

R = Review

do a quick review of the book immediately after reading it.

3)

By using the OPIR Method, you can read a 300-page book in one hour, and get most of the key ideas the first time through.

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Audio program learning is one of the greatest breakthroughs in education since the development of the printing press.
1) 2) 3) 4) The average driver travels 12,000 25,000 miles in his car each year. That converts to 500-1000 hours of time spent in your car each year. That converts to 12.5 to 25 40-hour weeks. This translates into 3-6 months, or 1-2 full college semesters that the average person spends behind the wheel.

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5) 6) 7)

Turn your car into a Mobile classroom into a University on wheels. From now on, turn driving time into learning time. Audio learning, by itself, has made many people wealthy; it can do the same for you.

One excellent way to keep abreast of your field is to read or listen to book condensations produced by companies like Sound View Book Summaries. These summaries give you the distilled essence and the best ideas of business books for you to read during your gifts of time. Reading book condensations, or listening to condensations on CD, is a significant time-saver.

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. Attend every seminar and workshop that you can in your field; these are not only learning experiences but forms of compressed time.
1) For every hour you spend in a seminar, it takes the seminar presenter 100 hours of work to learn, distill and prepare the information for you. 2) Attend seminars taught by practical experts in your field, by people with practical and proven success records in what they do.

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. An excellent way for you to keep current in your field, and to get ahead, is to use networking techniques throughout your career.
1) Most managers who are moving ahead more rapidly in their careers attribute their accelerated success to networking. 2) Join your trade or business associations, even the Chamber of Commerce, and attend their meetings regularly.

Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

3)

Best technique: introduce yourself to others, ask what they do, and ask, What would I have to know about your business to recommend a customer to you?

4)

Look for every opportunity to introduce new customers to the people with whom you network. They will automatically reciprocate by introducing new customers to you at a later time.

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. A part of networking is for you to join your professional associations and attend meetings on a regular basis.
1) Listen to the speakers and take careful notes on their ideas and observations. 2) Attend the seminars and workshops that your professional association organizes for its members.

3)

Volunteer for work and get active in your professional association. Ask for and assume responsibility.

4)

Continually write follow-up notes and letters to the people that you meet. The cumulative effect of this over time can be extraordinary.

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. In your work and your business, practice MBWA which means Managing By Wandering Around.
1) Effective managers spend 75% or more of their time out of their office, moving around and interacting with their staff. 2) Wandering around is the best way to get timely and relevant information on what is really going on in your business.

3)

Leaders are listeners. When you wander around and talk with people, ask lots of questions, and listen closely to the answers.

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The speaker Jim Rohn says, Invest at least as much time in yourself as you do in your job. Dean Briggs of Harvard once said, Do your work, and not just your work, but a little bit more, that little bit more for the lavishings sake. There is a race on, and you are in it. The way that you win the race of success in your business life is by being more knowledgeable and better informed than other people, and by continually looking for ways to apply your new information to help your company to get better financial results.

Action Exercises

1.

What are the three most important areas of knowledge or skill that are fundamental
to success in your business? 1. _________________________________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________________________________ 3. _________________________________________________________________

2.

In what three areas should you commit to developing a higher level of knowledge
and expertise if you want to lead your field? 1. _________________________________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________________________________ 3. _________________________________________________________________

Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

3.

List three things that you could start doing, or do more of, to keep up and get ahead
in the critical knowledge areas of your career: 1. _________________________________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________________________________ 3. _________________________________________________________________

4.

What are the three most important magazines or publications that you read on a
regular basis to keep current with your field? 1. _________________________________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________________________________ 3. _________________________________________________________________

5.

List three Gifts of time that you could use for listening and keeping up in your field:
1. _________________________________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________________________________ 3. _________________________________________________________________

Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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6.

What three things can you do to carve out at least one hour for reading in your field
each day? 1. _________________________________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________________________________ 3. _________________________________________________________________

7.

What clubs, organizations or professional associations should you belong to and

attend the regular meetings of? 1. _________________________________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________________________________ 3. _________________________________________________________________

8.

List three books in your field that you intend to read in the next 60 days:
1. _________________________________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________________________________ 3. _________________________________________________________________

Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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What one specific action are you going to take immediately to build and maintain your knowledge base in your field? _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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