Customer Reviews

Focal Point: A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double Your Productivity, and Achieve All Your Goals

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Personal development, in years past, has been a primary interest among people of all ages. We don't hear as much about the topic today as we used to. Nevertheless, the need is still present . . . perhaps even more than ever before. With so many people today focused on their computers, some have forgotten about the fine art of balanced personal growth.

Brian Tracy is a master in the field of personal and professional development. His speeches, seminars, and consulting around the globe have contributed to Tracy's reputation. He is highly respected and quite influential, particularly among the thousands who attend his presentations each year. As Tracy lived his life, then taught others his system, his approach was continually refined. In Focal Point, it all comes together for anyone who reads the book.

Focal Point explains how users of this tool (you'll do more than just read the words in this book to get its powerful total value) can unlock their full potential. At the same time, using the system will enable you to double your productivity and simplify your life. Of course, this sounds like the makings of a fine motivational speech; Tracy is a motivator. But, this book invests most of its pages in the how-to.

The chapters are filled with the knowledge of the sages in this field. Many teachings will sound familiar-good! In Focal Point, all that advice is pulled together into one place, one system to learn and apply. A listing of the chapter headings will reveal what you will explore in these pages: Tap Your Most Precious Resource, Practice Personal Strategic Planning, Supercharge Your Business and Career, Improve Your Family and Personal Life, Achieve Financial Independence, Enjoy Superb Health and Fitness, Become Everything You Are Capable of Becoming, Make a Difference in Your Community, and Spiritual Development and Inner Peace. Note that these are how-to chapters, filled with things like "Six Steps to Doubling Your Income and Doubling Your Time Off" and "Seven Keys to Higher Productivity." Each chapter includes challenging questions to help you see where you still have some work to do.

Tracy's Focal Point process consists of seven steps to be applied in each area of concern:
values, vision, goals, knowledge and skills, habits, daily activities, and actions. The whole valuable system is explained so you can use the book as a tool to make a substantial difference in yourself, your success, and your personal satisfaction. The book concludes with a chapter on Seven Lessons for the Twenty-First Century, a List of Values, a Recommended Reading list, and an index.

If you want to strengthen your life, your effectiveness, and your happiness, you'll discover a great friend in Focal Point. And you'll probably recommend it to your friends. It's just that kind of a book: it bothers you, makes you uncomfortable, but shows you how to make the improvements you want to need and desire. Go for it!

More cliches than constructive advice. Reads like the written translation of a coaching or motivational seminar. Chapters include "Unlock your full potential," "Double your productivity," "Simplify your life," "Enjoy superb health and fitness," and "Become everything you are capable of being," among others.

For a book on one's 'focal point', there seems to be a lot of cliches widely dispersed throughout the book, e.g., the 20/80 rule, "commit to excellence," "Work harder at what you do," "Identify your customers," and then "Fire your customers." Tracy includes what he calls "Perhaps the most famous mission statement of the twentieth century," as George Marshall said to Dwight Eisenhower, "Proceed to London. Invade Europe. Defeat the Germans." I prefer the Hollywood version of Marshall, from "Saving Private Ryan": "He's alive. We're going to go in there and get him the he** out of there."

Tracy offers "The Seven Rs of Simplification," which are actually seven "Res": Rethink, reevaluate, reorganize, restructure, etc. All this simplification sees to get pretty repetitive, and complicated. It is good to simplify and to control, but it is not clear that simplification comes from redoing anything and/or everything. And offering "Six steps to doubling your income and doubling your time off" seems like a pretty simple, powerful idea, but it includes steps like "Decide today to take at least one full day each week off work..." Nice work if you can get it.

Tracy tells a story about his dentist who "made a great sacrifice" to attend a seminar in Hong Kong and, as a result of what he learned there, retired five years later a multimillionaire. We should all wish that life and wealth could be that easy. What about all the other people who attended the seminar? When will they offer it again?

To cut to the chase: The focal power of goals does work. Let's face it, if we really want to simplify, control and focus, success comes down to three things: desire, direction and discipline. "Focal Point" is a bit about the first, a lot about the second, and not much about the third. And it is all over the place. If you are looking for focus, look elsewhere.

I like Brina Tracy. A lot of what he says seems so logical and obvious that that you wonder why you didn't think of it yourself. Like it was in the background of your mind but he brought it to the forefront...

This is undoubtably Brian Tracy's best work to date, his magnum opus. In this great book, Brian Tracy shows you how to concentrate (focus) on what is most important and achieve your goals.

With so many things to do, how do you determine where to concentrate your efforts? Brian explains how.

I have many of Brian Tracy's books and audio programs. And while everything Tracy does is excellent, Focal Point, is in my opinion, his best work. It is Brian Tracy's magnum opus---Focal Point has had the greatest impact in my personal and professional life. I Focal Point, Tracy shows you to identify what your focal point is in each area of your life and then asks you to direct all of your energies with laser like focus. Focus is like a laser beam. Just like a laser beam can cut through steel when properly focused and directed, focus as descibed in Focal Point can help you cut through barriers that have been holding you back to achieving your goals.I have a lot of books that I have read and given away. I keep all of Brian Tracy's book and Focal Point is one that I refer to again and again.Good, no, excellent work Mr. Tracy!

Brian Tracy is one of this country's leading authorities on personal and professional growth, and he proves that in Focal Point. Here Tracy gives you a real plan for clarifying what matters in your life then maximizing your potential in those important areas. If you are not a high achiever, this work will help you become one. If you are a high achiever, the book will undoubtedly give you very practical tools for kicking it up a notch. Amacon you've got a winner in this one. Congratulations to all involved in this project!

I read this book almost a year ago and I am happy to say that I am still using many parts of Mr. Tracy's system for productivity.

Although the reading was sometimes a little "dry" I gave this book 5 stars because it is a very comprehensive manual for effective achievement.

Focal Point- by one of my favorite authors, Brian Tracy- will help you set and achieve goals in any area of life, be it your career, family life, relationships, whatever. It's on my desk in my home office at all times (when I'm not reading it or using it, that is). A must buy and must read if you're interested in bettering yourself.

I loved this book.....and bought it for my brother to read. I could go on and on....just buy it. It is excellent and 'chock full' of great stuff.

A direct and practical plan, Focal Point is Brian Tracy's latest guide to how to take control of your life while still achieving all of your goals. The book focuses on one of the things most lacking in many people's lives today.... balance between career and personal life. Instead of spreading yourself thin among all the things that you have to do, the book leads you through techniques to determine the focal points in all areas of your life. Then with this focus you can change your life and achieve more in the areas that are important to you while gaining control and peace.

I really liked the fact that this is a no nonsense book. I have read other books that espouse similar ideas but part of getting control of your time is to use it wisely. I really appreciate that this book is not filled with fluff and motivational stories, but is direct and to the point. This makes it one of the best reference books on the market today for regaining balance in your life while focusing on achieving your most important goals.