In sports, the halftime break gives coaches a chance to evaluate what has happened so far and come up with a plan for the rest of the game.
Our goal is for you to do much more than just read this book. We want you to use it and to incorporate the things you’ve read into your everyday life. Remember, knowing something doesn’t change your life. Doing something does.
So, just like the coaches at halftime in a game, we’re going to go through what’s happened so far, pull out the most important takeaways—and then make a plan for what’s coming up.
Below, we’ve made a list of what we think the three main ideas are from each of the first four chapters. It’s by no means set in stone—if you took something else to be the most important concept, we’re not telling you you’re wrong. For you, maybe that is the most important thing at this point in time.
Either way, you now have a new assignment. Pick one of the ideas below—or the different idea you identified to be the most important—and go back to the chapter describing it. Reread the information pertaining to that idea to get it more firmly set in your mind.
Once you’ve done that, find a friend, colleague, or family member and explain the concept to that individual. In one of the most influential educational studies ever published, French researcher Jean-Pol Martin established that students who taught their peers the French language gained much more command of the material than students who learned conventionally from professional teachers or strictly studied on their own. The act of preparing to teach the information, presenting it, and interacting with others who were learning it both enhanced the learning process and increased learning speed.1
In simple terms, when you teach something effectively to somebody else, you are effectively learning it at a much deeper level.
OUR TOP 3 TAKEAWAYS: CHAPTERS 1–4
CHAPTER 1: ORGANIZE TOMORROW TODAY
1. If you prepare successfully, you’re preparing yourself to succeed.
2. Writing down your goals (3 Most Important / 1 Must) for the next day engages your subconscious mind in problem-solving while you sleep.
3. Don’t mistake “busy” for “productive.”
4. ______________________________________________
CHAPTER 2: CHOOSE WISELY
1. Choose wisely what you commit to—overcommitting is common and has a very negative impact.
2. Respect channel capacity.
3. Focus on “1 step” and you will have much more success crossing the finish line.
4. ______________________________________________
CHAPTER 3: MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME
1. The more successful you become, the smaller the unit of time you should be thinking in.
2. Attacking the open space, prioritizing the priorities, and trimming the fat are all effective methods of creating more time.
3. Once you’ve identified that thing, “chop it” by separating out the first action step you can take on it.
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CHAPTER 4: WIN YOUR FIGHT-THRUS
1. Habits are in a constant state of formation.
2. The most essential step of winning a “fight-thru” is being able to recognize when you’ve entered a fight-thru.
3. Every time you win a fight-thru, it makes it easier to win the next one.
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