BookClub logo

Review of Get Smart!: How to Think and Act Like the Most Successful and Highest-Paid People in Every Field by Brian Tracy

Get Smart! by Brian Tracy is a compelling guide that dives deep into the psychology and strategies behind effective thinking, decision-making, and success.

By TAPHAPublished about a year ago 9 min read
Review of Get Smart!: How to Think and Act Like the Most Successful and Highest-Paid People in Every Field by Brian Tracy
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Introduction

Get Smart! If you have listened to motivational speaker, ‘Brian Tracy,’ then, ‘Psychology of Achievement’ is a detailed guide regarding executing efficient thinking and decision-making. As an expert on personal transformation, leadership and business management, Tracy has been working for many years on the issues that allow certain individuals to become more successful work. In this book, he integrates his discoveries into a simple practical model that one can use to enhance the thought processes to arrive at rational decisions towards the actualising of his/her set objectives

So the main idea of Get Smart! amazingly this is true and the one who is credited for this statement is Zig Ziglar who expressed it like this: ‘In the mind is where success starts’. According to Tracy, the mind is the source of destiny and the quality of decisions actions outcomes are the reflection of the quality of thoughts. He reveals effective approaches and methods to develop a positive mental attitude that will cause success in every sphere. Fundamentally, the book demystifies the process of eradicating negative self-talk, decision making and emulation of outstanding people.

The key concepts, themes and strategies to be discussed in this review will be acquired from Get Smart! In this column, I describe the elements found in both columns evaluate their role in overall personal and professional development and share my suggestions on how the readers can benefit from them.

Click here to read Get Smart for free with a 30-day free trial

Summary and Key Themes

Get Smart! is organized along principles and strategies that will assist the readers in enhancing their thinking and decision-making abilities. To make the book very comprehensive, Tracy categorizes it into various chapters where each chapter deals with a smart aspect of thinking. As one reads through the book, the author, Tracy, gives detailed information on how to adopt and apply the principles together with illustrations and activities in an attempt to enhance retention.

Thus, deriving an insight into the Reasoning Skills.

For this, Tracy takes his time to discuss the fact that the quality of our thinking determines the quality of life. He has suggested that strategies that are used by successful people in any line of work are different from those employed by the ordinary person and that the difference leads to better performance. However, Smart thinking has been described by Tracy to have the following attributes: Acuity, convergence, divergence, and functionality. He claims that by imbibing these characteristics one can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their decisions to accomplish the desired goals.

Unconsciously in particular is among the key ideas that Tracy raises suggesting that the majority of people make decisions unconsciously, thereby, responding to the habit, feeling, or influence rather than doing it consciously. He calls for people to dictate the course of their thoughts by choosing carefully to make conscious decisions on what to think. Extended abstract He persuades the readers to apply reflective thinking skills, so they can doubt themselves, and, therefore, become less rigid in their way of thinking.

Developing Critical Thinking Skills

One of the declared themes in Get Smart! The third growth need of students according to this approach is the growth of critical thinking skills. According to the points made by Tracy, critical thinking is a very crucial aspect that can lead to informed decisions and success. About critical thinking skills he provides some tips and tips on how to develop them, including how to ask appropriate questions, and how to look at the problem from different angles, as well as weighing the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed solutions.

Tracy also expounds the information acquisition and analysis as critical activities in the decision-making process. He also points out that the new knowledge constantly accumulates in the successful people’s minds choosing, drawing experience and utilizing it in decision making. He explains that the audience should be willing to learn some more and accept that there is always fresh knowledge out there.

Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs

The second major theme in the book therefore comes in the form of eliminating the self-doubts. Tracy went on to say that individuals do not grow because they have wrong beliefs about themselves and their capabilities. He goes further to state that such beliefs are developed in childhood or early adulthood and are strengthened by negative experiences or feedback.

Self-defeating beliefs: Tracy also gives ways of how people can challenge undesired beliefs like affirmations, visualization and positive self-talk. He also points out the need to have supportive role models, teachers, coaches and other peers whose role would be to motivate and give feedback. As a result, according to Tracy, changing the views of a person to positive ones will help in achieving higher results.

Imagine being able to Focus and Concentrate your mind instantly and easily.

In Tracy’s view, one of the key capacities of smart thinking is looming which refers to focus or concentration. He said that successful people understand how to narrow down their concentration towards their major goals and objectives in their lives, as well as eliminate the cares and prodigalities of life from their lives. He outlines several practical ways of increasing attention and enhancing concentration; setting goals, designing an ideal environment and time management techniques including the Pomodoro technique.

Tracy also talks about the aspects related to eradicating noise and different noises that interfere with concentration. He also challenges readers to adopt discipline to achieve focus through exercising, eating a proper diet and adequate sleep. According to Tracy, people can enhance their thought processes as well as make good decisions as they enhance their physical and mental health.

Mastering Time Management

Tracy also defines time management as another feature that is important in smart thinking. From his standpoint, he asserts that time is the greatest asset and that the management of it defines success. Time management is another area where Tracy brings out several principles including the Pareto Principle which states that a majority of output is obtained from a small fraction of input. He also requires readers to concentrate on duties that correspond to their aims and objectives and those that they consider as being valuable should be done personally while other unimportant activities should be avoided or outsourced.

Tracy also talks about the concepts of time planning and how one has to prioritize his or her time to be effective. He advises that goal-setters must know how to organize themselves in terms of daily, weekly, monthly and yearly timetables and how to prioritize work depending on the degree of importance and/or urgency. He offers an array of strategies and approaches to planning including goal setting, and daily planning on what to accomplish in this he uses the Eisenhower Matrix.

Cultivating a Growth Mindset

Tracy stressed that one should cultivate a personal and organizational culture where a person or a group has a growth mindset, meaning that ability and intelligence can be developed. He speaks about the perspective on success indicating that a growth mindset is vital to adopt such success as it enables people to overcome different challenges, persevere and accept failure as an opportunity to learn.

The following are some of the strategies that Tracy advises on how one can feed a growth mindset, that is embracing challenges, learning from feedback and failure. He convinces readers to always be keen on learning and be always on the lookout for such experiences and knowledge. According to Tracy, with a growth mindset, people can move past barriers, learn new things and be the best that they are capable of being.

Thinking Long-Term

Indubitably, one of the most effective take-home messages that the learners can derive from Get Smart! is the perennial concern for the long view. Tracy avails himself of the opportunity to explain that he has consciously developed the ability to focus beyond one’s next paycheck and look at the implications that his action will have in the future. This paper argues that long-term thinking enables an individual to make good decisions, sets goals for the future and gives an individual a vision to work for.

With a long-term vision, Tracy inspires readers to be precise with their goals and very specific with the steps that they take to realize them. He also cultivation much importance on patience, perseverance and steadiness when it comes to the chasing of long-term goals. Tracy extends his short-term focus view and asserts that if the readers start to plan their goals in the longer range, they will not end up regressing as a result of short-term focus.

The study of Writing about Writing Style and Structure.

General aspects of writing that have been analyzed in Get Smart! include the writing style of Brian Tracy. can be described as simple, applied, and inspirational. Everyman; He does not complicate issues and thus avoids using a lot of technical and complicated terms that only professionals can understand. Tracy’s language is assertively positive, and he has the reader directly involved in the text sometimes and in different places.

It appears that the author has structured the book in such a way that each chapter exposes different components of smart thinking. There is a logical movement from chapter to chapter, which expands the introduced themes, gives examples, and provides exercises to make the reader use it. The chapters are not very lengthy and provide simple concepts with the synthesis of points and an active call to action at the end of each chapter.

Tracy also uses examples, case studies and anecdotes from real life to make concepts clear and more realistic. Using the skills obtained throughout his professional experience together with his degree, Tim helps people face and solve problems as a coach, consultant as well as motivational speaker, offering both, theoretical knowledge, and real-life case scenarios.

Key Takeaways and Lessons

Get Smart! contains many important moral lessons and valuable pieces of advice that could be helpful in people’s further education, career promotion, choosing their vocation, leading, and managing others, etc. Some of the key takeaways from the book include: Some of the key takeaways from the book include:

1-Think Critically and Strategically

Decision-making skills, especially in sifting through critical information, can go a long way in improving a person’s success rate. Structuring an argument around objectives to identify the problems, examine the possibilities and seek viable solutions is effective in decision-making to achieve one’s goal.

2-Overcome Self-Limiting Beliefs

Lack of confidence limits one in as much as one can be and one should be willing to step out of his or her comfort zone. This means that for us to break the negative thought patterns and get better in our undertakings, we have to replace the negative thinking with positive thoughts.

3-Focus on High-Value Activities

Concentration and attention are very critical for efficiency and effectiveness. With this concept, there will be the determination of the specific activities that help achieve objectives and leave out all the other that are unproductive activities.

4-Master Time Management

In general, there should never be a doubt about the importance of time management in everyone’s life. Thus,_androids can learn to prioritize tasks, plan them in the right manner and make use of time management tools and techniques to be most effective in utilising their time to accomplish goals.

5-Adopt a Growth Mindset

It is widely said that one has got to create Wealth through the practice of right attitude. Challenges help in the development of new skills, which can become a way forward to change, as well as help in getting over the hurdles that come our way.

6-Think Long-Term

Strategic thinking helps us to make long-term decisions, define objectives that are worthy and install the picture of our life. Being able to look ahead into the future and translating our strategies into the long-term plans that may come with them, help to draw out a course of action. but it was also evidence of continuous learning and improvement.

Knowledge and learning are two qualities that successful people endeavour to acquire and learn all the time. Here we look at the mindset of learning as the ability to adapt to change and be in a position to achieve intended goals.

Conclusion

Get Smart! : The current book titled: How to Think and Act Like the Most Successful and Highest-Paid People in Every Field is complete and insightful in availing vital information and tips that are worth following to enhance one

Click here to read Get Smart for free with a 30-day free trial

Book of the DayBook of the MonthBook of the WeekBook of the YearChallengeReading ChallengeRecommendationReading ListReview

About the Creator

TAPHA

Hi! Whether you're looking for insightful answers or a fresh perspective on a topic,I'm here to provide engaging, accurate,and thought-provoking content tailored just for you. Stick around, and let's explore the world of knowledge together!

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2026 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.