Part I
Chapter 1: The barrier standing between you and the life you are capable of living is a lack of consistent execution. It is not a knowledge problem; it is an execution problem.
Two parts to this book. Part I: helps you understand the process to achieve your most valuable goals. Part II: making your goals happen.

Chapter 2: “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do” – Henry Ford.
Annualized thinking: you make goals and plans for a year thinking you have plenty of time to complete them. There’s nothing like a deadline to get you motivated. Periodization: started in sports, is a focused training regimen that concentrates on one skill at a time for 4-6 weeks. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
Thinking leads to Actions leads to Results.
Breakthrough results don’t start with your actions, they are first created in your thinking. You need to change your thinking first. There is no longer the standard year; a year is 12 weeks. Effective execution happens weekly, daily, and by the moment.

Chapter 3: You can change your brain simply by what you think. Most people will take comfortable actions over uncomfortable ones. Value the important stuff over your own comfort. What do you value most? What kind of life do you want?
You create things twice; first mentally then physically. Work on your personal vision before any other such as a business or work. Visions need to be clear.
“All my life I wanted to be somebody. Now I see I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin

Chapter 4: Working from a plan has three distinct benefits: it reduces mistakes, it saves time, and it provides focus. This is not quarterly planning! Tactic: specific, actionable, include due dates, assigned responsibilities.

Chapter 5: It is the consistent action that turns a dream into reality. Your actions tell the story.
The weekly plan: focuses on elements that must happen each week to keep you on track. Spend 15-20 minutes at the beginning of each week to review last week and plan this week. Spend 5 minutes beginning each day to review your weekly plan.

Chapter 6: Top two motivators: achievement and recognition. Keep score! Effective measurement removes the emotion from the evaluation process and paints an honest picture of your performance.
Lag indicators: represent the end results that you are striving to achieve.
Lead indicators: are the activities that produce the end results.
If you’re not hitting your goal, you need to know weather it is due to a flaw in plan content or in execution. A breakdown in plan content occurs when strategies and tactics are not effective, while a breakdown in execution occurs when you fail to fully implement the plan tactics. Rarely a plan fails, it’s your execution that is most likely failing.
Weekly scorecard: score yourself on the percentage of activities you complete each week. Strive for excellence, not perfection, 85%.
Production tension: forces you to confront your lack of execution.

Chapter 7: the most underutilized resource: time. Intentionally is your secret weapon in your war on mediocrity.
Performance Time: block out time each week dedicated to your strategically important tasks. There are three primary components:
Strategic blocks: three hour block you only work on preplanned tasks – your strategic and money- making activities. No outside interruptions.
Buffer Block: designed to deal with unplanned or low-value activities- email/voicemail. One half hour or up to two separate hour long blocks per day.
Breakout Blocks: scheduled time away from your business/goals.

Chapter 8: accountability is not consequences, but ownership. Everything we do in life is a choice. The only things you can control are your thinking and your actions.

Chapter 9: commitment is an act, not a word. – Jean-Paul Sartre. Commitment is the state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action. Four keys to successful commitments: strong desire, keystone actions, count the cost, and act on commitments, not feelings.

Chapter 10: Most people are running so fast, they miss life. The future is created now, our dreams are achieved in the moment. Results are not the attainment of greatness, but simply confirmation of it. In the end, you are either great in the moment or not at all.

Chapter 11: Life balance is achieved when you are purposeful about how and where you spend your time, energy, and effort.
Seven areas of life balance: spiritual, spouse, family, community, physical, personal, and business. Use a scale of 1 to 10 for level of satisfaction in each area.

Part II
Chapter 12: There are 8 elements to high performance:
1. Vision
2. Planning
3. Process Control
4. Measurement
5. Time Use
6. Accountability
7. Commitment
8. Greatness in the Moment
Three Principles:
1. Accountability
2. Commitment
3. Greatness in the Moment
Give Disciplines
1. Vision
2. Planning
3. Process Control
4. Measurement
5. Time Use
ECOC – is the description of the emotional impact of change. There are 5 stages of emotions with behavior change:
1. Uniformed optimism
2. Informed pessimism
3. Valley of despair
4. Informed optimism
5. Success and fulfillment

Chapter 13: You need a vision! For your vision to help you push through the discomfort of change, you must be clear on what it is you want to create in life.
Impossible: ask what if and becomes possible. Probable: how might I?
Probable shifts to given.
Three time horizons:
1. Long-term aspirations
2. Mid-term goals, about three years into the future
3. 12 Weeks
Success Tips:
1. Share it with others
2. Stay in touch with your vision
3. Live with intention

Chapter 14: Make a written plan. There are five criteria that will help you create better 12 week plans when you are writing goals and tactics:
1. Make them specific and measurable.
2. State them positively.
3. Ensure they are a realistic stretch.
4. Assign accountably.
5. Be time-bound.
What actions will you struggle with?
What will you do to overcome those struggles?
If you take time to plan before engaging with a complex task, you reduce the overall time required to complete the task by as much as 20 percent. Too often people build their plan around the goals that someone else thinks are important.

Chapter 15: Mike Tyson said that everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth. Willpower won’t always carry you through.
1. The weekly plan is the instrument that organizes and focuses your week.
2. Have support group and have a WAM.
WAM – weekly accountability meeting.
Agenda
1. Individual report out: each member states how they are tracking against their goals and how well executed.
A. Your results for the 12 Week Year to date.
B. Your weekly execution score.
C. Intentions for the coming week.
D. Feedback and suggestions from the group.
2. Successful techniques: as a group, discuss what’s been working well and how to incorporate these techniques into one another’s plan.
3. Encouragement.
Weekly routine:
1. Score your week
2. Plan your week
3. Participate in a WAM

Chapter 16: Truly effective measurement combined both lead and lag indicators to provide the comprehensive feedback needed for informed decision making. Score your week – check off what you completed for the week, make as a percentage.

Chapter 17: to accomplish what you desire will take sacrifice. The number one thing you will need to sacrifice is comfort. To be great you will need to live with intention. Unique capabilities are one or two things you do absolutely the best. Create a model work week with performance time: strategic blocks, buffer blocks, and breakout blocks.
1. Block out 15 minutes Monday morning to review the prior week and plan for the current week.
2. Schedule your three hour strategic block.
3. Schedule one to two hour buffer blocks each day, Monday – Friday.
4. Schedule a breakout block.
5. Schedule all additional important activities.
If you don’t get it to work on paper, then there is no way it will work in actual practice.
To get different results, you will have to do things differently and do different things.

Chapter 18: A victim allows his success to be limited by external circumstances, people, or events. Accountability allows you to gain control of your life, to shape your identity, and to fulfill your potential. Isn’t it time to stop making excuses and letting things stand between you and the life you want to have?
The life you are currently living is a result of the choices you have made!
Actions to create greater accountability:
1. Resolve never to be the victim again.
2. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
3. Be willing to take different actions.
4. Associate with ‘accountables’.
Accountability is not consequences; it’s ownership.

Chapter 19: Two levels of commitments: personal and commitments to others. Stated intentions is what you would like to do while hidden intentions are what we feel. Explicit promises are your stated promises while implicit promises are inferred. It’s ok to say no. You need to know that every time you push through the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that accompanies any challenge, the benefits go far beyond the particular situation and shape who you become in the process.

Chapter 20:
Resistance monsters:
• the need for immediate gratification
• big change and multiple goals
• old habits
• Victim thinking
Frame your 12 weeks into three four-week periods.
Your first four weeks:
1. Plan your week
2. Score your week
3. Participate in a weekly accountability meeting (WAM)
Your second four weeks: you should be scoring 85% or above by now. If not, something is wrong with your plan or execution.
Your last four weeks: finish strong!

Chapter 21: the 13th week – review results from the previous 12 weeks and launch into the next 12 weeks with fresh goals and a plan to reach them.