Three Big Takeaways:
 

1. Personal growth is not always an easy matter, but the worst days experienced by those who give attention to the affairs of self-development are better than the best days of those who do not. (pg. 41)
    

2. The punishment for excessive rest is mediocrity (pg. 55)
    

3. How many books have I read in the past 90 days? How regularly did I exercise last month? How much of my income have I invested this past year? How many letters have I written in the past week? How many times have I written in my journal this month? The answers to these questions will provide us with vital information about our potential for progress and future rewards. If we cannot discipline ourselves in the small things, we will lack the discipline to capitalize on the great opportunities when they appear. (pg. 80)
   
    

Other Key Ideas:
 

All of the books that we will ever need to make us as rich, as healthy, as happy, as powerful, as sophisticated and as successful as we want to be have already been written. All of the insights that we might ever need have already been captured by others in books. The question is: In the last ninety days, with this treasure of information that could change our lives, how many books have we read? (pg. 15)

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Why should you journal? While it is true that every event is recorded in the brain, we cannot always access the specifics surrounding those events. Without accurate information to enhance our recall of the past, we run the risk of repeating many of the same errors over and over again. Without a journal those special events will be blown by the winds of our forgetfulness into a deep corner of the time where their value will become lost forever. Also, journaling helps us to think more objectively about our actions. Writing tends to slow down the flow of information. As we gather our thoughts on paper, we have time to ponder and analyze the experience. It is not just the event but also our personal philosophy that comes under scrutiny in the process of capturing our lives on paper. This intense scrutiny enables us to make refinements to our philosophy that are truly life-changing. (pg. 18)

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Some people take more joy in talking about success than achieving it. It is as though their ritualistic chant about someday lulls them into a false sense of security. The consequences of this self-delusion have their own inevitable price. Sooner or later the day will arrive when they look back with regret at all those things they could have done. That is why we must push ourselves in the present to experience the milder pain of discipline. We will all experience the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is, the pain of discipline weighs ounces while the pain of regret weighs tons. (pg. 52)

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Major objectives are the unseen force that pulls us into the future. Through our daily activity and discipline we provide the push to propel us toward success. But it is the dream of the future achievement of our objectives that pulls us along day after day and pulls us through the major obstacles we encounter along the way. The exciting thing is, the more we push, the more the future begins to pull. As we demonstrate an unwavering determination to conquer limitations, a small voice within us begins to speak its special and promising message adding to the pull of the future. As we listen to this voice, the pull becomes stronger and the future more certain. (pg. 59)

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Few of us know the origin and purpose of leaving a tip. The word "tip" is an abbreviation of the phrase "To Insure Promptness." To ensure promptness implies that the gratuity should be given before we receive the service, not after. Consider taking the waiter aside and presenting the tip in advance of the service, not after. This brief moment of conversation, combined with the small amount of money that would be required, will work wonders. (pg. 87)

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When we are in the comfort zone we become oblivious to the sound of the ticking clock. Because there always seems to be so much time ahead of us, we unwittingly squander the present moment. We use it for entertaining ourselves rather than for preparing ourselves. Those who live in the comfort zone seem to have developed a strange philosophy about human immortality. By this time next year, things will be different for me. And so for now, those who are full of good intentions about improving their circumstances remain content with things as they are. Today will be a day for relaxation, or for making more plans, or watching a little TV, or for gathering strength for the new offensive against mediocrity that will begin tomorrow. (pg. 98)

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Seconds slip into minutes, and the minutes into hours, and the hours into days until we awaken one morning to discover that the moments of opportunity are gone. We spend our final years reliving dreams that might have been, regretting all that never was and now never will be. When the game of life is finally over, there is no second chance to correct our errors. The clock that is ticking away the moments of our lives does not care about winners and losers. It does not care about excuses, fairness, or equality. The only essential issue is how we played the game. (pg. 101)