Review by Chris Murray / Book review of Master Your Time, Master Your Life by Brian Tracy / © 2015. Book review used by permission of Soundview Executive Summaries.

Success guru Brian Tracy’s new book is centered on the concept of time. Although each chapter has the word “time” in it, Master Your Time, Master Your Life is not about time management as much as it is about life goals and on what areas to focus your efforts.

  The first chapter, for example, is about “Strategic Planning and Goal Setting Time.” Successful people, Tracy writes, are those who plan their strategy and select their goals. “One of the most important types of time is the time you spend thinking, deciding and planning how to achieve the things you really want in life.”

  Tracy recommends establishing a personal strategic plan based on four questions:

1. 1. Where am I now in my life? Review your accomplishments, family situation, financial situation, and health and fitness.
2. 2. How did I get to where I am today? Identify the choices and decisions that led to where you are today. Recognize the sources of your successes—and setbacks.
3. 3. Where do I want to go in the future? Imagine a perfect life five years in the future. Get into the details of how it would be different from the present.
4. 4. How can I get from where I am to where I want to be? Identify what you need to be doing today to make that ideal future become a reality.

  Some of the chapters, such as “Productive Time” and “Work Time,” involve more conventional time-management suggestions.

  In the “Work Time” chapter, Tracy dives into how to overcome the “seven major time wasters” at work (telephone, email and text interruptions; unexpected visitors; meetings; firefighting; procrastination; socializing and idle conversations; and indecision and delay).

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