What’s in it for me? Increase your brainpower and success.
There's a vault in your head. Inside it sits more wealth than you could spend in ten lifetimes – gold stacked floor to ceiling, glittering under dim security lights. It's yours. Legally, completely yours. There's just one problem: the vault has a combination lock with multiple codes, and you only know about 2 percent of them. So you can crack it open just wide enough to pull out a few coins at a time, while the rest of that fortune sits there, untouched, gathering dust.
That vault? It's your brain. And those gold coins represent ideas, and the solutions to problems you're facing right now. The innovations that could transform your career, the insights that could reshape your relationships – they're already in there. You're just not accessing them.
Brian Tracy spent decades studying why some people seem to unlock that vault while others struggle their whole lives with the same few coins. What he found wasn't about IQ scores or fancy degrees. It was about specific, learnable ways of thinking – codes, if you will – that anyone can master.
In this Blink, I'm going to walk you through those codes. Some of them might surprise you. For instance, you'll learn why envying your neighbor's Mercedes isn't shallow, but might actually be the first step toward wealth. You'll discover why thinking slowly is often smarter than thinking fast, especially when it comes to the decisions that actually matter. And you'll see how the same mind-set that bankrupted Borders bookstores is probably costing you opportunities right now, today, without you even realizing it.
I’m not talking about working harder. This is about working differently – about rewiring the patterns in your head that determine whether you stay stuck or break through. Ready to learn the codes? Let’s get started.
What does it mean to get smart?
Let me ask you something. If I gave you a test right now to measure your intelligence, what would you expect it to look like? Multiple choice questions? Logic puzzles? Math problems? Maybe you're picturing something with a score at the end, a number that supposedly tells you how smart you are.
Forget all of that.
Brian Tracy's definition of intelligence has nothing to do with tests. Rather, that intelligence is a "way of acting." That's it. If you act intelligently, you are intelligent. If you act unintelligently, you are unintelligent. Your SAT score doesn't matter, nor does your degree. What matters is whether your actions move you toward what you want or away from it.
Take a second to think about that. An intelligent action is any action that brings you closer to your goals. An unintelligent action is anything else – anything that keeps you stuck or, worse, pushes you backward. Nice and simple, right? But here's where it gets interesting: you can't know whether an action is intelligent or not until you've figured out what you actually want.
Most people skip this step. They're busy, they're active, they're doing things – but they've never stopped to ask themselves where they're trying to go. So their actions can't be intelligent because there's no target to move toward.
So before we talk about getting smart, we need to talk about something more basic: What do you want?
Not what your parents want. Not what looks good on Instagram. What do you want? Where do you want to be in a year? Five years? Ten? When you hit retirement age, what does your life look like?
Now, you can approach these questions from two angles: short-term thinking or long-term thinking. Short-term thinking is about right now – maximizing pleasure today, spending instead of saving, choosing what feels good in the moment. Long-term thinking is the opposite. It's looking ahead, considering consequences, and then considering the consequences of those consequences.
Which perspective is better? Well, in 1970, a Harvard professor named Edward Banfield studied people from different economic backgrounds and found something striking. The people who earned more money, who were happier and more successful, were the ones who thought ahead – sometimes years or even decades ahead. These people were smart, not because they had high IQs, but because they were exceptionally good at carrying out actions that brought them closer to their long-term goals.
So if you want to get smart, you need to act intelligently. To act intelligently, you need to think long-term. And to think long-term, you need to answer those questions I asked earlier. What do you want in one year? Five years? Ten? At retirement?
Once you've got those answers, you can start making a plan. And that plan – that's where the real work begins.
To plan for retirement, you need to calculate "the number."
Most people, when they think about retirement – if they think about it at all – imagine some vague future where they're not working anymore. Maybe they picture themselves on a beach somewhere, or playing with grandkids. But they haven't done the math. They haven't calculated what that future actually costs.
And because they haven't done the math, they don't save for it. In the United States, 70 percent of people live paycheck to paycheck. They're not reckless or irresponsible – they just haven't taken the time to really think about what's coming. So when retirement age arrives, they're hit with a shock they could have avoided decades earlier.
The solution? You need to calculate what Brian Tracy calls "the number."
The number is the total amount of money you'll need to retire comfortably. Not barely scraping by. Not living on ramen and regret. Comfortably – maintaining the lifestyle you're used to.
Now, you might have a pension plan or Social Security benefits, and sure, you can subtract those from the number once you've figured it out. But you need to know your number first. You need a target. Without a target, you're just hoping things work out. And hope isn't a strategy.
So let's calculate it. Right now.
First, figure out how much you spend per month. Not the bare minimum you could survive on, but the amount you actually need to live the life you're living now. Got it? Good. Multiply that by 12. That's your yearly expenses.
Now multiply that number by 20 – the average number of years most people live after retiring.
That's the number. And yes, it's probably dauntingly large. Maybe even terrifying.
But knowing the number is the first step toward hitting it. And hitting it is absolutely possible – but only if you have a plan.
So what's the plan? You set up a savings account immediately. Every single month, without fail, you deposit 10 to 15 percent of your income. It doesn't sound like much, but through compound interest, even small amounts – $100 a month starting in your twenties – can grow into massive sums by the time you retire.
This is long-term thinking in action. You're making a small sacrifice now, like skipping a few dinners out or holding off on that new phone, so that your future self can live comfortably. You're acting intelligently, remember? You're taking actions today that move you toward your long-term goals.
Planning for retirement is an extreme example of long-term thinking, sure. But this approach – setting a specific target and then creating a concrete plan to hit that target – works for any goal. Whether you're trying to achieve something in a few months, a few years, or a few decades, the process is the same.
Know what you want. Calculate what it costs. Make a plan. Execute. That's how you get smart.
A goal isn't a goal until it's written down and there's a concrete plan to achieve it.
I want to tell you about a moment that changed Brian Tracy's life.
He was 24, broke, and sleeping on a friend's floor because he couldn't afford his own place. He was working as a door-to-door salesman, but he wasn't making many sales, which meant he wasn't making much money.
Then one day, he found an old book lying around his friend's apartment. He started flipping through it, and one sentence immediately jumped out at him: "If you want to be successful in life, you have to have goals."
Tracy figured he had nothing to lose. So he grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down ten goals he wanted to achieve. Then he put the paper away and forgot about it. In fact, he lost it.
But over the next month, something strange happened; Tracy came up with a sales technique that tripled his sales, his income shot up, and he got promoted. He even started training other salespeople in his technique and earning commissions on their sales. Within 30 days, his life had completely transformed.
Was it luck? Tracy doesn't think so. He thinks it was the power of goals.
Most people think they have goals. But they don't. Only about 3 percent of people, give or take a percentage point, actually have real goals. The other 97 percent have something else – dreams, hopes, wishes, fantasies. Those aren't the same thing.
A goal isn't a goal until it's written down, with clarity and specificity, and there's a concrete plan to achieve it. So let's set some real goals. Right now.
Grab a piece of paper. At the top, write "Goals" and today's date. Now write down ten goals you want to hit in the next year. Some might be quick wins, achieved in a few weeks. Others might take the full twelve months. Starting with one-year goals is less overwhelming than trying to map out the next decade right away.
When you write these goals, be specific. Use the present tense and make them personal. Use positive wording. For example, if you want to increase your income, don't write "I want to make more money." Write: "I will increase my income by 20 percent by December 31st of this year."
Once you've got your ten goals, look at the list and ask yourself: Which one of these, if I achieved it, would have the biggest positive impact on my life?
There will always be one goal that stands out. That's your "major definite purpose."
Take a fresh piece of paper. Write that goal at the top. Below it, come up with at least 20 things you can do to make it happen. The first few will come easily, but the rest will likely require some thought. But that's where the real breakthroughs happen.
Make this list into a checklist and tackle the first task as soon as possible. Every single day, without exception, work on this list. That means weekends, too. Strive to check something off every single day. This is what it means to have goals.
To make better decisions, slow down your thinking.
You may know Daniel Kahneman. He’s a psychologist who won a Nobel Prize for his work on how people think. He identified two types of thinking: fast thinking and slow thinking.
Fast thinking is immediate, instinctive, unconsidered. When you're driving, you probably don't ponder your every move. You just drive. Left turn, right turn, gas, brake. It's effortless, requiring no deliberate thought. That's fast thinking in action.
Slow thinking is the opposite. It's deliberate, rational – the kind of thinking you'd use to solve a somewhat complicated math problem.
There's nothing wrong with fast thinking. For most decisions, it works perfectly fine. The trouble begins when we use fast thinking to make decisions that require slow thinking. What kinds of decisions are these? Things like choosing a major in college, mapping out a career, developing a strategy for your company, choosing a spouse – life's big, important decisions. But most people don't use slow thinking when making these decisions. We're so accustomed to thinking fast that we don't switch gears when it matters most.
So how do you slow your thinking down?
First, try to take 72 hours before making any important decision. This should give you enough time to consider all your options. People will often pressure you to make big decisions quickly. Resist them. If you're ever being pressured, simply say you'll need to think it over before giving an answer. If they keep pushing, mention that if they insist on an answer right now, then it's a no – but your answer might change if you have time to think about it.
Another trick: solitude.
Nothing slows down thinking like a period of solitude. Spending 30 minutes to an hour every day in a quiet, secluded spot will give your mind the time it needs to think. During this time, shut off all distractions. No phone. No music. Just you and the silence. Brian Tracy used to sit in his car after work, silently, alone, for an hour. His promise to you is this: if there's a difficulty in your life – personal or professional – the solution will come to you, almost guaranteed, if you carve out pockets of solitude for yourself.
Most people have never spent time alone like this, and for a lot of people it won't be easy. When you begin, the temptation to distract yourself will be immense. But fight the temptation. Sink into the solitude. This will slow your thinking and help you find ideas and answers and insights that are invisible to the fast-thinking mind.
To increase your earning ability, embrace results-oriented thinking and the Law of Three.
We're halfway through these blinks – and I haven't even told you about what is arguably the most important idea of all: the Law of Correspondence. We'll come back to it later on, but it's so important that it deserves to be discussed twice. The Law of Correspondence states, in short, "As within, so without." Whatever you spend most of your time thinking about is what you will become.
If you're an optimist, you will see a world full of potential and good. If you're a pessimist, you will only see problems and negativity. By seeing the world in an optimistic, positive light, you will attract positive things to yourself. The same goes for pessimism. Your negative views and beliefs will attract negative things.
Ask yourself: What do you spend most of your time thinking about? Do you view the world through a positive lens or a negative one? Shifting this perspective could quite literally transform your life.
Now it's time to learn about another crucial shift in your thinking: the shift away from activity-oriented thinking and toward results-oriented thinking.
Can you name your most valuable financial asset? Is it your computer? Your car? Your house? Even if you own a private jet, this asset is not an object. It's an ability – your "earning ability."
Your ability to earn money is more valuable than anything else. Objects can be lost. Abilities, if you foster them, can last a lifetime. So how can you increase your earning ability? It's all about how quickly and effectively you get stuff done.
One method is to apply the Law of Three. The Law of Three argues that just three of your tasks will represent 90 percent of your results. So the key is to identify and focus all your work on these three things.
To find these three crucial tasks, write down all the things you have to do. You'll probably come up with a pretty long list. Next, ask yourself, "If I were to only do one thing on this list today, which thing would generate the biggest result?"
The answer should be obvious. Once you've identified that task, direct all your focus on it. An effective method is to tackle it first thing in the morning, and to give it your entire focus until it's 100 percent finished.
But it's called the Law of Three for a reason. Ask yourself that same question two more times. Which task would generate the second biggest results? How about the third? For the second and third most important tasks, consult your closest colleagues or your boss. Out of all the tasks you're responsible for, which do they think are the most important?
Once you have your three tasks, your working day should be focused on achieving them. This is what it means to switch away from activity-oriented thinking and toward results-oriented thinking. It's very easy to stay busy without accomplishing your crucial tasks, but by applying the Law of Three, you'll be able to focus on the tasks that actually matter. And this, in turn, will increase your earning ability – making your most valuable financial asset even more valuable. "As within, so without."
Success in the modern world requires a flexible mind that continues learning.
Our world and society is constantly evolving. In fact, we're living in one of the most tumultuous times in human history. To be successful, you need to be aware of technological advancements. Do you remember Borders, the massive book retailer? It went out of business after devices like the Kindle and the iPad revolutionized the print industry.
Borders was oblivious to these technological changes, and it went bankrupt as a result. If you want to avoid a similar fate, you'll have to use flexible thinking. Flexible thinking can best be described as the ability to quickly react and adapt in the face of dramatic change. Unlike the executives at Borders, flexible thinkers will grasp the importance of change and innovation and adapt accordingly.
But how do you become a flexible thinker? How do you keep yourself from becoming as complacent and oblivious as Borders?
One excellent strategy is to use what the author calls zero-based thinking. To do this, you must constantly question the value of everything you do. A single question can help with this. The question is: "If I got the chance to do this from the beginning again, would I?"
Ask this in every area of your life. Maybe there's someone who you used to love hanging out with but who you now think holds you back. Or maybe you've made a career choice that you now realize you shouldn't have. If you could do it all over again, where would you do things differently?
Zero-based thinking will almost inevitably lead to some uncomfortable conclusions. But you should take those conclusions seriously. If you wouldn't do it again, don't do it now. Say goodbye to that friend. Pivot in your career. This won't be easy; you'll need to admit that you made the wrong choice, and, even more importantly, you'll have to accept that your investments in these areas – whether it be time, capital, or emotions – will be lost. You simply have to accept this, and cut your losses. Painful as it is right now, it'll be better in the long run. Trust yourself.
Reassuingly, as hard as it is to cut out the activities that no longer bring reward, the results are worth it. You'll come out with more time, more energy, not to mention an enormous sense of relief.
What's more, you'll become more flexible. You'll find yourself in a better position, ready to drop the things that slow you down and seize the new opportunities that come your way.
Becoming wealthy starts by thinking like a rich person.
We're here: the final blink. Which means it's time to talk, yet again, about the Law of Correspondence, which states – remember – "As within, so without." What you think about is, almost always, what you'll become.
So, you can probably already guess the answer, but here's a question: Why are some people rich? Why do they have such vast wealth? What's their secret?
Well, the maybe surprising truth is that they don't really have one. Anyone can become rich. The trick is to start thinking like a rich person. Law of Correspondence. As within, so without.
Maybe you're feeling a bit skeptical about this, but don't knock it till you try it. It's worked in the author's life, and it can work in yours.
Let's return to Brian Tracy's past, back before he found fame and fortune. Back when he was impoverished and young, he once witnessed someone in the same evening school as him rock up to class in an expensive, beautiful Mercedes-Benz. He wanted one immediately. So he started thinking like a rich person. He read up on billionaires. He found a better job. He worked longer and harder for his employers. Very soon, he'd earned enough in bonuses to be able to buy himself the very same Mercedes. He'd become a success because he started thinking like a successful person.
Like the author, if you want to be rich, then it's time you developed a wealthy mind-set. Start by analyzing what wealthy people do. Watch interviews with billionaires and read up on them. Identify and then emulate the habits that make them so successful.
Habits are probably the most important ingredient in the recipe for success. After all, they determine 95 percent of what you do. So focus carefully on developing powerful ones.
To make a good habit – for example, waking up very early – focus on one element at a time and endeavor to do it every single day. After 20 to 30 days, you'll probably have made this habit a part of your life, and you can move on to the next one; say, carefully planning your tasks each week, or managing your investments to get the best results.
And once you've developed a few good habits already, don't stop. Wealthy people are always on the lookout for new opportunities to grow, and you should be, too. Keep researching. Keep learning. And keep moving, deliberately, untiringly, toward your goals. If you do that, you won't have to get smart. You'll be smart.
Final Summary
Alright, let's wrap up by looking at everything we've been talking about.
Getting smart isn't about IQ or degrees – it's about acting intelligently, which means taking actions that move you toward your goals. Start with long-term thinking to identify what you actually want, then use slow thinking to make better decisions along the way. Apply the Law of Three to focus on what generates real results, not just activity. Practice zero-based thinking to stay flexible and cut what's no longer serving you.
But above all, remember the Law of Correspondence: "As within, so without." What you think about most is what you become. Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world. So think like the person you want to be, build the habits that match that vision, and watch your life transform. You already have everything you need. Now it's time to unlock it.