Power of Discipline

Brian Tracy in the “Power of Discipline” uses the priority of our to-do-list that is of great help.

Apply the A B C D E method to your list:

A = “Must Do” – Serious consequences for non-completion;

B = “Should Do” – Mild consequences for doing or not doing;

C = “Nice to Do” – No consequences whether you do it or not:

D = “Delegate” – Everything you possibly can to free up more time for those things that only you can do;

E = “Eliminate” – Discontinue all tasks and activities that are no longer essential to your work and to achieving your goals.


Review your list of activities for the coming day and write an “A,B,C,D, or E” before each task.

If you have several “A” tasks, separate them by writing A-1, A-2, A-3, and so on. Do this with your B and C tasks as well. The rule is that you should never do a B task when you have an A task left undone. You should never do a lower value task when you have a higher value task before you.

Once you have organized your list using this system, discipline yourself to start on your A-1 task first thing in the morning, before you do anything else.