Free No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline by Brian Tracy Page B

result of continual investment and improvement. A depreciating asset, on the other hand, is something that loses value over time and finally reaches the point at which it is “written off,” being of little or no further value. The choice is yours as to whether your earning ability is increasing or decreasing month by month and year by year.
     

You Are the President
     
    See yourself as the president of your own “Personal Services Corporation.” Imagine that you were going to take your company public on the stock market. Would you recommend your company as a growth stock, continually increasing its value and earning ability each year?
     
    Or would you describe your company as one that has leveled off in the market place, that is not really going anywhere in terms of increased value and income? Would you recommend stock in “You, Inc.” as an excellent investment? Why or why not?
     

What Got You Here Won’t Get You Any Further
     
    Some people are actually losing value each year, declining in earning ability, because they are not continually upgrading their knowledge and skills. They don’t realize that whatever knowledge and skill they have today is rapidly becoming obsolete. It is being replaced by new knowledge and skills that, if you don’t have them and someone else does, you will be in danger of being overtaken by your competition.
     

Join the Top 20 Percent
     
    In Chapter 1, I mentioned that the 80/20 rule applies to income: The top 20 percent of people in our society earn and control 80 percent of the assets. According to Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, and the IRS, by many estimates the top 1 percent of Americans control as much as 33 percent of the assets.
     
    The most interesting discovery in income inequality is that most millionaires, multimillionaires, and billionaires in America are first generation. They started with little or nothing and earned all their money by themselves in one lifetime.
     
    In America, there is a high level of income mobility, which means you are able to move from the lower levels of income to the upper levels. Almost everyone who is in the top 20 percent today started in the bottom 20 percent. From that point, they began to do something different with their time and their lives, and as a result, they put themselves squarely onto the upward escalator of financial success.
     

No Limits on Your Potential
     
    The average income increase in America is about 3 percent a year, just about the same as the rate of inflation and cost of living increases. People whose income is increasing at 3 percent a year seldom get ahead. They have a job , which can also be thought of as an acronym for “ J ust O ver B roke.”
     
    But the fact is that no one is better than you, and no one is smarter than you. If someone is doing better than you are today, it is simply proof that he has learned how the Law of Cause and Effect applies to his work, and he has begun doing the things that other successful people have also done. The application of the Law of Cause and Effect to your personal life is “learn and do.”
     
    The achievement of personal excellence is a decision you make—or that you fail to make. But in the absence of a commitment to excellence in your chosen field, you automatically default to average performance—or even mediocrity. No one becomes excellent accidentally or by just going to work each day. Excellence requires a definite decision and a lifelong commitment.
     

The Keys to the Twenty-First Century
     
    Knowledge and skill are the keys to the twenty-first century. Becoming the best person you can possibly be and moving to the top of your field require the application of self-discipline throughout your life. Mental fitness is like physical fitness: If you want to achieve either, you must work at it all your life. You can never let up. You must be continually learning and growing—every day, week, and month—throughout your career (and in