Eat That Frog

Eat That Frog! Continually ask yourself these key questions: “What 
am I really good at? What do I enjoy the most about my work? What 
has been most responsible for my success in the past? If I could do 
any job at all, what job would it be?” 
If you won the lottery or came into an enormous amount of money, 
and you could choose any job or any part of a job to do for the 
indefinite future, what work would you choose? What sort of 
preparation would you have to engage in to be able to do that work 
in an excellent fashion? Whatever your answer, get started today. 
 
 
 
 
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Chapter 11 - Identify Your Key Constraints 
 
“Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun’s rays do not 
burn until brought to a focus.” 
(Alexander Graham Bell) 
What is holding you back? What sets the speed at which you achieve 
your goals? What determines how fast you move from where you are 
to where you want to go? What stops you or holds you back from 
eating the frogs that can really make a difference? Why aren’t you at 
your goal already? 
These are some of the most important questions you will ever ask 
and answer achieving high levels of personal productivity and 
effectiveness. Whatever you have to do, there is always a limiting 
factor that determines how quickly and well you get it done. Your job 
is to study the task and identify the limiting factor or constraint 
within it. You must then focus all of your energies on alleviating that 
single chokepoint. 
In virtually every task, large or small, there is a factor that sets the 
speed at which you achieve the goal or complete the job. What is it? 
Concentrate your mental energies on that one key area. This can be 
the most valuable use of your time and talents. 
 
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This may be a person whose help or decision you need, a resource 
that you require, a weakness in some part of the organization or 
something else. But it the limiting factor always there and it is always 
your job to find it. 
For example, the purpose of a business is to create and keep a 
customer. By doing this in sufficient quantities, the company makes a 
profit and continues to grow and flourish. 
In every business there is a limiting factor or chokepoint that 
determines how quickly and well the company achieves this purpose. 
It may be the marketing, the level of sales or the sales force itself. It 
may be the costs of operation or the methods of production. It may be 
the level of cash flow or costs. The success of the company may be 
determined by the competition, the customers or the current 
marketplace. One of these factors, more than anything else, 
determines how quickly the company achieves its goals of growth 
and profitability. What is it? 
The accurate identification of the limiting factor in any process and 
the focus on that factor can usually bring about more progress in a 
shorter period of time than any other single activity. 
The 80/20 Rule applies to the constraints in your life and in your 
work. What this means is that 80% of the constraints, the factors that