Eat Your Ugliest Frog First

“If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.”
- Brian Tracy, Eat That Frog!

It was the early 2000s and Janine Allis (founder of Boost Juice), was invited to speak at a Proteus conference. This was a time before she became the entrepreneurial household name that she is today.

Des Penny, the founder of Proteus was emceeing, and I was speaking later in the program. This meant that I had the luxury of sitting in the audience, pen in hand, ready to absorb her insights and wisdom around starting, leading and growing a successful business.

And then Janine said something… that stopped me mid-note.

Almost as a throwaway line, she mentioned that if it wasn’t for Brian Tracy’s book Eat That Frog!, Boost Juice may never have got off the ground.

Really, I thought. That was it? One sentence. One book that changed everything.

What on earth was she talking about? Eating frogs? How weird. Was it a concept? A metaphor? Some strange hippie Boost Juice drink fad?

Straight after the conference, Des and I both ordered copies of Tracy’s book. And not long after that, our whole team had read it. Before we knew it, “eating your frogs” had become part of the daily language at Proteus. It filtered into our meetings, our conversations and our job roles. It then became a core concept across our leadership programs relating to how we become more effective and strategic.

The idea is brilliant!

Simply… your ‘frog’ is the task that you least want to do, but most need to do. It‘s the uncomfortable phone call. The overdue decision. The difficult conversation. The blank page. The proposal. The tender. The apology. Creating and honouring space for strategic thinking. Or, that action you have been dancing around for days, weeks, or sometimes even years.

And as Brian Tracy reminds us, if there is more than one frog waiting for you, then eat the ugliest one first. Of course, the imagery is wonderfully revolting. Imagine a live, juicy frog sitting on your desk each morning. Staring at you. The longer you leave it there, the bigger, louder, slipperier and uglier it becomes.

But once you swallow it, something shifts.

Your shoulders drop. The tension eases. You gain momentum. The rest of the day feels lighter because the hardest thing is already behind you.

Yes, it may sound a little old school. In a world of apps, hacks, dashboards and digital productivity systems, eating your frog can seem almost too simple.

But that’s why it still works.

Leadership, growth and success rarely come from doing more. They come from consistently doing what matters most, especially when it is uncomfortable.

So, before you leave work today, take a moment to reflect on your plans for tomorrow. Before the noise begins, ask yourself one simple question:

What frog needs eating first?

Wishing you a wonderful week of eating your ugliest and juiciest frogs. 🐸

Richard Dore
CEO - Director of Partnerships
Proteus Leadership