Principle #1: Dig it Up
The first 'thing' we simply MUST do, according to Dr. Henry Cloud, is search our selves for 2 kinds of personality traits: bad stuff and good stuff. What kind of baggage or weight have we been carrying on our back that is burdensome or hindering in our professional, relational, and spiritual lives? What kinds of traits are beneficial and needs to be girded up? Self-assessment or self-analysis every now and then is a healthy undertaking and leads to Principle #2 (although I think Dr. Cloud wanted to stretch 8 things into 9 things - 1 and 2 could easily have been the same principle)...

Principle #2: Pull the Tooth
The second thing we simply MUST do is to get rid of whatever is keeping us from achieving success in our professional, relational, or spiritual lives. Habitual sins, trends, ruts, self-destructive attitudes or behavior should be kicked to the curb. Successful people don't keep these things in their lives for long.

I haven't read Principle #3 yet, but I'm guessing it is to bolster the good things in our lives. I got the sense reading Principle #2 that Dr. Cloud had a goal to make his book a certain length and did whatever he had to do to get there. It is very repetitive and painstakingly drawn out. Integrity was much more enjoyable to read.