My wife had a book I've been waiting to read for a long time: The ONE Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan. If you've read (or heard of) Essentialism by Greg McKeown, then you need to pick up this book; it's by #1 book recommendation.
At its core, The ONE Thing is about investing all your effort into a few "lead dominos," where by doing one essential thing first, it leads to making everything down the line easier. In the book Keller and Papasan make the argument that all great creators/innovators have a single priority at any given moment; and that a single priority is the most valuable thing they could put their resources into. And, until they complete that priority, nothing else takes focus and attention.
It's idealistic, but realistic.
I love to dream. I’m an entrepreneur who’s not realized many new ideas. While I have a million ideas a minute, I’m always disappointed with how few ever become more than an idea. So, I strive to do more. But, there another way to approach it: pursue less, and go all in.
A motivating principle of mine is “A great idea without delivery has no value.” And, I’m tired of having valueless ideas.
I think of those times in college when I put all my effort into a single project, it always came out better than I could have imagined. In part because I maintained my focus on one high-value thing, which meant I put more attention into the details. Additionally, all my creative energy had one channel to go through.
In short, less it better. But, it doesn’t change how impatient I am. I want to do more, more often. And, I can’t.
Given my current process doesn’t work, I have to change it. Take a new approach to achievement: pick one thing, and knock it out of the park.
Right now my first priority is determine my one thing for each area of my life. Put all my focus into finding my lead domino. Create leverage and double down.
One thing.
Pick up a copy
At its core, The ONE Thing is about investing all your effort into a few "lead dominos," where by doing one essential thing first, it leads to making everything down the line easier. In the book Keller and Papasan make the argument that all great creators/innovators have a single priority at any given moment; and that a single priority is the most valuable thing they could put their resources into. And, until they complete that priority, nothing else takes focus and attention.
It's idealistic, but realistic.
I love to dream. I’m an entrepreneur who’s not realized many new ideas. While I have a million ideas a minute, I’m always disappointed with how few ever become more than an idea. So, I strive to do more. But, there another way to approach it: pursue less, and go all in.
A motivating principle of mine is “A great idea without delivery has no value.” And, I’m tired of having valueless ideas.
I think of those times in college when I put all my effort into a single project, it always came out better than I could have imagined. In part because I maintained my focus on one high-value thing, which meant I put more attention into the details. Additionally, all my creative energy had one channel to go through.
In short, less it better. But, it doesn’t change how impatient I am. I want to do more, more often. And, I can’t.
Given my current process doesn’t work, I have to change it. Take a new approach to achievement: pick one thing, and knock it out of the park.
Right now my first priority is determine my one thing for each area of my life. Put all my focus into finding my lead domino. Create leverage and double down.
One thing.
Pick up a copy