The ONE Thing
The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
Author: Gary Keller & Jay Papasan
My Rating: 7/10
Length: 240 Pages
Description
The ONE Thing has made more than 350 appearances on national bestseller lists, including #1 Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today. It won 12 book awards, has been translated into 27 languages, chosen as one of the Top 5 Business Books of 2013 by Hudson's Booksellers and one of Top 30 Business Books of 2013 by Executive Book Summaries. Voted one of the Top 100 Business Books of All Time on Goodreads.
YOU WANT LESS. You want fewer distractions and less on your plate. The daily barrage of e-mails, texts, tweets, messages, and meetings distract you and stress you out. The simultaneous demands of work and family are taking a toll. And what's the cost? Second-rate work, missed deadlines, smaller paychecks, fewer promotions--and lots of stress. AND YOU WANT MORE. You want more productivity from your work. More income for a better lifestyle. You want more satisfaction from life, and more time for yourself, your family, and your friends. NOW YOU CAN HAVE BOTH--LESS AND MORE. In The ONE Thing, you'll learn to * cut through the clutter * achieve better results in less time * build momentum toward your goal * dial down the stress * overcome that overwhelmed feeling * revive your energy * stay on track * master what matters to you The ONE Thing delivers extraordinary results in every area of your life--work, personal, family, and spiritual. WHAT'S YOUR ONE THING?
The Book In 3 Sentences
The core message of the book, Gary explains the immense power of simplicity and doing the one thing that can make everything else either seem easy or unnecessary. Doing the most important thing is always the most important thing, as Gary puts it, “Until my ONE Thing is done — everything else is a distraction.”
Many of the mottos about good business practices that we accept are actually just myths that limit our progress. The book debunks them and gives useful, practical guidelines on how to live with purpose, priority, and high productivity.
Time is the currency of achievement, extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus. Therefore, success is built sequentially and it's one thing at a time. The path to more is through less.
My Rating
I gave this a 7/10 rating because, while a great concept and idea, I don’t think you needed 250 pages to get the point across. To be honest, if you read the whole Notes I wrote on this book (see below my Best Big Ideas), you don’t need to read the book. BUT, this is not to say it’s a bad book at all! In fact, it really helped me with time management. I just think it would have been better as a 10 page eBook instead of 200 pages of fluff.
Who Should Read It?
We’re all given the same amount of time every day, so how should we use it? This book gives practical solutions for this exact dilemma and how to make the most of our time
This book felt more directed towards business owners and entrepreneurs, so if you’re one of those fields I definitely recommend this quick read. Or if you are someone who struggles with time management, this book is for you.
How The Book Changed Me
One of the most important lessons that I’ve learned from this book is the importance of focus. To create a balanced life, you need to decide what’s most important. What do you value? Once you’ve decided what you most value, you must give yourself time to accomplish your goals. Then, you must narrow down your focus and have a clear sense of priority on that ONE thing.
This book also made me think a different way about saying “no” to things. I always felt bad saying, “no” to friends, family, events, work, etc. Gary suggests staying focused is to say “no” to people, places, and things until you’ve completed your most important thing for the day. And ever since I started incorporating that strategy into my life, it has done wonders!
It might be tempting to distract yourself with other errands or more enjoyable tasks like going to the coffee shop or catching up with friends. However, once I’ve focused on my one thing for the day, the most important thing, I am then free to attend to whatever else I’ve planned or want to do for the day!
My biggest takeaway that I will carry through life is not to let time pass me by… Instead, I take Gary’s advice now and start working on the most important thing for the day and creating a habit of blocking out time for completing this task.
My Top 3 Quotes
“Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls-- family, health, friends, integrity-- are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.”― Gary Keller
“Activity is often unrelated to productivity. Busyness rarely takes care of business.” ― Gary Keller
“The people who achieve extraordinary results don’t achieve them by working more hours … They achieve them by getting more done in the hours they work.” ― Gary Keller
Best Big Ideas
IT IS NOT ALWAYS EASY TO IDENTIFY THE ONE THING THAT YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON
In business, it can be difficult to find the one thing which deserves your time and focus. This is because your product line can involve many items which bring in their own revenues. The book indicates that if you want to find the one thing in your business, simply search to find the one which strategically holds the business together. The product or service that has the highest intrinsic value to your company is the one thing in which you should invest time in. For example, the movies in the Star Wars Franchise generate less revenue than the merchandise but they are the one thing in that organization. Find what holds your company together and is loved most by your customers and then focus on it.
DO NOT PUT TOO MUCH EMPHASIS ON TO-DO LISTS
According to Gary Keller, who is a successful real estate magnate, to-do lists are nothing more than survival guides. They simply ensure that you get through your day having accomplished everything you want. However, they don't help you to invest properly in your day doing the one thing which you need to do to make the day a steppingstone for the next one. Gary indicates that as much as to-do lists are helpful in organizing the time in our day, they are not helpful in allocating maximum time to the most important tasks. Thus, modify yours to give the one thing that you value maximum time. This transforms your to-do list into a success list.
THE PRINCIPLE OF 80/20 IS GENUINE
Also known as the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule is real. It is named after Vilfredo Pareto, an economist. The rule says that 20% of the input which you invest results in 80% of the results that you get. Gary Keller indicates that the principle is as true and effective as the law of gravity. According to him, the Pareto Principle can be proved, predicted, and is a certain effect on the laws of nature. Following the 80/20 rule can greatly boost your productivity.
MULTITASKING DOES NOT HAVE THE BENEFITS IT IS BELIEVED TO POSSESS
Many business professionals swear by multitasking. They perform too many activities at the same time. By doing is, they are under the illusion that they are getting things done faster. Gary Keller begs to differ and says multitasking does not exist. He proposes that it is simply dividing your time among many activities such that you are performing each one for a very short amount of time. He indicates that this practice often results in average performance. One should perform one task at a time to completion. In this way, you can guarantee high-quality performance and excellent results in each one.
ENSURE THAT YOUR WORKPLACE IS CONDUCIVE FOR PRODUCTIVITY
According to research, modern workplaces are not conducive to productivity. The average worker is distracted every 11 minutes. In addition to that, they spend 30% of their day recovering from these distractions instead of working. Thus, their overall productivity is negatively affected. Gary advises that employers should create working environments where the employees can focus on major tasks for a substantial amount of time in their day.
DEVELOPING HABITS SLOWLY AND STEADILY LEADS TO SUCCESS
Performance coaches stress that you must engage in disciplined actions to achieve your goals. This is true. However, it is better to develop habits of discipline than to strain yourself sticking to a list of actions. Habits come naturally after we form them. Therefore, Gary says it is better to develop constructive habits than to try to stick to a list of activities under the illusion of self-discipline. A habit takes 21 days to develop. Therefore, we should develop some positive habits and patiently wait for them to take root in our lives. After that, we can reap the benefits.
FOSTER AND MAINTAIN TRUE FOCUS
Our world is full of distractions. We find it quite challenging to focus on one thing for long periods of time. In the workplace, employees are faced with distractions from multimedia or even each other. Gary has one motto to live by and solve this problem. He says that when it is time to work, do exactly that. When it is time to play, do exactly that. This way, you do not mix them up and end up mishandling these important activities of our lives.
GO BIG IN EVERYTHING YOU DO
Nobody knows how much they can achieve in life. Therefore, there is no point in worrying about it. If someone says that you cannot go above a certain level, the natural instinct is to prove them wrong by actually going above this level. Moreover, if we are told to pick an upper limit that we cannot exceed, of course, we will pick a high one, not a low one. Thus, Gary Keller advises us to confidently go big in all that we do and we will enjoy the fruit of our labor.
