Last week I read The One Thing by Gary Keller. If you haven’t picked it up yet, it’s a great book and I highly recommend it. In this post I’ll share how finding your One Thing can simplify your life and give you a laser focus for anything you want to accomplish.
In my last post about the importance of conducting an annual review, I talked about reviewing all aspects of your life in seven different categories.
The Focusing Question
In The One Thing, Keller takes this idea several steps further by asking one simple focusing question:
What’s the one thing you could be doing right now, such that by doing it everything else becomes easier or unnecessary?
It’s a very powerful statement, especially when applied to each area of your life on a daily basis. But the One Thing isn’t the only thing. It’s the first sequential step towards anything you want to achieve.
Once you figure out that first step, the one that matters most, it acts like the first domino in a line and drives everything else forward.
My One Thing
My one thing isn’t a thing. She’s my daughter. She’s wonderful, beautiful and intelligent – like most kids. But she also has some significant health issues which have been very challenging over the years.
My daughter is the reason I started my consulting business. I needed much more flexibility than any reasonable employer could provide so I could work from home around her unpredictable illnesses and multiple specialist visits.
The good news is that she’s ok. Her condition is just part of our lives and something we literally deal with one day at a time. Her illnesses ebb and flow depending on the time of year, and have taught me a lot about living in the moment.
Keeping my one thing front and center means decisions are easy because my priorities are clear. For example, if a new work opportunity doesn’t support my one thing, I don’t do it. Pretty simple, right?
What’s Yours?
So how do you find your one thing for 2015? What’s most important to you right now? Decide on a destination and then figure out the first, most important step to get you where you want to go.
In any area of your life, whether it’s work, family, health, finances, or some other aspect, ask the focusing question above. In other words, find the first domino. Then find the next one, and the one after that. Keep asking the focusing question about what matters most to you and the proper sequence will naturally reveal itself.
Once you’ve figured out the proper sequence, everything will be lined up and you’ll be ready for action. When that first domino falls you’ll have the momentum to easily knock all the others down.
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