The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Result by Gary Keller with Jay Papapsan
“If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.” ~ Russian Proverb
This is the first book that I’m reading from “Prime Reading” catalog. I discovered Prime reading accidentally, that too when searching for deals during thanksgiving !! It is a great offering from Amazon. I’m amazed. I always felt that kindle/prime lending wasn’t that great. You never got the book that you wanted, there were restrictions around one per month..etc. I thought I will stop my prime membership next year since I’m not using prime much and haven’t had a lot of time to view movies or TV series off late. But due to “Prime Reading”, I’ll continue with prime for a long time, I’m sure. It doesn’t have a great collection yet, but I think it will come. Looking forward to a day where I can borrow books from my local library through kindle. I can borrow e-books and read from ‘Overdrive’ app on my phone but still nothing matches the experience of reading from a kindle.
My impression of reading this book was that it was very inspiring. It is an easy, fast read, one feels like the author is an inspiring preacher who talks to you from a podium and you’re listening to him with rapt attention. You would love the idea of focusing on one thing, timeblocking (4 hours !) and other practical steps to make life more streamlined. After reading the book, you walk away with a feeling that you’ve gained an insight and will transform your life to follow what was said. Of course, after a few days, you go back to being the old self, being reactive to everything around and multi-tasking and not have time for anything. I think reading the notes again will re-inforce the learning and will slowly change the way you do things.
Highlights from my Kindle
“Passion for something leads to disproportionate time practicing or working at it. That time spent eventually translates to skill, and when skill improves, results improve. Better results generally lead to more enjoyment, and more passion and more time is invested. It can be a virtuous cycle all the way to extraordinary results.”
“Success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right.”
“The trick to success is to choose the right habit and bring just enough discipline to establish it. That’s it.”
“It takes an average of 66 days to acquire a new habit.”
“The more we use our mind, the less minding power we have.”
“The problem with living in the middle is that it prevents you from making extraordinary time commitments to anything.
“To achieve an extraordinary result you must choose what matters most and give it all the time it demands. This requires getting extremely out of balance in relation to all other work issues.”
“When you act on your priority, you’ll automatically go out of balance, giving more time to one thing over another.”
“A big opportunity is better than a small one, but a small problem is better than a big one.”
“The good news is that science isn’t about guessing, but rather the art of progressing.”
“What you build today will either empower or restrict you tomorrow.”
“Achievement and abundance show up because they’re the natural outcomes of doing the right things with no limits attached.”
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
“Quality of any answer is directly determined by the quality of the question.”
“Anyone who dreams of an uncommon life eventually discovers there is no choice but to seek an uncommon approach to living it.”
“Your big ONE Thing is your purpose and your small ONE Thing is the priority you take action on to achieve it.”
“Our purpose sets our priority and our priority determines the productivity our actions produce.”
“Connect today to all your tomorrows.”
“Putting together a life of extraordinary results simply comes down to getting the most out of what you do, when what you do matters.”
“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.”
“When you say yes to something, it’s imperative that you understand what you’re saying no to.”
“Actions build on action. Habits build on habit. Success builds on success.”
“When you’re aiming for success you can’t just skip to the end.”
“Life worth living might be measured in many ways, but the one way that stands above all others is living a life of no regrets.”
“Put yourself together, and your world falls into place. When you bring purpose to your life, know your priorities, and achieve high productivity on the priority that matters most every day, your life makes sense and the extraordinary becomes possible. All success in life starts within you.""
Note
If you want to review your highlights, you can go here → https://kindle.amazon.com/your_highlights
Chapter Notes
Chapter 1 : The ONE Thing
“Be like a postage stamp— stick to one thing until you get there.” ~ Josh Billings
Key point in the chapter
.. Finally, out of desperation, I went as small as I could possibly go and asked: “What’s the ONE Thing you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?” And the most awesome thing happened. Results went through the roof.
Chapter 2 : The Domino Effect
“Every great change starts like falling dominoes.” ~ BJ Thornton
Let’s line up all the ‘ducks in a row’ is a phrase that my previous manager AH used to use often. It does make sense. When you line up the right things, with one flick, you can start a chain reaction of great things. Success builds on success. When you see someone who has a lot of knowledge, they learned it over time. When you see someone who has done a lot, they accomplished it over time. The key is ‘over time’.
Chapter 3 : Success Leaves Clues
“It is those who concentrate on but one thing at a time who advance in this world.” ~ Og Mandino
Passion for something leads to disproportionate time practicing or working at it. That time spent eventually translates to skill, and when skill improves, results improve. Better results generally lead to more enjoyment, and more passion and more time is invested. It can be a virtuous cycle all the way to extraordinary results.
When the author says “The ONE Thing shows up time and again in the lives of the successful because it’s a fundamental truth.”, I’m reminded of the ‘Matthew Effect’ from “Outliers” - ‘To one who has, more will be given ..’”
PART 1 : The Lies - They Mislead and Derail Us
The Six Lies Between You and Success:
- Everything Matters Equally
- Multitasking
- A Disciplined Life
- Willpower Is Always on Will-Call
- A Balanced Life
- Big is Bad
Chapter 4. Everything Matters Equally
“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
When everything feels important, everything seems equal. We become busy-bodies, fully active but not moving towards success. Busyness rarely takes care of business !!
In his seminal book Quality Control Handbook, Juran adopted Pareto principle of 20/80 to highlight “vital few and trivial many”. 20% of things that we do has 80% of impact.
Transform to-do list to ‘success list’. Take 20% of the to-do list to make the success list. Take the 20% of that, iteratively you can reach the ‘one’ most important thing.
Chapter 5. Multitasking
“To do two things at once is to do neither.” —Publilius Syrus
Multitasking is a lie. There is a cost to task-switching that most people don’t realize they are paying. Distraction undermines results and you can end up doing nothing well. Also it takes a toll on mind and body.
Chapter 6. A Disciplined Life
“It’s one of the most prevalent myths of our culture: self-discipline.” —Leo Babauta
Success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right. ‘Selected discipline’ by channeling the energy to important things is very crucial. It takes an average of 66 days to form a habit. Build one habit at a time and give each habit enough time so that it becomes a routine.
Chapter 7. Willpower Is Always on Will-Call
“Odysseus understood how weak willpower actually is when he asked his crew to bind him to the mast while sailing by the seductive Sirens.” —Patricia Cohen
Willpower is alway on-call is a lie. Like the charge of a battery, it goes down with usage. So it is super important to prioritize the right thing to do when willpower is higher.
Willpower is important. For e.g., the Marshamallow experiment done by Walter Michel at Stanford in the 60s and 70s where kids were given a marshamallow and were told that they could have that now or if they wait for 15 minutes, they could eat two. Kids who exercised willpower and delayed their gratification were found (on average) to be more successful later in life.
Willpower gets reduced on usage. Another study done at Stanford by Prof Baba Shiv - where he divided undergrad students into 2 groups and asked them to memorize some numbers. The first group had to memorize 2-digit numbers and the second 7-digit numbers. They had to then walk across a hallway, to another room and tell the numbers to someone. On the way, they were offered 2 foods - chocolate cake or fruit salad. Students who were asked to memorize 7-digit numbers were twice as likely to choose chocolate (unhealthy treat) since they had reduced willpower.
Willpower gets reduced if you don’t eat. Research shows that people who do not eat make roughly twice as many errors than those who do.
When willpower is low, we tend to fallback on default settings or on autopilot. This leads to errors in judgement.
Many things tax our willpower - Implementing new behaviors, Filtering distractions, Resisting temptation, Suppressing emotion, Restraining aggression, Suppressing impulses, Taking tests, Trying to impress others, Coping with fear, Doing something you don’t enjoy, etc.
Most important thing to remember is that when it comes to willpower, timing is crucial.
Chapter 8. A Balanced Life
“The truth is, balance is bunk. It is an unattainable pipe dream… . The quest for balance between work and life, as we’ve come to think of it, isn’t just a losing proposition; it’s a hurtful, destructive one.” —Keith H. Hammonds
Balanced life is a lie, a myth. The term itself was coined only in the 1980s.
Magic happens at the extremes. To achieve extraordinary results one must choose what matters most and give it all the time it demands. That may be work or life. And then counterbalance later to offset it.
Think about life as two balancing buckets - work life and personal life, each with its own counterbalancing goals and approaches.
Chapter 9. Big Is Bad
“We are kept from our goal, not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal.” —Robert Brault
Big is bad is a lie. You should not be afraid of big success and end up sabotaging your own efforts to achieve it. There are a lot of examples of people who went all in and lost everything. And those are used to create fear. So we tend to play it safe. No one knows the ultimate limit of what we can achieve. So it is better to think big, dream big. Think big - Act big - Succeed big.
PART 2 : The Truth – The Simple Path to Productivity
“Be careful how you interpret the world; it is like that.” — Erich Heller
Chapter 10. The Focusing Question
“There is an art to clearing away the clutter and focusing on what matters most. It is simple and it is transferable. It just requires the courage to take a different approach.” — George Anders
Great questions are path to great answers.
“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.” - Voltaire
“A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.” - Sir Francis Bacon
“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.” - Indira Gandhi
Focusing Question -
“WHAT’S the one thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary.”
Chapter 11. The Success Habit
“Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time.” —Arnold H. Glasow
The Focusing Question is the foundational habit to use to achieve great results.
Important areas of life
- Spiritual Life
- Physical Health
- Personal Life
- Key Relationships
- Job
- Business
- Financial Life
Leverage reminders and recruit support to keep your success habit working as powerfully as possible.
Chapter 12. The Path to Great Answers
“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.” —F. M. Alexander
Four options for framing a Great Question. Q4. Small & Specific Q3. Small & Broad Q2. Big & Broad Q1. Big & Specific
When you ask a Great Question, you’re in essence pursuing a great goal. Thinking big and specific is key to a great question. Think Possibilities and benchmark and trend for the best answer.
PART 3 : Extraordinary Results - Unlocking the Possibilities Within You
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” — Will Rogers
Chapter 13. Live with Purpose
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” —George Bernard Shaw
Gary goes over Scrooge’s story to illustrate that “our purpose sets our priority and our priority determines the productivity our actions produce”.
You cannot seek happiness. It happens in the journey. Discover your big “Why” and do things that bring purpose to your everyday actions.
Chapter 14. Live by Priority
“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” —Alan Lakein
Purpose is very important and has the power to shape our lives only in direct proportion to the power of the priority we connect it to. Purpose without priority is powerless. Future purpose should connect to current priority.
Chapter 15. Live for Productivity
“Productivity isn’t about being a workhorse, keeping busy or burning the midnight oil… . It’s more about priorities, planning, and fiercely protecting your time.” —Margarita Tartakovsky
Extraordinary results come when you get the most out of what you do. Time blocking is key for achieving great productivity.
Time block 3 things in the following order -
- Time block your timeoff.
- Time block your ONE Thing.
- Time block your planningtime.
To experience extraordinary results, be a ‘maker’ in the morning and a ‘manager’ in the afternoon.
4 proven ways to battle distractions -
- Build a bunker
- Store provisions
- Sweep for mines
- Enlist support
Chapter 16. The Three Commitments
“Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.” —George Halas
Mastery can happen only if you commit to be the best. Take ownership of your outcomes.
The 3 commitments to your one thing:
- Follow the Path of Mastery
- Move from “E” (Entrepreneurial) to “P” (Purposeful).
- Live the Accountability Cycle
Chapter 17. The Four Thieves
“Focus is a matter of deciding what things you’re not going to do.” —John Carmack
The 4 thieves of Productivity
- Inability to say “No”
- Fear of Chaos
- Poor Health Habits
- Environment Doesn’t Support Your Goals
I’ve personally had issues with 1 and 2. The key thing to remember is “When you say yes to something, it’s imperative that you understand what you’re saying no to.” Also, make peace with loose ends and clutter!
Chapter 18. The Journey
“To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.” —Chinese Proverb
A life worth living might be measured in many ways, but the one way that stands above all others is living a life of no regrets. One step at a time, focusing on the ONE big thing.
Putting The ONE Thing to Work
“In delay there lies no plenty.” -William Shakespeare
The key thing to make it work is to develop the habit of asking the ‘Focusing Question’ and keep it up.