The ONE THING by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan
Summary of the Book in One Sentence
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The ONE Thing is the best approach to getting what you want.
One Important Question for You to Think About
- "What’s the ONE Thing you can do this week (such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary)?"
Top Three Quotes
- "The ONE Thing is the best approach to getting what you want."
- "Success is a result of narrowing your concentration to one thing."
- "Success is built sequentially, one thing at a time."
Psst! 📚 Just so you know, the link below is an affiliate link. If you use it to snag this fantastic book, I get a little kickback. Helps keep the bookshelves full without costing you extra! Happy reading! 🌟 📖
Table of content
Chapter 1: The One Thing
The first chapter discusses WHAT is the reasoning behind ONE Thing and, more importantly, WHY it matters.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
"Where I'd had huge success, I had narrowed my concentration to one thing, and where my success varied, my focus had too."
"“Going Small” is ignoring all the things you could do and doing what you should do."
"Extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus."
"Going small is a simple approach to extraordinary results, and it works. It works all the time, anywhere and on any-thing. Why? Because it has only one purpose-to ultimately get you to the point."
"When you go as small as possible, you'll be staring at one thing. And that's the point."
Chapter 2: The Domino Effect
The second chapter discusses how one single action may cause a domino effect and how much you can actually achieve.
Simply thinking BIG plans and taking small actions leads to long-term success.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
"So when you think about success, shoot for the moon."
"Extraordinary success is sequential, not simultaneous."
"The key is over time. Success is built sequentially. It's one thing at a time."
Chapter 3: Success Leaves Clues
Real-world examples are provided to highlight how focusing on just one thing may help people accomplish extraordinary outcomes in life.
- One product, one service - Colonel Sanders => KFC
- One person - Walt Disney => his brother Roy
- One passion, one skill - Gilbert Tuhabonye => Running
- One life - Bill Gates => Microsoft
- One thing - What’s your ONE thing?
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
"No one is self-made."
"No one succeeds alone. No one."
"We each have passions and skills, but you’ll see extraordinarily successful people with one intense emotion or one learned ability that shines through, defining them or driving them more than anything else."
"The ONE Thing shows up time and again in the lives of the successful because it's a fundamental truth."
"Live the ONE Thing."
"The ONE Thing sits at the heart of success and is the starting point for achieving extraordinary results."
Part 1: The Lies "They Mislead And Derail Us"
The first segment debunks WHAT productivity misconceptions we've been told are important and shows WHY they're false, preventing us from accomplishing our genuine, primary goals in life.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
“The ONE Thing becomes difficult because we’ve unfortunately bought into too many others–and more often than not those “other things” muddle out thinking, misguide our actions, and sidetrack our success.
“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
Learn the importance of setting priorities in this chapter. How can we really use Pareto's Rule of 80/20 to find the most important thing?
According to Richard Koch, "The 80/20 Principle asserts that a minority of causes, inputs, or efforts usually lead to a majority of results, outputs, or rewards."
According to Gary Keller, prioritizing a to-do list transforms it into a success list.
Here is how I use this principle in my daily life.
In the words of Gary Keller, you can always reduce the number of tasks you have at hand to one.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “Achievers always work from a clear sense of priority.”
- “Instead of a to-do list, you need a success list — a list that is purposefully created around extraordinary results.”
- “To-do lists tend to be long; success lists are short.”
- “A small amount of cause creates most of the results.”
- “The majority of WHAT YOU WANT will come from THE MINORITY OF WHAT YOU DO.”
- “Sometimes it’s the first thing you do. Sometimes it’s the only thing you do. Regardless, doing the most important thing is always the most important thing.”
BIG IDEAS
“Go small"—using 80/20 Pareto’s Principle.
“Go extreme"—identify one thing from the top 20% that you must do today.
“Say no”
“Don't get trapped in the "check off" game”
Chapter 5: Multitasking
This chapter clarifies the common misconception that multitasking makes you more productive. Until I read this book, I genuinely believed in multitasking.
While multitasking is possible, the quality of your work will be compromised. Humans can only perform one task at a time since it demands focus and attention.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “Multitasking is a lie.”
- “When you try to do two things at once, you either can't or won't do either well.”
- “Every time you try to do two or more things at once, you're simply dividing up our focus and dumbing down all of the outcomes in the process.”
- “It's not that we have too little time to do all the things we need to do, it's that we feel the need to do too many things in the time we have. So we double and triple up in the hope of getting everything done.”
- We must ask this important question: “Why would we ever tolerate multitasking when we’re doing our most important work?”
BIG IDEAS
“Distraction is natural.”
“Multitasking takes a toll.”
“Distraction undermines results.”
“Figure out what matters most in the moment and give it your undivided attention."
Chapter 6: A Disciplined Life
This chapter echoes what you may have read in Atomic Habits. Developing daily habits typically takes 66 days, however, for some people, it may take up to a year.
The key here is to identify one thing you want and repeatedly do it until it becomes deeply embedded in your habits.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “Success is actually a short race- a sprint fueled by discipline just long enough for habit to kick in and take over.”
- “You don't need to be a disciplined person to be successful.”
- “You can become successful with less discipline than you think, for one simple reason: success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right.”
- “When you do the right thing,It can liberate you from having to monitor everything.”
- “Those with the right habits seem to do better than others. They're doing the most important thing regularly and, as a result, everything else is easier.”
BIG IDEAS
“Don't be a disciplined person. Be a person of powerful habits and use selected discipline to develop them.”
“Build one habit at a time. Success is sequential, not simultaneous. No one actually has the discipline to acquire more than one powerful new habit at a time.”
“Super-successful people aren't superhuman at all; they've just used selected discipline to develop a few significant habits. One at a time. Over time.”
“Give each habit enough time. Stick with the discipline long enough for it to become routine. Habits, on average, take 66 days to form. Once a habit is solidly established, you can either build on that habit or, if appropriate, build another one.”
“If you are what you repeatedly do, then achievement isn't an action you take but a habit you forge into your life. You don't have to seek out success. Harness the power of selected discipline to build the right habit, and extraordinary results will find you.”
Chapter 7: Willpower is Always on Will-Call
The key takeaway from this chapter is to start working on your most crucial project—your ONE Thing—early in the day, when people are normally most focused, productive, and creative.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “When we tie our success to our willpower without understanding what that really means, we set ourselves up for failure.”
- “Willpower is always on will-call is a lie.”
- “The more we use our mind, the less minding power we have.”
- “You make doing what matters most a priority when your willpower is its highest.”
- “So, if you want to get the most out of your day, do your most important work – your ONE Thing– early, before your willpower is drawn down. You make doing what matters most a priority when your willpower is its highest.”
BIG IDEAS
“Don't spread your willpower too thin. On any given day, you have a limited supply of willpower, so decide what matters and reserve your willpower for it.”
“Monitor your fuel gauge. Full-strength willpower requires a full tank. Never let what matters most be compromised simply because your brain was under-fueled. Eat right and regularly.”
“Time your task. Do what matters most first each day when your willpower is strongest. Maximum strength and willpower means maximum success.”
“Don't fight your willpower. Build your days around how it works, and let it do its part to build your life. Willpower may not be on willcall, but when you use it first on what matters most, you can always count on it.”
Chapter 8: A Balanced Life
I have tried to allocate 8 hours for work, 8 hours for personal growth/family time, and 8 hours for sleep every day, but this ideal balance is rarely achievable in reality. However, accepting this fact allows us to shift our focus to what truly matters instead of being overwhelmed by everything else.
Prioritize what matters most and dedicate time to it for remarkable results.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “A balanced life is a lie.”
- “In your effort to attend to all things, everything gets short changed and nothing gets its due.”
- “When you gamble with your time, you may be placing a bet you can't cover. Magic Happened at the Extremes.”
- “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, with only infrequent counterbalancing to address them.”
- “When you act on your priority, you'll automatically go out of balance, giving more time to one thing over another.”
BIG IDEAS
“Think about two balancing buckets. Separate your work life and personal life into two distinct buckets- not to compartmentalize them, just for counterbalanc-ing. Each has its own counterbalancing goals and approaches.”
“Counterbalance your work bucket. View work as involving a skill or knowledge that must be mastered. This will cause you to give disproportionate time to your ONE Thing and will throw the rest of your work day, week, month, and year continually out of balance.”
“Your work life is divided into two distinct areas--what matters most and everything else. You will have to take what matters to the extremes and be okay with what happens to the rest. Professional success requires it.”
“Counterbalance your personal life bucket. Acknowledge that your life actually has multiple areas and that each requires a minimum of attention for you to feel that you "have a life." Drop any one and you will feel the effects. This requires constant awareness. You must never go too long or too far without counterbalancing them so that they are all active areas of your life. Your personal life requires it.”
“Start leading a counterbalanced life. Let the right things take precedence when they should and get to the rest when you can.”
“An extraordinary life is a counterbalancing act.”
Chapter 9: Big is Bad
Big thinking produces remarkable outcomes.
Success necessitates action, and action necessitates big ideas.
Carol S. Dweck, a Stanford psychologist, has researched the scientific basis for how our self-perceptions affect our behavior.
Dweck studied how children think and found that there are two different ways they can think.
- One way is called the "growth" mindset. It means thinking big and wanting to learn and grow. Grit and perseverance without thinking about failure.
- The other way is called the "fixed" mindset. It means thinking small and being afraid to make mistakes.
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An excellent book by Angela Duckworth goes into great detail about grit: the power of passion and perseverance. I’ll be sharing my notes on this next week.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- "Think big, aim high, and act bold."
- “Big is bad is a lie.”
- “No one knows their ultimate ceiling for achievement, so worrying about it is a waste of time.”
- “The only actions that become springboards to succeeding big are those informed by big thinking to begin with.”
- “Believing in big frees you to ask different questions, follow different paths, and try new things.”
- “What you build today will either empower or restrict you tomorrow.”
- “Only living big will let you experience your true life and work potential.”
- “The key to success isn't in all the things we do but in the handful of things we do well.”
BIG IDEAS
“Think Big”
“Don’t order from the menu”
“Act bold”
“Don’t fear failure”
“Don't let small thinking cut your life down to size. Think big, aim high, and act bold. And see just how big you can blow up your life.”
Part 2: The Truth The Simple Path To Productivity
The impact of this story is truly profound, resonating with individuals from all walks of life who tirelessly strive for greatness.
It reminds us that amidst our relentless pursuit of excellence, there lies a valuable lesson in embracing minimalism.
As Gary eloquently stated, by intentionally and purposefully doing less, he not only achieved unprecedented success beyond his wildest dreams but also experienced a level of fulfillment he had never known before.
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Gary's words encapsulate a fundamental truth: we often burden ourselves with excessive overthinking, overplanning, and overanalyzing in our careers, businesses, and personal lives.
This narrative serves as a powerful reminder that long hours are neither virtuous nor conducive to our well-being. Instead, it is through simplicity and focus that we find true triumph, succeeding despite, rather than because of, the multitude of actions we take.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “I learned that success comes down to this: being appropriate in the moments of your life.”
- “This is where I’m meant to be right now, doing exactly what I’m doing.”
- “I learned that the ONE Thing is the surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results.”
Chapter 10: The Focusing Question
This is a crucial question that is raised repeatedly throughout the book. "What is the ONE thing I can do that will make everything else easier or unnecessary?"
What is the one thing you must do RIGHT NOW, in this very moment, in order to accomplish your main goals, objectives, and dreams in life?
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In essence: big goal + small action
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “Answers come from questions, and the quality of any answer is directly determined by the quality of the question.”
- “Life is a question and how we live it is our answer.”
- “How we phrase the questions we ask ourselves determines the answers that eventually become our life.”
- “Anyone who dreams of an uncommon life eventually discovers there is no choice but to seek an uncommon approach to living it.”
BIG IDEAS
“Great questions are the path to great answers.”
“The Focusing Question is a double-duty question. It comes in two forms: big picture and small focus. One is about finding the right direction in life and the other is about finding the right action.”
“The Big-Picture Question: "What's my ONE Thing?"”
“The Small-Focus Question: "What's my ONE Thing right now?" Use this when you first wake up and throughout the day. It keeps you focused on your most important work.”
Chapter 11: The Success Habit
As you get to pose this question across multiple aspects of your life, this section ends up being my favorite.
In this book, several really insightful questions are posed. For each area of my life, I have developed my own questions.
FOR MY SPIRITUALITY LIFE…
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to strengthen my connection with God…?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to make my prayers better…?
- What’s the one thing I can do to support those who are in need…? my charitable donations, time spent helping others, kind words, and resolving problems
FOR MY PHYSICAL LIFE…
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to be fit and healthy…?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to reduce my stress and anxiety…?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to make sure that I workout…?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to keep active…? I enjoy doing physical activities every day such as walking, cycling, etc.
FOR MY PERSONAL LIFE…
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to increase my productivity, knowledge and learning…?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to work on the projects I'm enthusiastic about…
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do today….? Reading a book, writing an article, listening to a podcast, and strengthening my speaking abilities
FOR MY KEY RELATIONSHIPS…
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to make my relationships with my parents, siblings, spouse, and friends more harmonious…?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to help my kids become better human beings and thrive in school and in life…?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do today to make sure I have more time to spend with my loved ones…?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to improve communication and maintain a stronger connection with my family?
FOR MY JOB…
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to support my coworkers and managers?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to increase my productivity?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to advance my career…?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to keep learning and improving my skills…?
FOR MY BUSINESS….
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do that will improve the customer experience and overall increase revenue/profits?
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to change and simplify processes to make them more time-efficient?
FOR MY FINANCES...
- What’s the ONE Thing I can do to double my assets in one simple step?
- What is the ONE thing I can do to pay off one of my debts...?
- What is the ONE thing I can do to start earning passive money so I can focus on the projects I like the most?
You can formulate your own questions by starting with “What’s the ONE Thing I can do to… [area of life]”
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “Start with the big stuff and see where it takes you.”
- “The Focusing Question is the foundational habit Keller uses to achieve extraordinary results and lead a big life.”
- “The Focusing Question can direct you to your ONE Thing in the different areas of your life.”
BIG IDEAS
“Understand and believe it.”
“Use it.”
“Make it a habit.”
“Leverage reminders.”
“Recruit support.”
“These habits can become the foundation for many more, so keep your Success Habit working as powerfully as possible.”
Chapter 12: The Path to Great Answers
You can formulate brilliant questions 1) by thinking big and 2) focusing on a very specific outcome.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “Answers come in three categories: doable, stretch, and possibility.”
- “Extraordinary results require a Great Answer.”
- “A Great Answer is essentially a new answer.”
- “Short of having a conversation with someone who has accomplished what you hope to achieve, in Keller's experience books and published works offer the most in terms of documented research and role models for success.”
- “The research and experience of others is the best place to start when looking for your answer.”
- “A new answer usually requires new behavior.”
- “There is a natural rhythm to our lives that becomes a simple formula for implementing the ONE Thing and achieving extraordinary results: purpose, priority, and productivity.”
- “Your big ONE Thing is your purpose and your small ONE Thing is the priority you take action on to achieve it.”
- “Great businesses are built one productive person at a time.”
BIG IDEAS
“Think Big and specific.”
“Think of possibilities.”
“Benchmark and trend for the best answer.”
Part 3: Extraordinary Results Unlocking The Possibilities Within You
- “Simple formula for implementing the ONE Thing and achieving extraordinary results: purpose, priority, and productivity.”
- “Your big ONE is your purpose.”
- “Your small ONE Thing is your priority, you take action on to achieve it.”
Chapter 13: Live With Purpose
Charles Dickens provides us with a straightforward recipe for living an outstanding life: Live with purpose, as Gary discussed in this chapter. prioritize your life, living a productive life.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “Our purpose sets our priority and our priority determines the productivity our actions produce.”
- “Who we are and where we want to go determine what we do and what we accomplish.”
- “Once we get what we want, our happiness sooner or later wanes because we quickly become accustomed to what we acquire.”
- “Happiness happens on the way to fulfillment.”
- “Happiness happens when you have a bigger purpose than having more fulfills, which is why we say happiness happens on the way to fulfillment.”
- “I believe that financially wealthy people are those who have enough money coming in without having to work to finance their purpose in life.”
BIG IDEAS
“Happiness happens on the way to fulfillment.”
“Discover your Big Why.”
“Absent an answer, pick a direction.”
“My purpose is to help people live their greatest life possible through my teaching, coaching, and writing.”
“Pick a direction, start marching down that path, and see how you like it. Time brings clarity, and if you find you don't like it, you can always change your mind. It's your life.”
Chapter 14: Live By Priority
The powerful reminder to prioritize today and what you can do now that will significantly affect your future and your big objectives that you outlined.
The illustrations below make this point very well as to how we should all approach our objectives, from someday to now.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “Purpose without priority is powerless.”
- “Goal Setting to the NOW will get you there.”
- “The truth about success is that our ability to achieve extraordinary results in the future lies in stringing together powerful moments, one after the other.”
- “The farther away a reward is in the future, the smaller the immediate motivation to achieve it.”
- “Connect today to all your tomorrows. It matters.”
BIG IDEAS
“There can only be ONE. Your most important priority is the ONE Thing you can do right now that will help you achieve what matters most to you. You may have many "priorities," but dig deep and you'll discover there is always one that matters most, your top priority--your ONE Thing.”
“Goal Set to the Now. Knowing your future goal is how you begin. Identifying the steps you need to accomplish along the way keeps your thinking clear while you uncover the right priority you need to accomplish right now.”
“Put pen to paper. Write your goals down and keep them close.”
“Pull your purpose through to a single priority built by Goal Setting to the Now, and that priority-that ONE Thing you can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary--will show you the way to extraordinary results.”
“And once you know what to do, the only thing left is to go from knowing to doing.”
Chapter 15: Live For Productivity
To live a life of productivity, you have to stick to the time blocking method presented here.
- Every Sunday, spend one hour planning your week or month.
- Decide which days you will work on your most important ONE Thing and which days you will take a break.
This picture clearly shows how important this set-up is for achieving success in life.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “Productive action transforms lives.”
- “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 most successful people are the most productive people.”
- “If disproportionate results come from one activity, then you must give that one activity disproportionate time.”
- “To achieve extraordinary results and experience greatness, time block these three things in the following order:
- 1) Time block your time off.
- 2) Time block your ONE Thing
- 3) Time block your planning time.”
- “Resting is as important as working.”
- “The key to making this work is to block time as early in your day as you possibly can. Give yourself 30 minutes.”
- “Block time as early in your day as you possibly can.”
- “My recommendation is to block four hours a day.”
- “The most productive people, the ones who experience extraordinary results, design their days around doing their ONE Thing.”
- “Block an hour each week to review your annual and monthly goals.”
- “The best way to protect your time blocks is to adopt the mindset that they can't be moved.”
- “Your own need to do other things instead of your ONE Thing may be your biggest challenge to overcome.”
BIG IDEAS
"Connect the dots"
"Time block your ONE Thing."
"Protect your time block at all cost."
Chapter 16 : The Three Commitments
Here, three crucial commitments are listed.
1) Take the Mastery Path
2) Thinking purposefully
3) Be Accountable
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “Achieving extraordinary results through time blocking requires three commitments. First, you must adopt the mindset of someone seeking mastery. Second, you must continually seek the very best ways of doing things. And last, you must be willing to be held accountable to doing everything you can to achieve your ONE Thing.”
- “When you can see mastery as a path you go down instead of a destination you arrive at, it starts to feel accessible and attainable.”
- “More than anything else, expertise tracks with hours invested.”
- “The pursuit of mastery bears gifts.”
- “When coaching top performers, Keller often ask, Are you doing this to simply do the best you can do, or are you doing this to do it the best it can be done?"
- “The path of mastering something is the combination of not only doing the best you can do, but also doing it the best it can be done.”
- “Accountable people achieve results others only dream of.”
- “Highly successful people are clear about their role in the events of their life.”
BIG IDEAS
“Commit to be your best.”
“Be purposeful about your one thing.”
“Take ownership of your outcomes.”
Chapter 17 : The Four thieves
“THE FOUR THIEVES OF PRODUCTIVITY
Inability to Say "No"
Fear of Chaos
Poor Health Habits
Environment Doesn't Support Your Goals”
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
- “The way to protect what you've said yes to and stay productive is to say no to anyone or anything that could derail you.”
- “When you say yes to something, it's imperative that you understand what you're saying no to.”
- “Saying yes to everyone's the same as saying yes to nothing.”
- “You can't please everyone, so don't try.”
- “A request must be connected to my ONE Thing for me to consider it.”
- “When you strive for greatness, chaos is guaranteed to show up.”
- “Personal energy mismanagement is a silent thief of productivity.”
- “The Highly Productive Person's Daily Energy Plan
- 1. Meditate and pray for spiritual energy
- 2. Eat right, exercise, and sleep sufficiently for physical energy
- 3. Hug, kiss, and laugh with loved ones for emotional energy
- 4. Set goals, plan, and calendar for mental energy
- 5. Time block your ONE Thing for business energy”
- “High achievement and extraordinary results require big energy.”
- “Your environment must support your goals.”
- “For you to achieve extraordinary results, the people surrounding you and your physical surroundings must support your goals.”
- “No one succeeds alone, and no one fails alone. Pay attention to the people around you.”
- “When you clear the path to success-that's when you consistently get there.”
BIG IDEAS
“Start saying No”
“Accept chaos”
“Manage your energy”
“Take ownership of your environment”
Chapter 18 : The Journey
- “At any moment in time there can be only ONE Thing, and when that ONE Thing is in line with your purpose and sits atop your priorities, it will be the most productive thing you can do to launch you toward the best you can be.”
- “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.”
“PUTTING THE ONE THING TO WORK
- Your personal life
- Your Family
- Your job
- Your work team”
- “The ONE Thing is real. If you put it to work, it will work.”
- “So don't delay. Ask yourself the question, "What's the ONE Thing I can do right now to start using The ONE Thing in my life such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?"”
- “And make doing the answer your first ONE Thing!”
References [1] *Triangle illustrating the functions of productivity, priority, and purpose.
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