The One Thing
by
Tony Staunton
5.0 stars - 4 reviews
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The One Thing
1. The One Thing
"What's the ONE Thing you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?"
If time is the currency of achievement, then why are some able to cash in their allotment for more chips than others?
Extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus
2. The Domino Effect
When one thing, the right thing is set in motion, it can topple many things
Getting Extraordinary Results
3. Success Leaves Clues
Ross Garber
No one is self-made
General George S. Patton
Vince Lombardi
The ONE Thing shows up time and again in the lives of the successful because it's a fundamental truth.
The ONE Thing sits at the heart of success of success and is the starting point for achieving extraordinary results.
4. Everything Matters Equally
When everything feels urgent and important, everything seems equal.
Henry David Thoreau
To-dos serve as a useful collection of our best intentions, they also tyrannize us with trivial, unimportant stuff, that we feel obligated to get done, because it's on our lists.
Achievers operate differently
A to-do list is simply the things you think you need to do; the first thing on your list is just the first thing you thought of.
Instead of a to-do list, you need a success list, a list that is purposefully created around extraordinary results.
To-do lists
Success lists
If a list isn't built around success, then that's not where it takes you.
The 80/20 Principle
A to-do list becomes a success list when you apply Pareto's Principle to it.
You can take 20% of the 20% of the 20% and continue until you get to the single most important thing.
5. Multitasking
Multitasking is a lie
Publilius Syrus
If doing the most important thing is the most important thing, why would you try to do anything else at the same time?
Workers who use computers during the day change windows or check email or other programs nearly 37 times an hour
6. A Disciplined Life
Something needs to be done but isn't
People who look like they are "disciplined"
Success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right
How long does it take to establish a new habit?
Sustain discipline long enough on one habit it becomes easier
7. Willpower Is Always On Will Call
Is a lie
When you have your will you get your way
Willpower has a limited battery life
The more we use our mind, the less minding power we have
Kathleen Vohs
You are what you eat
When our will power runs out we all revert to our default settings
Make doing what matters most a priority when your willpower is its highest
What taxes your 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
Selecting long-term over short-term rewards
Timing is everything
Build your days around how your willpower works
8. A Balanced Life
A balanced life is a lie
Extraordinary results
Work-Life in the middle
Time waits for no one
Leaving some things undone is a necessary tradeoff for extraordinary results
9. Big Is Bad
Big is about who you can become
Success requires action & action requires thought
The only actions that become springboards to succeeding big are those informed by big thinking to begin with
Everyone has the same amount of time
What you build today will either empower or restrict you tomorrow
On the journey to achieving big you get bigger
Don't fear big
Only living big will let you experience your true life and work potential
10. The Focusing Question
Mark Twain
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one."
Sometimes questions are more important than answers
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
What's the ONE THING I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?
11. The Success Habit
Start with the big stuff and see where it takes you.
Where to apply the Focusing Question
Believe that the ONE Thing can make a difference in your life
Start each day by asking
Research says it will take 66 days so stick with it until it becomes your routine
Leverage reminders
Recruit support
12. The Path To Great Answers
You ask a great question
Your questions should be big & specific
A big, specific question leads to a big specific answer which is absolutely necessary for achieving a big goal
Convert your question to the Focusing Question
Answers come in three categories
Highly successful people choose to live at the outer limits of achievement.
The research & experience of others is the best place to start when looking for your answers
Spotting what is coming next is called trending
A new answer usually requires a new behavior
13. Live With Purpose
Live with purpose
Our purpose sets our priority
Who we are and where we want to go determine what we do and what we accomplish
If we lack a big picture view we can easily fall into serial success seeking
Knowing why you're doing something provides the inspiration & motivation to give the extra perspiration needed to persevere when things go south
When what you do matches your purpose, your life just feels in rhythm, and the path you beat with your feet seems to match the sound in your head and heart
14. Live By Priority
Alan Lakein
"Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now."
Live with purpose and you know where you want to go
When you're going somewhere on purpose, there will always be something you "should do" that will get you where you must go.
Purpose without priority is powerless
Goal setting to the now
Connect today to all your tomorrows. It matters
Dominican University of California
15. Live For Productivity
Margarita Tartakovsky
"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."
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.
A time-managing system's success can be judged by the productivity it produces
The most successful people are the most productive people
Time blocking is a very results orientated way of viewing and using time
If disproportionate results come from one activity, then you must give that one activity disproportionate time
How time blocking works
Time blocking works on the premise that a calendar records appointments but doesn't care who those appointments are with. So when you know your ONE Thing make an appointment with yourself to tackle it.
Time block these 3 things in this order
Block time as early in your day as you possibly can
Block an hour each week to review your annual and monthly goals
There is a magic in knocking down your most important domino day after day
How to battle distractions and keep your eye on your ONE Thing
16. The Three Commitments
George Hala
"Nobody who ever gave their best regretted it."
Follow the path to mastery
Move from "E" to "P"
Live the Accountability Cycle
17. The Four Thieves
There are 4 thieves that can hold you up and rob you of your productivity
18. The Journey
Whatever you can see, you have the capacity to move toward
At any moment in time there can be only ONE Thing
Actions build on action
Habits build on habit
Success build on success
The right domino knocks down another and another and another
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
Put yourself together and your world falls in to place
