The One Thing

Introduction

The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan is about achieving extraordinary results by identifying and focusing on the single most important task will make everything else easier or unnecessary.

• The entire philosophy of the book revolves around a simple question you should ask yourself for every area of your life (you job, your health, your relationships, etc.): What is the ONE Thing I can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

The ONE Thing

The ONE Thing is the best approach to getting what you want.

• In coaching calls, people would agree to accomplish a handful of things before the next session. Unfortunately, many would get most of them done, but not necessarily what mattered most, and as a result, their results suffered.
• So, in an effort to help them succeed, the author started shortening his list: "If you can do just three things this week... If you can do just two things this week..." Finally, out of desperation, he went as small as he could possibly go and asked, "What is the ONE Thing you can do this week such that by doing it, everything else would be easier or unnecessary?"
• Then, extraordinary results followed.

When you want the absolute best chance to succeed at anything you want, the approach should be to "go small".

• "Going small" is ignoring all the things you could do and doing what you should do. It is recognizing that not all things matter equally and finding the things that matter most.
• Going small is a simple approach to extraordinary results, and it works all the time, anywhere, and on anything. Why? Because it has only one purpose - to ultimately get you to the point.

Most people think just the opposite; they think big success is time-consuming and complicated.

• As a result, their calendars and to-do lists become overloaded and overwhelming.
• Success starts to feel out of reach, so they settle for less.
• Unaware that big success comes when we do a few things well, they get lost trying to do too much and in the end accomplish too little.
• Over time, they lower their expectations, abandon their dreams, and allow their lives to become small.

You have only so much time and energy, so when you spread yourself too thin, you end up with divided focus.

• You want your achievements to add up, but that actually takes subtraction, not addition.
• You need to do fewer things for more effect instead of doing more things with side effects.
• The problem with trying to do too much is that even if it works, adding more to your work and your life without cutting anything brings a lot of negative consequences with it: missed deadlines, disappointing results, high stress, long hours, lost sleep, a poor diet, no exercise, and missed moments with family and friends.

The Domino Effect

Each standing domino represents a small amount of potential energy; the more you line up, the more potential energy you have accumulated.

• Line up enough and, with a simple flick, you can start a chain reaction of surprising power.
• Similarly, when one thing, the right one, is set in motion, it can topple many others.

What's more, a single domino fall is capable of bringing down another domino that is actually 50% larger, creating a geometric progression.

• To achieve success, shoot for the moon. Extraordinary results can be accomplished when you prioritize the one most important thing and put all of your energy into it, which will create a domino effect in your life.
• In reality, it is a bit more complicated to identify the lead domino.

Extraordinary success is sequential (one thing at a time), not simultaneous, as success builds on success repeatedly until the highest possible level of success is reached.

• Knowledge, skills and money all take time to learn, develop and earn respectively.

Success Leaves Clues

Proof of the ONE Thing is everywhere.

• Extraordinarily successful companies always have one product or service they are most known for or that makes them the most money (e.g., KFC with its single secret chicken recipe, Google with its search engine).
• However, technological innovations, cultural shifts, and competitive forces will often dictate that a business's ONE Thing must evolve or transform (e.g., Apple's shift from Macs, iMacs, and iPods to the iPhone).
• Everyone has one person who either means the most to them or was the first to influence, train, or manage them. No one succeeds alone.
• We each have passions and skills, but you will see extraordinarily successful people with one intense emotion or one learned ability that shines through, defining them or driving them more than anything else.

Through technology and innovation, opportunities and possibilities seem endless. As inspiring as this can be, it can be equally overwhelming.

• The unintended consequence of abundance is that we are bombarded with more information and choices in a day than our ancestors received in a lifetime.
• However, when we attempt to do too much, we often end up accomplishing too little since our efforts are diluted.
• Hence, we need to focus on the ONE Thing that will sit at the heart of success and be the starting point for achieving extraordinary results.

There can only be one most important. Many things may be important, but only one can be the most important.

The Lies

Over time, myths and mistruths get thrown around so often they eventually feel familiar and start to sound like the truth.

• Then, we start basing important decisions on these false truths.
• Similarly, success has its own lies too, which get into our heads and become operational principles driving us the wrong way.

Everything Matters Equally

Equality is a worthy ideal pursued in the name of justice and human rights. In the real world of results, however, things are never equal.

• As we become adults, our choices define our lives, and the all-important question becomes: How do we make good ones? This is complicated by the fact that the older we get, the more we have on our plates that we believe "simply must get done." We become overbooked, overextended, and overcommitted. Being "in the weeds" becomes our collective condition.
• Lacking a clear formula for making decisions, we become reactive, falling back on familiar, comfortable ways to decide what to do. As a result, we haphazardly select approaches that undermine our success.

When everything feels urgent, everything seems equal. We stay active and busy, but this activity does not actually move us any closer to our goals or successes.

• The truth is, knocking out a hundred random tasks is a poor substitute for completing one that is truly meaningful.
• While to-do lists serve as a collection of our best intentions, they often tyrannize us with trivial matters we feel obligated to complete simply because they are on the list.
• Most to-do lists are merely survival lists; they get you through the day but do not help you build a successful future.
• In contrast, achievers operate differently. They pause long enough to determine what truly matters and let that one thing drive their day.
• They use a "success list" - a list purposefully built around achieving extraordinary results.

The Pareto Principle (the concept of the vital few and trivial many) asserts that a minority of causes, inputs or effort usually leads to a majority of the results, outputs or rewards.

• Put simply, extraordinary results are created by fewer actions than most people realize.
• When we take this principle to its logical extreme, we can identify the single most important thing - the vital one of the vital few.
• No matter your goal, start with as large a list as you want, but then adopt the mindset of whittling it down. Move from many, to the critical few, until you are left with the one essential item: The ONE Thing.

If we accept that not all things matter equally, we must act accordingly.

• We cannot remain trapped in the game of checking items off a to-do list that never leads to success.
• Doing the most important thing is always the most important thing. You must say no to everything else until it is done.

Multitasking

Although multitaskers have convinced themselves - and the world - that they are great at it, the truth is they are simply lousy at everything.

• Despite the mainstream belief that multitasking is an effective strategy for completing tasks in a limited time, or even a highly sought-after skill for new hires, it is neither efficient nor effective. Multitasking is merely an opportunity to mess up several things at once.
• While people can certainly do two simple things at once, like walking and talking, this is not true multitasking. What our brains cannot do is focus on two complex tasks simultaneously.
• This "task-switching" is what creates errors and leads to potential tragedies. When people try to do too much at once, their attention bounces between tasks, causing them to forget important details and make mistakes.
• Beyond causing painful errors, multitasking leads to lower efficiency, poor choices, and unnecessary stress.
• At work, we face constant interruptions and distractions, which makes staying focused on a single task exhausting.

Ultimately, when you try to do too much at once, you end up doing nothing well.

• Therefore, when you are engaged in your most important work, you must give it your undivided attention and never tolerate multitasking.
• Similarly, when you give people fragmented attention by constantly switching focus, you risk damaging your personal and professional relationships.

A Disciplined Life

A pervasive myth is that a successful person is an endlessly "disciplined person" who leads a "disciplined life".

• The truth is, success is not a marathon of disciplined action.
• It is actually a short race: a sprint fuelled by discipline just long enough for a habit to form and take over.
• The key is to understand that success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right.

Once a habit is established, it becomes easier to sustain.

• Habits require far less energy and effort to maintain than they do to create.
• In this way, what was once hard becomes a habit, and the habit makes it easy.
• Research suggests that it takes an average of 66 days to form a new habit, though the range can be anywhere from 18 to 254 days, depending on its complexity.

NOTE: Super-successful people are not superhuman. They have simply used selective discipline to build a few powerful habits, one at a time, over time.

Willpower is Always on Will-Call

The old English proverb, "Where there is a will, there is a way", has probably misled as many people as it has helped.

• While the power of will can drive us toward our goals, willpower itself is unreliable; it seems to come and go. When we need it most, it often is not there.
• Trying to build success on the idea of having on-demand willpower is a flawed strategy. We must recognize that willpower is a finite resource, much like a phone battery that starts fully charged each morning but depletes with use.
• When our willpower is low, we inevitably fall back on our default settings, which then determine our level of achievement. This is why mediocrity is often the result.

Every day, we engage in countless activities that drain our willpower, such as:

• Implementing new behaviours
• Filtering distractions
• Resisting temptation
• Suppressing emotion
• Restraining aggression
• Suppressing impulses
• Taking tests
• Trying to impress others
• Coping with fear
• Doing something you do not enjoy
• Selecting long-term over short-term rewards

By recognizing that willpower is a limited resource, we can use it strategically.

• We should make our ONE Thing - the task that matters most - a priority when our willpower is at its peak. Using your willpower at its maximum strength is the key to achieving maximum success.
• Do not spread your willpower too thin. On any given day, you have a limited supply, so decide what truly matters and reserve your energy for it. Otherwise, when your resolve is low, you risk sabotaging your own progress.

A Balanced Life

The concept of a "balanced life" is a lie because nothing in life ever achieves perfect balance.

• Balance is an appealing ideal, but it’s not realistic.
• While living a full life requires a constant balancing act, achieving extraordinary results demands focused, unbalanced attention. Time dedicated to one thing is, by definition, time taken away from another. This makes true balance impossible.

Historically, work was live. If you did not work - hunting, farming, or raising livestock - you did not survive.

• The 19th-century industrialization saw for the first time large numbers of people working for someone else. The story became one of hard-driving bosses, year-round work schedules, and lighted factories that ignored dawn and dusk.
• Consequently, the 20th century witnessed the start of significant grassroots movements to protect workers and limit work hours.
• Still, the term "work-life balance" was not coined until the mid-1980s when more than half of all married women joined the workforce.

The desire for balance makes perfect sense. The thought of having enough time for everything is peaceful and serene.

• However, the problem with constantly seeking the "middle" is that it prevents you from making the extraordinary time commitments required for great success. In an effort to do everything, nothing gets the attention it deserves.
• True wisdom lies in knowing when to seek the middle and when to commit to the extremes.
• When you choose to focus on what is truly important, other things will inevitably be underserved (e.g. "I have no life"). This trade-off is necessary for extraordinary results.
• However, time waits for no one, so when you gamble with your time, you may be placing a bet you cannot cover (e.g., missing your child's childhood or losing connection with your spouse).

The idea of counterbalancing is that you never go so far that you cannot find your way back or stay so long that there is nothing waiting for you when you return.

• In your personal life, go short. Avoid long periods of imbalance so you can stay connected to the people and activities that matter most.
• In your professional life, go long. Accept that the pursuit of extraordinary results requires you to be out of balance for extended periods, focusing intensely on your top priority.
• In his novel Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas, James Patterson artfully highlights where our priorities lie in our personal and professional balancing act: “Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that 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.

Ultimately, the question of balance is a question of priority.

• Extraordinary results demand that you set a priority and act on it.
• When you act on your priority, you will automatically go out of balance, giving more time to one thing over another.
• The challenge becomes how long you stay on your priority while taking care of both work and family needs.

Big is Bad

When people think of big achievements, they often associate them with difficulty, complexity, and immense time commitments.

• For some, there is a deep-seated fear - a kind of "megaphobia" - that great success brings crushing pressure, robbing them of their health and time with loved ones.
• This fear causes them to either avoid success or sabotage their own efforts, trapping them in a cycle of small, "shrinking" thinking.

The truth is, none of us knows our ultimate potential.

• When you reframe "big" not as a burden, but as a measure of who you can become, your perspective shifts. "Big" becomes a placeholder for a leap of possibility - a bold idea that challenges your comfort zone while reflecting your greatest opportunities.
• Believing in big frees you to ask different questions, follow new paths, try new things and open doors to a potential that, until now, has only lived inside you.

Thinking big is the foundation of extraordinary results.

• While success requires action, the most powerful actions to big success are born from big thinking.
• We all have the same amount of time, so what you achieve is determined by how you use it. And since what you do is guided by how you think, the scale of your thoughts becomes the launching pad for the height of your success.
• A practical approach is to double down everywhere in your life. If your goal is ten, ask, "How can I achieve twenty?" By setting a goal so far beyond your initial desire, you create a plan that practically guarantees you will reach your original goal.

Every level of success demands a unique combination of what you do, how you do it, and who you do it with. Think as big as you possibly can, and align your entire strategy with that vision.

• What you build today will either empower or restrict you tomorrow. It will either serve as a platform for the next level of your success or as a box, trapping you where you are.

Big goals can seem daunting and unattainable at first. But the journey to achieving big makes you bigger.

• Big requires growth, and by the time you reach your goal, you have grown to match it (e.g. in terms of thinking, skills, and sense of what is possible).
• What once seemed like an insurmountable mountain feels like a small hill to the person you have become.
• As you experience big, you becoming big.

There is a “growth” mindset that generally thinks big and seeks growth, and a “fixed” mindset that places artificial limits and avoids failure.

• Do not be afraid of where failure can take you; it is as much a part of your extraordinary results as success.
• We fail our way to success when we stop, learn from our mistakes, and grow.

The Truth

For many years, the author suffered from trying to live the "lies of success".

• He began his career assuming everything mattered equally, and his frantic effort to do it all at once was so intense that it eventually landed him in the hospital.
• He also adopted a fake persona - talking, walking and dressing for success - but grew tired of "playing a role" that pushed him to the point of burnout.

Finally, the author rejected this approach. He slowed down, relaxed and returned to being his authentic self by wearing jeans to work, dropping the corporate attitude, having breakfast with his family, and getting physically and spiritually healthy.

• Most importantly, by intentionally and purposefully doing less, he paradoxically became more successful than he had ever dreamed possible while feeling better than he ever had in his life.
• He realized that success comes down to this: being appropriate in the moment of your life.
• Afterall, success is not in all the things we do but in the handful of things we do well, particularly focusing on the ONE Thing is the surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results.

The Focusing Question

The great secret to success, according to industrialist Andrew Carnegie, is to concentrate all your energy, thought and capital on the business you are engaged in.

• People who diversify their investments everywhere, following the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" mantra, often end up trying to carry too many baskets and breaking most of the eggs.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking down complex, overwhelming tasks into small, manageable ones and then tackling the first one.

• While most of us know the Chinese proverb, "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step"（千里之行始于足下）, we often forget that the wrong first step can lead us thousands of miles off course.
• Since the quality of an answer is determined by the quality of the question, asking the right question is critical to ensuring your first step is in the right direction.

What is the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

• This Focusing Question forces you to ignore all the things you could do and drill down what is necessary to what matters (i.e. the ONE Thing you should do). It points you to the lead domino - the single priority you must focus on until it's toppled. Once you answer it, it will also illuminate the next priority and the next.
• The Focusing Question has two applications: the "big picture" question to clarify your long-term vision (e.g. for life, career, family and friendship), and the "small focus" question to identify your most important task right now.

The Success Habit

Habits can be hard to break, yet we are unknowingly acquiring new ones all the time when we start and continue a way of thinking or acting over a long period.

• If you want to achieve what truly matters in life, adopting the Focusing Question as your most important habit is the key.
• Using it as a way of life allows you to identify your highest-leverage priority, maximize your time, and get the biggest return on your efforts.
• Whenever the outcome absolutely matters, ask yourself the Focusing Question:
• What is the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?
• Apart from inserting an area of focus (e.g., in your spiritual life, physical health, personal life, key relationships, job, business, or financial life), you may also simply reframe the Focusing Question with a different time frame, such as "right now," "this year," or "in five years."

Research suggests it takes an average of 66 days to form a new habit.

• Stick with it until it becomes automatic, and it will become your guide to extraordinary results.

The Path to Great Answers

The Focusing Question is designed to help you ask a great question.

• Like great goals, great questions are both big and specific (e.g. What can I do to double sales in 6 months?).
• They must be big because you are pursuing extraordinary results, and specific so you have a clear target to aim for.
• Turning it into the Focusing Question goes to the heart of success by forcing you to identify what absolutely matters most and start there.

Answers come in three categories: doable, stretch and possibility.

• Doable: This is the easiest answer, falling within your current knowledge, skills and experiences. It requires little change or effort.
• Stretch: This answer is at the far edge of your abilities. Achieving it requires research and learning from what others have done, but it is still probable with enough effort.
• Possibility: This is the realm of high achievers. A "possibility" answer lies beyond what is currently known or being done and requires you to step outside your comfort zone.

A Great Answer is essentially a new answer. It is a leap across all current answers in search of the next one and is found in two steps.

• The first is the same as when you stretch: exploring what is possible. You uncover the best research and study the highest achievers to search for clues and role models to point you in the right direction.
• Armed with knowledge from others, we then establish a benchmark for all that is known and being done (i.e. benchmark), then look for the next thing you can do in the same direction that the best performers are heading or, if necessary, in an entirely new direction (i.e. trending).

Extraordinary Results

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.

• These three concepts are intrinsically linked. Your big ONE Thing is your purpose and your small ONE Thing is the priority you take action on to achieve it.
• The most productive people start with purpose and use it like a compass. It guides them in setting the priority that drives their actions, creating the straightest possible path to extraordinary results.
• What is visible to the public is productivity (and profit for a business). The more productive people are, the more purpose and priority are driving them.

Live with Purpose

Our purpose is the intersection of where we are going and what matters most to us.

• It defines who we are, which in turn determines what we do and what we can accomplish.

Despite the wide variety of specific answers, happiness is what we most want, yet most of us understand it the least.

• No matter our motivations, most of what we do in life is ultimately meant to make us happy.
• Yet, one of our biggest challenges is making sure our life's purpose does not become a bottomless pit of desire, continually searching for the next thing that will make us happy. That is a losing proposition..
• We often fall into the trap of serial success-seeking - acquiring money and possessions in a constant search for the next hit of pleasure. The happiness that comes from acquisition is fleeting because we quickly grow accustomed to what we have and are left seeking something new, without even stopping or slowing down to enjoy what we have.

True, lasting happiness happens on the journey toward fulfilment.

• According to Dr. Martin Seligman, while positive emotion or pleasure, achievement and relationships contribute to our happiness, the two most critical factors are engagement and meaning.
• Becoming more engaged in what we do by finding ways to make our life more meaningful is the surest way to find lasting happiness.
• When our daily actions serve a larger purpose, we experience the most powerful and enduring form of happiness.

Purpose is the ultimate source of personal strength.

• It provides the clarity to make faster, better decisions and the conviction to persevere when life gets tough.
• Knowing your "why" gives you the inspiration and motivation to push through adversity, which is a fundamental requirement for achieving extraordinary results.

Live by Priority

When your life is on purpose, living by priority takes precedence.

• There will always be something you "should do" (your priority) that will get you where you must go (your purpose).
• While we may pull from the past and forecast the future, our only reality is the present moment. Right now is all we have to work with.
• By setting a goal for the "Now" based on a purpose that connects your long-term and short-term goals, you are learning how to think big, but go small.

Live for Productivity

We are always doing something - working, playing, eating, sleeping, standing, sitting or breathing.

• A life of extraordinary results comes from getting the most out of what we do, especially when what we do matters.
• Productive people get more done, achieve better results and earn far more per hour than the rest. They do so because they devote maximum time to being productive on their ONE Thing while fiercely protecting their time blocks.
• Since disproportionate results come from one activity, then you must give that most leveraged activity disproportionate time. Once you have done your ONE Thing for the day, you can devote the rest of it to everything else.

To achieve extraordinary results, time block these three things in the following order:

• Time block your time off
• When you intend to be successful, you start by protecting time to recharge and reward yourself.
• Resting is as important as working. When you are more rested, you are more productive.
• Time block your ONE Thing
• The most productive people design their days around doing their ONE Thing (for a minimum of four hours a day).
• They also work on "event time"; they do not quit until their ONE Thing is done.
• Time block your planning time
• This is when you reflect on where you are and where you want to go.
• Block an hour each week to review your annual and monthly goals to assess if your progress is on track.
• You may even add new goals, re-envision old ones, or eliminate any that no longer reflect your purpose or priorities.

Make sure you protect your time block from all those who do not know what matters most to you, and from yourself when you forget.

• Avoid breaking the chain, one day at a time, until you generate a powerful new habit in your life - the time-blocking habit.
• The best way to protect time blocks is to adopt the mindset that they cannot be moved, as if they are your most important appointment.
• However, in situations where there is a high-level request from your boss, a key client, or family, follow the rule: "If you erase, you must replace", and immediately reschedule your time block.
• When you cannot free your mind of the need to do other things instead of the ONE Thing, write it down on a task list (a "brain dump") and get back to what you are supposed to be doing.

Below are four proven ways to battle distractions and keep your eye on your ONE Thing:

• Build a bunker - Find somewhere to work that takes you out of the path of disruption (e.g., an office with a "Do Not Disturb" sign).
• Store provisions - Keep any materials, snacks, or beverages you need on hand to avoid leaving your bunker, unless for a bathroom break.
• Sweep for mines - Turn off your phone, shut down email and exit your internet browser to give your complete attention to the ONE Thing.
• Enlist support - Tell those most likely to seek you out what you are doing and when you will be available.

The Three Commitments

Achieving extraordinary results through time blocking requires three commitments:

• Adopt the mindset of someone seeking mastery.
• Mastery is a commitment to becoming your best, so to achieve extraordinary results, you must embrace the extraordinary effort it represents.
• Mastery is a never-ending path we go down, instead of a destination we arrive at. We are a master of what we know and an apprentice of what we do not.
• Continually seek the very best ways of doing things.
• Nothing is more futile than doing your best using an approach that cannot deliver results equal to your effort.
• This is called moving from "E" (Entrepreneurial - relying on enthusiasm, energy and natural ability) to "P" (Purposeful - using the Focusing Question to identify the next best action).
• Highly productive people do not accept the limitations of their natural approach (i.e., the "OK Plateau"), but instead look for new models and systems to help them break through.
• Be willing to be held accountable for doing everything you can to achieve your ONE Thing.
• Actions determine outcomes, and outcomes inform actions. Being accountable creates a feedback loop that helps you discover what you must do to achieve extraordinary results.
• Taking complete ownership of your outcomes by holding no one but yourself responsible is the most powerful thing you can do to drive your success.
• Accountable people absorb setbacks, persevere through problems and keep pushing forward.
• When life happens, you can be either the author of your life or the victim of it.

The Four Thieves

Just as there are the Six Lies that will deceive and mislead you, there are Four Thieves that can hold you up and rob you of your productivity.

• Inability to say "No"
• Remember, saying "yes" to your ONE Thing is your top priority.
• The way to protect what you have said "yes" to and stay productive is to say "no" to anyone or anything that could derail you, such as invitations, interruptions and assistance requests.
• Each additional obligation chips away at your effectiveness at everything you try. So the more things you do, the less successful you are at any one of them..
• All of us struggle to some degree with saying "no" because we want to be helpful, caring and considerate. However, we can say "no" respectfully, or offer help in other ways, such as by directing people to support centers, preprinted scripts, FAQ pages, recorded instructions or prescheduled training classes.
• Fear of chaos
• When we tirelessly work our time block on a singular priority, clutter automatically takes up residence around us.
• The deeper you commit to your ONE Thing, the more pressure mounts for you to come up for air and address everything you have put on hold or left unattended.
• Hence, it is important for you to accept this and manage absolute obligations - like family commitments or critical job projects - by finding creative ways to solve them without sacrificing your time block.
• Poor health habits
• Personal energy mismanagement is a silent thief of productivity.
• When people do not understand the power of the ONE Thing, they try to do too much and end up going for success by sacrificing their health. They stay up late, miss meals or eat poorly, and completely ignore exercise.
• Not only does this approach consistently short-circuit your best work, it is dangerous to assume that health and hearth will be waiting for you to enjoy in the future.
• The highly productive person's daily energy plan
• Meditate and pray for spiritual energy.
• Eat right, exercise and sleep sufficiently for physical energy.
• Hug, kiss and laugh with loved ones for emotional energy.
• Set goals, plan and calendar for mental energy.
• Time block your ONE Thing for business energy.
• Environment does not support your goals
• For you to achieve extraordinary results, the people surrounding you and your physical surroundings must support your goals.
• No one lives or works in isolation. Every day you come in contact with others and are influenced by them. Unquestionably, these individuals impact your attitude, your health, and ultimately your performance.
• The people around you may be more important than you think. You are likely to pick up some of the attitudes of others by working or socializing with them.
• As strong as you think you are, no one is strong enough to avoid the influence of negativity forever. So, surrounding yourself with the right people is the right thing to do. While "attitude thieves" will rob you of energy, supportive people will do what they can to encourage or assist you. Hanging out with people who seek success will strengthen your motivation and positively push your performance.

The Journey

To get through the hardest journey, we need to take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.

• No matter the objective or the destination, the journey to anything you want always starts with a single step. That step is called the ONE Thing.

It begins when you think big. Close your eyes and imagine the largest, most fulfilling life possible for yourself - in your career, your relationships, your health, and anything else that matters.

• When you lift the limits of your thinking, you expand the limits of your life.
• It is only when you can imagine a bigger life that you can ever hope to have one.

The challenge is that living the largest life possible requires you not only to think big but also to take the necessary actions to get there.

• Extraordinary results require you to go small. Getting your focus as small as possible simplifies your thinking and crystallizes what you must do.
• 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.
• Actions build on actions. Habits build on habits. Success builds on success. The right domino knocks down another and another and another. So whenever you want extraordinary results, look for the leveraged action that will start a domino run for you.

Your journey toward extraordinary results will be built above all else on faith.

• It’s only when you have faith in your purpose and priorities that you will seek out your ONE Thing.
• And once certain you know it, you will have the personal power necessary to push you through any hesitancy to do it.
• Faith ultimately leads to action, and when we take action, we avoid the very thing that could undermine or undo everything we have worked for - regret.

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.

• Hence, live your life to minimize the regrets you might have at the end.
• The most common regret is this: "I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."
• When people look back on their lives, it is the things they have not done that generate the greatest regret.

Success is an inside job.

• 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. You know what to do. You know how to do it. Your next step is simple. You are the first domino.

Summary

The section on the "Six Lies" in The ONE Thing presents a refreshingly pragmatic philosophy for living, a stark contrast to more idealistic approaches.

• The authors argue that overlooking the real trade-offs of our decisions and believing the lie of the "trivial many" has pushed many of us to the edge of burnout.
• As they powerfully state, if you try to do everything, you can wind up with nothing.

At its core, the book provides a system for achieving extraordinary results.

• It forces you to think deeply, create a list of possibilities, and then prioritize that list until you identify the single most important action.
• This process is designed to find the "lead domino" - the ONE Thing that, when hammered away at, creates a geometric progression of success.

To guide this process, the book offers the "Focusing Question: "What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?"

• This question, which should be both big and specific, constantly reminds us to take the Pareto path - focusing on the vital few actions that yield the greatest results.
• It helps us live out the book's key philosophy: where our purpose informs our priority, and our priority drives our productivity.