The ONE Thing

Picture this: you're juggling multiple projects, checking endless emails, attending back-to-back meetings, and somehow still feeling like you're falling behind. Sound familiar? In today's hyperconnected world, we've been sold the myth that doing more equals achieving more. We celebrate busyness as a badge of honor and multitasking as a superpower. Yet despite our constant motion, many of us feel stuck, overwhelmed, and far from the extraordinary results we crave.

The truth is, success isn't about doing everything—it's about doing the right thing. This revolutionary approach challenges everything we've been taught about productivity and achievement. By focusing intensely on one priority at a time, you can create a domino effect that transforms not just your work, but your entire life. The journey to extraordinary results begins with a single, powerful question that will reshape how you think about success forever.

The path to extraordinary results is often blocked by well-meaning but destructive myths that society has embedded in our thinking. These lies feel so natural and widely accepted that we rarely question them, yet they're secretly sabotaging our potential every single day.

Consider the story of Michael Phelps, who became the most decorated Olympian in history. His kindergarten teacher once told his mother that Michael would never be able to focus on anything. Yet Phelps discovered the power of selected discipline. Instead of trying to be disciplined in every area of life, he channeled all his energy into one thing: swimming daily for six hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year. This wasn't about willpower or perfect balance—it was about going small to achieve something extraordinarily big.

The six lies that derail most people include believing everything matters equally, that multitasking works, that discipline must dominate every aspect of life, that willpower is always available, that a balanced life is achievable, and that thinking big is somehow bad. Each of these misconceptions leads us away from focus and toward mediocrity. When you chase two rabbits, as the Russian proverb warns, you catch neither.

Breaking free requires recognizing that not all things matter equally. Research consistently shows that roughly 20 percent of your efforts produce 80 percent of your results. The most successful people understand this inequality and leverage it ruthlessly. They say no to good opportunities so they can say yes to great ones. They don't seek balance—they seek the right imbalance at the right time. They understand that extraordinary results require extraordinary focus, not extraordinary effort across everything.

At the heart of transforming your life lies one simple yet powerful tool: the Focusing Question. This question becomes your compass, guiding every decision and action toward what truly matters most. It cuts through the noise of endless possibilities and points directly to your next right step.

The question is this: "What's the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?" This isn't just any question—it's a precision instrument designed to find the vital few among the trivial many. When Andrew Carnegie built his steel empire, he attributed his success to this principle: concentrating energy, thought, and capital exclusively on one line of business until it dominated.

Jerry Seinfeld offers a perfect example of this principle in action. Before he became a household name, Seinfeld's ONE Thing was writing jokes every single day. He created a simple system: hang a big calendar on the wall and mark an X for every day he wrote material. His only job was not to break the chain. This daily focus on his ONE Thing built the foundation for one of the most successful comedy careers in history.

The Focusing Question works because it forces you to think both big and small simultaneously. It connects your biggest goals to your smallest actions, creating a clear path from where you are to where you want to be. Start by asking the big-picture version for your life direction, then drill down to what you can do right now. This creates a domino effect where each action makes the next one easier or eliminates the need for it entirely.

Make this question your daily habit. Use it when you wake up, when you start work, and whenever you feel scattered or overwhelmed. Write it where you can see it. Share it with others who support your goals. When you consistently ask and answer this question, you'll discover something remarkable: clarity becomes your competitive advantage, and focus becomes your pathway to extraordinary results.

The secret to extraordinary results lies in understanding how three fundamental elements work together: purpose, priority, and productivity. Think of them as an iceberg—what you see above water is productivity, but it's supported by the massive foundation of purpose and priority beneath the surface.

Consider the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' classic tale. At the story's beginning, Scrooge's purpose was money, his priority was accumulating wealth for himself, and his productivity focused entirely on earning and hoarding. While he was highly productive by his own standards, his life was miserable and meaningless. After his supernatural encounters, Scrooge's purpose shifted to helping people, his priority became using money to serve others, and his productivity channeled toward generous action. Same man, same hours in the day, but completely different results because he aligned purpose, priority, and productivity.

Purpose provides the ultimate glue that helps you stick to the path you've set. When what you do matches your purpose, your life feels in rhythm. You'll know you're on the right track when you can honestly say, "This is where I'm meant to be right now, doing exactly what I'm doing." Purpose doesn't have to be heavy or complicated—it's simply the ONE Thing you want your life to be about more than any other.

From purpose flows priority through a process called Goal Setting to the Now. Start with your someday goal, then work backward: What's the ONE Thing you can do in the next five years to be on track? Based on that five-year goal, what's your ONE Thing for this year? From your yearly goal, what's your monthly ONE Thing? Continue this process until you reach what you must do right now. This creates a straight line from your ultimate purpose to your immediate priority.

Productivity becomes the vehicle that transforms your priority into results. When you time-block your most important work, protect that time fiercely, and bring your best energy to it, extraordinary results become inevitable. The key is understanding that you don't need to be productive at everything—just at your ONE Thing.

Achieving extraordinary results through focused effort requires three non-negotiable commitments that separate high achievers from everyone else. These commitments transform good intentions into exceptional outcomes and ensure your ONE Thing receives the attention it deserves.

The first commitment is following the path of mastery. Mastery isn't a destination you arrive at—it's a way of thinking and acting that you embrace for life. Consider the legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen, whose brother Alex noticed that Eddie would be practicing guitar when he left for the evening and still practicing in the same spot when he returned hours later. This relentless focus on improvement, averaging about four hours daily for roughly ten years, is what research shows separates elite performers from everyone else.

The second commitment involves moving from "E" to "P"—from Entrepreneurial thinking to Purposeful thinking. Entrepreneurial approaches rely on natural ability, energy, and enthusiasm, which eventually hit a ceiling. Purposeful approaches seek better models, systems, and methods to push through those ceilings. When you hit a wall doing things the natural way, ask yourself: "Where can I find a better approach?" Steve Jobs exemplified this by constantly seeking revolutionary methods rather than incremental improvements.

The third commitment is living the accountability cycle. This means taking complete ownership of your outcomes without making excuses or blaming circumstances. Accountable people see setbacks as information to frame better actions for better results. They seek reality, acknowledge it, and own it, knowing this is the only path to discovering new solutions.

These commitments work synergistically. Mastery keeps you improving, purposeful thinking breaks through limitations, and accountability ensures you never settle for less than your best. Together, they create an unstoppable momentum toward extraordinary results. The most successful people aren't necessarily the most talented—they're the most committed to these three principles.

Even when you know your ONE Thing and commit to pursuing it, four common thieves can rob you of productivity and derail your progress. Recognizing and defending against these thieves is essential for protecting the extraordinary results you're working to achieve.

The first thief is the inability to say no. Every yes to something unimportant is a no to something that matters. Steve Jobs understood this perfectly—when he returned to Apple in 1997, he took the company from 350 products to just ten. That's 340 strategic nos that cleared the path for extraordinary focus. As Jobs explained, "Focusing is about saying no." Master the art of gracious but firm refusal, and you'll protect your most valuable asset: time for your ONE Thing.

The second thief is fear of chaos. When you focus intensely on your ONE Thing, other areas of life naturally become messy or neglected. This is not failure—it's the inevitable consequence of doing something important. Francis Ford Coppola warned that "anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos." Accept this reality instead of fighting it. The extraordinary results from your focused effort will eventually provide resources to address the temporary disorder.

The third thief consists of poor health habits that drain your energy. Personal energy mismanagement silently steals productivity by leaving you running on empty when you need maximum capacity. Create a daily energy plan: begin with meditation or prayer for spiritual energy, eat a nutritious breakfast for physical fuel, exercise to build capacity, connect with loved ones for emotional energy, and plan your day for mental clarity. When you energize yourself early, you get pulled through the rest of the day with minimal additional effort.

The fourth thief is an environment that doesn't support your goals. Both your physical surroundings and the people around you can either propel you toward your ONE Thing or constantly pull you away from it. Research shows that attitudes, health habits, and achievement levels are contagious—you tend to become like those you spend time with. Surround yourself with success-minded people who support your goals, and arrange your physical environment to eliminate distractions and temptations that derail your focus.

Defending against these thieves requires vigilance and intentional choices. Start saying no more often, make peace with temporary chaos, invest in your energy through healthy habits, and curate an environment that supports your success. When you protect your focus from these common thieves, your path to extraordinary results becomes clear and achievable.

The journey to extraordinary results isn't about doing more—it's about doing what matters most with unwavering focus and commitment. As the book powerfully states, "Success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right." This fundamental shift in thinking transforms scattered effort into concentrated power that can move mountains.

The path forward is surprisingly simple yet profoundly challenging. Begin by asking yourself the Focusing Question: "What's the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?" Then time-block that activity, protect your focus from the four thieves, and commit to the path of mastery. Remember, extraordinary results are built sequentially—one domino falling into the next, creating momentum that seems impossible until it becomes inevitable.

Your next step is immediate and clear: identify your ONE Thing for today and schedule uninterrupted time to work on it. Don't wait for perfect conditions or complete clarity about the future. As the ancient Chinese proverb reminds us, "The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now." Your extraordinary life is waiting—it begins with your next focused action.