The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results

by Gary Keller

Good decisions depend on more than just wisdom and common sense.

Without intentionally protecting it every day, we allow ourselves to go from a will and a way to no will and no way.

So how do you put your willpower to work? You think about it. Pay attention to it. Respect it.

You make doing what matters most a priority when your willpower is its highest.

Filtering distractions

Resisting temptation

Restraining ag...

Suppressing i...

Trying to impres...

Coping wi...

Doing something you d...

Selecting long-term over short-...

When it comes to willpower, timing is everything.

When it comes to willpower, timing is everything.

when you’re doing the right thing, you don’t let anything distract you or steer you away from it.

Then you need enough willpower the rest of the day to either support or avoid sab...

That’s all the willpower you need to ...

do your most important work—your ONE Thing—early,

do your most important work—your ONE Thing—early,

Don’t spread your willpower too thin.

you have a limited supply of willpower, so decide what matters and reserve your willpower for it.

Monitor your fue...

Eat right and regularly.

Time your task. Do what matters most first each day when your willpower is strongest.

Time your task. Do what matters most first each day when your willpower is strongest.

Purpose, meaning, significance—these are what make a successful life.

Extraordinary results require focused attention and time. Time on one thing means time away from another.

If you think of balance as the middle, then out of balance is when you’re away from it. Get too far away from the middle and you’re living at the extremes. The problem with living in the middle is that it prevents you from making extraordinary time commitments to anything.

attend to all things, everything gets shortchanged

attend to all things, everything gets shortchanged

Knowing when to pursue the middle and when to pursue the extremes is in essence the true beginning of wisdom.

Knowing when to pursue the middle and when to pursue the extremes is in essence the true beginning of wisdom.

magic never happens in the middle; magic happens at the extremes.

magic never happens in the middle; magic happens at the extremes.

It represented too much. It was as if its contents were so full of unfulfilled promises that they were too heavy to lift.

Time waits for no one. Push something to an extreme and postponement can become permanent.

Time waits for no one. Push something to an extreme and postponement can become permanent.

Do you think you can cut a deal with God that time stands still for you, holding off on anything important until you’re ready to participate again?

Do you think you can cut a deal with God that time stands still for you, holding off on anything important until you’re ready to participate again?

When you gamble with your time, you may be placing a bet you can’t cover.

Replace the word “balance” with “counterbalance” and what you experience makes sense.

Replace the word “balance” with “counterbalance” and what you experience makes sense.

The ballerina is a classic example. When the ballerina poses en pointe, she can appear weightless, floating on air, the very idea of balance and grace. A closer look would reveal her toe shoes vibrating rapidly, making minute adjustments for balance. Counterbalancing done well gives the illusion of balance.

The ballerina is a classic example. When the ballerina poses en pointe, she can appear weightless, floating on air, the very idea of balance and grace. A closer look would reveal her toe shoes vibrating rapidly, making minute adjustments for balance. Counterbalancing done well gives the illusion of balance.

Leaving some things undone is a necessary tradeoff for extraordinary results.

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

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

the key ingredient is focused time over time.

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,

Going long allows you to focus on what matters most, even at the expense of other, lesser priorities.

In your personal life, nothing gets left behind. At work it’s required.

When you change your language from balancing to prioritizing, you see your choices more clearly and open the door to changing your destiny.

Extraordinary results demand that you set a priority and act on it. When you act on your priority, you’ll automatically go out of balance, giving more time to one thing over another.

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.

You will have to take what matters to the extremes and be okay with wha...

Counterbalance your personal ...

Drop any one and you will feel the effects.

This requires constant awareness.

Start leading a counterbalanced life.

Let the right things take precedence when they should and get to the rest when you can.