The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results

by Gary Keller

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.”

Don’t fear big. Fear mediocrity. Fear waste. Fear the lack of living to your fullest. When we fear big, we either consciously or subconsciously work against it. We either run toward lesser outcomes and opportunities or we simply run away from the big ones. If courage isn’t the absence of fear, but moving past it, then thinking big isn’t the absence of doubts, but moving past them. Only living big will let you experience your true life and work potential.

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.

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

You’re not the first person to dream big, so you’d be wise to study what others have learned first, and then build your actions on the back of their lessons.”

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”

Who we are and where we want to go determine what we do and what we accomplish.

When our daily actions fulfill a bigger purpose, the most powerful and enduring happiness can happen.

Happiness happens on the way to fulfillment.

Live with purpose and you know where you want to go. Live by priority and you’ll know what to do to get there.

When life happens, you can be either the author of your life or the victim of it.

The art of saying yes is, by default, the art of saying no. Saying yes to everyone is the same as saying yes to nothing.

Your time is finite. If you don’t make your life about what you say yes to, then it will almost certainly become what you intended to say no to.

Begin early with meditation and prayer for spiritual energy; starting the day by connecting with your higher purpose aligns your thoughts and actions with a larger story.

Live with Purpose, Live by Priority, and Live for Productivity.

One evening an elder Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us. One is Fear. It carries anxiety, concern, uncertainty, hesitancy, indecision and inaction. The other is Faith. It brings calm, conviction, confidence, enthusiasm, decisiveness, excitement and action.” The grandson thought about it for a moment and then meekly asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee replied, “The one you feed.”