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MY WAGE By J. B. Rittenhouse I bargained with Life for a penny, And Life would pay no more, However I begged at evening When I counted my scanty store. For Life is a just employer, He gives you what you ask, But once you have set the wages, Why, you must bear the task. I worked for a menials hire, Only to learn, dismayed, That any wage I had asked of Life, Life would have willingly paid.
life is a question and how we live it is our answer. 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. The Focusing Question is that uncommon approach.
The Focusing Question can lead you to answer not only “big picture” questions (Where am I going? What target should I aim for?) but also “small focus” ones as well (What must I do right now to be on the path to getting the big picture? Where’s the bull’s-eye?).
It shows you how big your life can be and just how small you must go to get there. It’s both a map for the big picture and a compass for your smallest next move.
FIG. 15 The Focusing Question is a big-picture map and small-focus compass.
Archimedes said, “Give me a lever long enough and I could move the world,” and that’s exactly what this last part tells you to find. “Everything else will be easier or unnecessary” is the ultimate leverage test.
Most people struggle to comprehend how many things don’t need to be done, if they would just start by doing the right thing.
BIG IDEAS Great questions are the path to great answers.
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.
The Big-Picture Question: “What’s my ONE Thing?”
The Small-Focus Question: “What’s my ONE Thing right now?”
the important areas of my life: my spiritual life, physical health, personal life, key relationships, job, business, and financial life. And I address them in that order—each one is a foundation for the next.
FIG. 16 My life and the areas that matter most in it.
BIG IDEAS So how do you make The ONE Thing part of your daily routine?
Understand and believe it.
Use it.
Make it a habit.
Leverage reminders.
Recruit support.
“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.” —F. M. Alexander
the ultimate Success Habit.
1. Ask a gret question
2. Find great answer
FIG. 18 Four options for framing a Great Question.
Two by two:
1. Small - Big
2. Broad - Specific
A big, specific question leads to a big, specific answer, which is absolutely necessary for achieving a big goal. So if “What can I do to double sales in six months?” is a Great Question, how do you make it more powerful? Convert it to the Focusing Question: “What’s the ONE Thing I can do to double sales in six months such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
Answers come in three categories: doable, stretch, and possibility.
High achievers understand these first two routes but reject them. Unwilling to settle for ordinary when extraordinary is possible, they’ve asked a Great Question and want the very best answer.
FIG. 20 The Success Habit unlocks possibilities.
Extraordinary results require a Great Answer.
benchmark and trend.
The research and experience of others is the best place to start when looking for your answer. Armed with this knowledge, you can establish a benchmark, the current high-water mark for all that is known and being done.
FIG. 21 The benchmark is today’s success—the trend is tomorrow’s.
it. A new answer usually requires new behavior,
BIG IDEAS Think big and specific.
Think possibilities.
Benchmark and trend for the best answer.
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” — Will Rogers
simple formula for implementing the ONE Thing and achieving extraordinary results: purpose, priority, and productivity.
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.
FIG. 22 Productivity is driven by purpose and priority.
FIG. 23 In business, profit and productivity are also driven by priority and purpose.
Great businesses are built one productive person at a time.
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” —George Bernard Shaw
stingy,
callous,
wails,
covetous
giddy
Scrooge lives out the rest of his days spending his time and money doing everything he can for others.
our purpose sets our priority and our priority determines the productivity our actions produce.
