“The One Thing” a Goal Setting Treasure Map
Find prioritization, simplification, productivity.
Introduction
In 2012, a year that saw the end of the Mayan Calendar, NASA’s Curiosity Rover land on Mars and the cultural phenomenon of Psy’s hit single Gangnam Style, a book was published that aimed to change how we set and achieve goals. “The One Thing” by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan is a non-fiction self-help book that was published by Bard Press and is 239 pages long. It was listed as a bestseller on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Amazon.com. The book has won 12 awards, been published in over 25 languages and was voted one of Goodreads top 100 business books of all time.
Summary
“The One Thing” covers how to be smarter and more productive in getting what you want from life. It addresses how success comes from simplifying your focus to One Thing. To focus on One Thing is important because success is achieved, sequentially, one step at a time. Further, this book debunks some common myths surrounding how to achieve results. Such myths like all things equally important. That multi-tasking is more productive. We have to live a disciplined life. That willpower is an unlimited resource. And finally, that big is bad.
What I liked about the book
Anyone who feels overwhelmed by the pressures of work and home life will find “The One Thing” relatable. Pressures that come from inadequate prioritization, poor task simplification, bad habit making, and insufficient time blocking are all addressed. This book gives clear directions on how to do fewer things more effectively and how to avoid doing too many things at once. “The One Thing” is an excellent resource that breaks down how to get the results you want in your personal and professional life, encouraging big thinking and focusing on what you should do now to get there.
What I did not like about the book
This book is one of many books that share the same “reverse-engineering” framework to achieving results. And, though this book has a uniquely motivating energy to it, there is very little that is unique about it. You could find multiple books with the same ideas from different authors based around similar topics. Also, there is some overlap to the ideas discussed in this book and though I think that the writers have done a decent job breaking them apart, at times it seemed like the author was saying the same thing, just in a different way.
Conclusion
I have a very busy work life as well as home life schedule. I’m constantly looking for ways to improve my productivity so that I can make the most of each day. I’ve found a ton of different techniques in this book that I can apply to my life both personally and professionally. I'd say this book is worth purchasing and keeping in your book collection as a reference to help with achieving goals and understanding extraordinary results.
