The One Thing
Last year, I read a book called “The One Thing” by Gary Keller. Prior to that I had always prided myself on how amazing I am at multitasking, always getting so many things achieved in my day.
Yet this book was a powerful read, and it completely debunked the myth about the value of multitasking.
In fact, it showed that multitasking is a lot less productive than focussing on one thing at a time.
Why is that? It’s because when we are multitasking, our attention is never fully on one thing.
There is an ENORMOUS power to focussing on a single thing with all of our attention.
In fact, this is the art of meditation!
And as I left my days of multitasking behind, and began focussing on one thing at a time, I've noticed an incredible power come into my life.
The Magical Ability
When I choose to focus on something I really want to be doing in this moment – even if it’s a chore – I have this magical ability to warp time and have that task completed often much faster than I think is humanly possible. And if it’s not completed faster, it is completed with such presence that it FEELS amazing to be doing that task.
This is how meditation can be brought into our daily tasks. It’s simply about focus.
And in the book “The One Thing”, Gary Keller asks a very powerful question…and it’s one that I’ve used many times since, in order to know exactly what I should be focussing my attention on. Gary asks:
“What is the ONE Thing I can do, such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
So let’s bring that into focus today. Can you spare 5 minutes? Let’s do this exercise now.
Sit in a place of quietness, where you won’t be interrupted. Think about your life, and how you are feeling in this very moment.
After all, this is the only moment there is – when you change this moment, you change the direction of your entire life!!!
What is working for you right now, and what isn’t?
What is your One Simple Thing?
Give yourself this gift of 5 minutes. And once you’ve connected with yourself and acknowledged the areas where life isn’t flowing the way you’d ultimately want it to, ask yourself this question:
“What is the ONE SIMPLE THING that I could change in my life right now, such that by changing this, I’d be better able to achieve the life that I dream of, and the rest of my problems would either have less impact, or they’d completely disappear?”
It may be as simple as getting up 30 minutes earlier in the day, so you can go sungazing, or start your day with a walk in nature or a joy-filled meditation, or have extra time to connect with someone you love.
Gary talks about the highly productive person’s daily energy plan. It consists of 5 elements, so if you are having difficulty thinking of your “one simple thing”, choose the most obvious one from this list that would bring a positive impact into your life:
1. Meditate, pray or engage in spiritual practices like yoga to foster your spiritual energy
2. Eat right, exercise, and get enough restful sleep for your physical energy
3. Hug, kiss and laugh with loved ones for your emotional energy
4. Set goals, plan and diarise to create mental energy
5. Time block your ONE Thing to create more business momentum and the energy of abundance
This “One Thing” is your domino…and you know the theory? When you have a chain of dominoes, all you have to do is to topple the first one over, and the rest all fall from there.
So today is the day to flick that first domino, and see what happens in your life!