book review the one thing

📚 Get your copy of The Daily Co

• Published on July 5, 2017

The ONE Thing Review: This Book Made Me Rethink Everything in My Business and My Life

Review : The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

I’m a bit of a nonfiction junkie when it comes to books.

I’ve been trying to read more fiction, but I always find myself going back to nonfiction books about marketing, running a small business, productivity, consulting and figuring out how to be my best self.

I recently read a book that combines all these topics into one super-engaging, sharply-designed package. It inspired me to take immediately action in my own life and I gave several copies to friends and family members I knew would appreciate it.

The ONE Thing Review

The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, is a life-improvement masterpiece. The aim of the book is to show you how to cut through the clutter of work, life, well-being, love, family, hobbies, free time, etc., and focus on the things that matter.

Cutting through clutter is a brilliant and important idea—but not a new one, right?

The ONE Thing gets at the topic in a way that’s different from anything else I’ve read or tried. It’s one of those strategies that’s painfully obvious, but Keller and Papasan have turned it into an effective system to improve any area of your life.

The Idea Behind The ONE Thing

The idea is to find the one thing, in any situation, that will allow you to produce extraordinary results. Take any area of your life and find the one action you can take, or focus you can shift, that makes everything else easier or unnecessary.

As Keller explains in the book, when you want the best chance to succeed at anything, your approach should always be to go small:

“Going small” is ignoring all the things you could do and doing what you should do. It’s recognizing that not all things matter equally and finding the things that matter most. It’s a tighter way to connect what you do with what you want. It’s realizing that extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus…When you go as small as possible, you’ll be staring at one thing. And that’s the point.

The ONE Thing, in a Nutshell

If I had to nutshell The ONE Thing strategy for you, I’d say take anything in your life, including your to-do list, your career goals, your spiritual practice, your family’s meal planning or a remodel of your home and give it a critical look. See where you have the most impact or success and where you’re wasting time or energy. Distill your actions down to the most powerful ones and let go of everything else.

But that’s just the nutshell. The ONE Thing will enlighten and inspire you far more than I can here, so I strongly suggest you pick a copy up, either from your local library, a local bookseller, Bookshop.org or Amazon .

Once you read it, let me know what you think and how you apply the strategy. I’m always curious to hear what kind of shifts it inspires in people.

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results Get it on Amazon | Get it on Bookshop.org 

Other Posts

How your coworking software can help build community

Giving up is not an option

Bending the loneliness curve

Be scrollstopping

Niels Bohrmann

Book Summary: “The One Thing” by Gary Keller

This summary of “The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results” has several layers . It ranges from a quick overview to a detailed chapter-by-chapter analysis.

This way, you can get an overall feel for the book , or you may even decide to skip reading it altogether. You might also find the critique at the end helpful to put the presented ideas into perspective.

Please note:  All the following quotes are by Gary Keller if not otherwise stated.

“The ONE Thing” in 5 Sentences

To achieve extraordinary results in life, you must radically focus on one thing .

To do so, ask the focusing question : “What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will become easier or unnecessary?”

Apply this to both the macro level (your someday goal), and the micro level (what you are doing right now).

Practice “Goal Setting to the Now” where you start with the end in mind — your someday goal — and work your way backwards to what you need to do right now.

Use time blocking to get your ONE Thing done; i.e. make an appointment with yourself each day during which you only work on your most important task.

The 10 Takeaways from “The ONE Thing”

Next up in this “The One Thing” summary — the 10 lessons with the most impact.

1. Not Everything Matters Equally

Equality is a lie. Some projects / tools / people will have a much greater impact on your life than others.

Most people never stop to evaluate that impact. They indiscriminately spend their time on whatever is in front of them .

You must be different. You must choose the few essential activities over the trivial many (i.e., adopt a minimalist mindset )

2. Think Big

We often limit ourselves by thinking small. That’s because we fear success. We are afraid of the sacrifices we would have to make — in time, fun, and relationships — to truly stand out.

To overcome this, make it a habit to think big . When you set yourself a goal, double it. If you don’t feel intimidated yet, double it again. Your goals should force you to break through your current ceiling of achievement .

3. Go Small

To succeed with your big goals, you need to go small . Dedicate yourself to just one thing at a time . Ignore everything else.

The smaller you go, the more progress you will see. The more you spread yourself thin over several projects, the less success you will have with any of them.

This is the Pareto principle taken to the extreme. Instead of focusing on the essential 20 percent, you narrow it down to 1 percent.

4. Ask the Focusing Question

The focusing question states:

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

By constantly asking this question, you always choose the action with the most positive impact on your life . It’s the ultimate success habit.

You can apply the focusing question both to long-term goals (e.g., 5-year goals) and to short-term goals (e.g., what to do right now).

5. Line Up Your Dominoes

Success is built sequentially , one thing at a time. This is called lining up your dominoes. Stacking one right decision on top of another creates a compound effect . The longer you stick with the process, the more exponential growth you will experience.

6. Practice Goal Setting to the Now

Always reverse engineer your goals.

Start with your someday goal, then work your way backwards:

• What is my someday goal?
• What is my 5-year goal — based on my someday goal?
• What is my one-year goal — based on my 5-year goal?
• What is my monthly goal — based on my one-year goal?
• What is my weekly goal — based on my monthly goal?
• What is my daily goal — based on my weekly goal?
• What is my goal at this moment — based on my daily goal?

By practicing “Goal Setting to the Now,” you make sure your actions in this moment enable your long-term vision .

7. Time Block

To make sure your ONE Thing gets done, you must time block it. Set an appointment with yourself each day. During that time, nothing but your ONE Thing gets done.

For example, if your ONE Thing is becoming a professional guitarist, practice your scales every day from 10 am to 12 pm and again from 4 pm to 6 pm.

Time block as early in the morning as you can , when you are still fresh.

Try to rack up four hours of deliberate practice every day. The goal is to get to 10,000 hours, which equals mastery of a thing.

8. Stop Multitasking

Multitasking is a lie. We cannot focus on two things at a time. If we try to, we will do neither thing justice.

Also, by constantly switching back and forth between tasks, we experience massive productivity losses.

9. Manage Your Willpower

Your daily willpower reserve is limited , just like your smartphone battery. Once it’s used up, you won’t make good decisions anymore. No amount of wishful thinking will change that.

So we must invest our willpower wisely, by forming the right habits . Once a new habit solidifies, its cost in willpower goes down . Now we can add something else.

10. Have No Regrets

Most of us live like we have all the time in the world . At the same time, we are always worried what others will think about our choices .

Forget these follies. You will die, and it will be sooner than you think. And when that day comes, you will be appalled by how much you let the expectations of others rule your life.

To avoid that, unapologetically live your life as you see fit. The goal is to have no regrets when it’s over.

Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

Want a more detailed “The One Thing” summary? Then this chapter-by-chapter guide is for you. Read it all or click into the chapters that interest you the most.

1 – The One Thing

2 – The Domino Effect

3 – Success Leaves Clues

4 – Everything Matters Equally

5 – Multitasking

6 – A Disciplined Life

7 – Willpower is Always on Will-call

8 – A Balanced Life

9 – Big Is Bad

10 – The Focusing Question

11 – The Success Habit

12 – The Path to Great Answers

13 – Live With Purpose

14 – Live by Priority

15 – Live For Productivity

16 – The Three Commitments

17 – The Four Thieves

18 – The Journey

Chapter 1: The ONE Thing

In chapter 1, Gary Keller tells the story of how he turned Keller Williams Realty International from a regional player to an international contender in the real estate world.

For that, he identified the one area where he would have the biggest impact — the hiring process .

He hired 14 carefully chosen executives, removing himself as a bottleneck . As a result, the firm, over the next few years, grew exponentially; on average 40 percent per year.

Next, he started asking his employees this question : “What’s the ONE Thing you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?”

Productivity went through the roof.

He had discovered the key to success :

Where I’d had huge success, I had narrowed my concentration to one thing, and where my success varied, my focus had too.

To apply this, you must focus. And you must focus on the right thing.

Because not all things matter equally. Some have a much greater return on investment than others. Identify the ONE Thing with the greatest ROI, then give it your all.

Subtraction, not addition, is the way to go.

Chapter 2: The Domino Effect

Chapter 2 starts with a discussion of the domino effect. Specifically, it talks about geometric progressions .

A single domino is capable of bringing down another domino that is 50 percent larger . So if you keep lining up dominoes that increase in size, a small initial effort will create a massive effect over the long run .

That is what successful people do — each day, they line up their priorities anew .

The key is over time. Success is built sequentially. It’s one thing at a time.

Chapter 3: Success Leaves Clues

Keller next lists several ONE Thing examples:

• KFC started with a single secret chicken recipe.
• Coors, for the longest time, only sold one type of beer.
• Intel, during its successful years, focused on microprocessors.
• The Star Wars franchise makes most of its money from one thing — selling children’s toys.

Successful companies all ask, “What’s our ONE Thing?”

It’s the same with people. One person in your life will have a much bigger impact on your development than all others. For Walt Disney , it was his brother Roy, who got him work at an art studio.

For Sam Walton , the founder of Walmart, it was his father-in-law, who loaned him $20,000 to start his first retail store. For Albert Einstein , it was Max Talmey, the mentor of his teenage years.

The same is true for skills. Successful people all invest in one skill they feel passionate about. For example, American impressionist Pat Matthews became successful by painting one new painting a day.

The ONE Thing principle permeates success.

Yet, most people never utilize this success principle. This is due to six common lies about what’s essential for success :

• Everything Matters Equally
• Multitasking
• A Disciplined Life
• Willpower Is Always on Will-Call
• A Balanced Life

The next chapters will look at these lies in turn.

Chapter 4: Everything Matters Equally

Not all projects in our lives matter equally. Some have a greater impact, some have a lesser impact.

Yet, we fail to evaluate that impact. We just get busy on random things instead of on the right things.

Specifically, we get side-tracked by the urgent items on our to-do list .

Achievers go about their days differently. They assess which projects truly matter, and then apply themselves to the most important action.

Instead of a to-do list, you need a success list — a list that is purposefully created around extraordinary results.

For that, you need the Pareto principle .

The Pareto principle states that 80 percent of your results stems from 20 percent of your effort [similar to Price’s law ].

A few ideas have more impact than most other ideas. A few of your clients make you most of your money. A few investments will outperform all your other stocks.

Keller advises you to take the Pareto principle even further. Don’t just focus on the 20 percent — find the ONE Thing with the greatest impact .

This is what achievers consistently do. Instead of getting trapped in the “check off” game , they ditch their to-do list and ask themselves, “What one thing can I do right now that matters most?”

Chapter 5: Multitasking

To do two things at once is to do neither. Publilius Syrus

Multitasking does not work. Research shows that multitaskers just think they get more done , but in fact get less done.

Multitasking is actually a misnomer. We are not able to focus on two things simultaneously. Rather, we rapidly change back and forth between different tasks.

But when we do so, serious mistakes are made . Planes crash. A patient is misdiagnosed. A toddler is left unattended.

But even when the consequences are less dire, there is a price to pay. Task switching leads to extra time needed to complete a task. A common range is from 25 to 100 percent.

Other negative effects include getting distracted, a distorted sense of time, and more stress.

All of this begs the question:

Why would we ever tolerate multitasking when we’re doing our most important work?

Chapter 6: A Disciplined Life

Success is not a marathon, but rather a series of sprints .

The trick is to form the right habits. Once a certain behavior becomes routine, there is less of a cost associated with it .

So you don’t need more willpower. You just need to use the willpower you already have to drill the right habits into you.

On average, it takes 66 days to acquire a new habit ; it depends on the difficulty of the habit. Once that happens, it takes less willpower to maintain.

Chapter 7: Willpower is Always on Will-call

Willpower is a limited resource. You can not conjure it up at will. Once it’s used up for the day, it’s gone.

Think about willpower as the power bar on your smartphone . In the morning, it is fully charged. The longer the day goes on, the more it gets used up. But with some downtime, it can be recharged.

Willpower works exactly the same way. It depletes over time as you resist temptations or make decisions. Eventually, it’s gone.

Research shows that healthy food like vegetables and high-quality protein increase your willpower reserve.

Keller then refers to a study on the Israeli parole system. The study showed that judges were most likely to release a parolee in the morning — when they were still fresh — and after breaks.

When their energy was spent, though, judges would revert to their default setting of denying the request.

In the same way, we revert to our default settings once our willpower is used up. The outcome is usually not ideal.

To combat this, we must consciously manage our willpower :

So, if you want to get the most out of your day, do your most important work—your ONE Thing—early, before your willpower is drawn down. Since your self-control will be sapped throughout the day, use it when it’s at full strength on what matters most.

Chapter 8: A Balanced Life

You cannot live a “balanced life” if you seek success:

“Extraordinary results require focused attention and time. Time on one thing means time away from another. This makes balance impossible.”

The work-life balance myth is a recent invention. It’s a byproduct of the industrialization and the digital age. As our personal space is being infiltrated, we yearn for compensation.

This is understandable, but not feasible:

“In your effort to attend to all things, everything gets shortchanged and nothing gets its due.”

On the other hand, if you over commit to something, you might come to regret it . For example, you might miss your children growing up.

The solution, according to Keller — counterbalancing .

As your default, you focus on your ONE Thing, for long periods of time. Ignore all other things tugging at your attention. Only occasionally do you resurface to take care of other matters.

Keller recommends going out of balance for long stretches of time in your professional life . However, in your personal life, you should go short . Personal relationships neglected for too long cannot be repaired.

Chapter 9: Big Is Bad

We fear success because we associate it with hardships, personal sacrifices, and lost health.

To remedy that, Keller encourages us to think big. We should strive to break through the “ceiling of achievement” we set for ourselves.

For example, Sam Walton set up his future estate plan to minimize inheritance taxes — even before he opened his first Walmart . He saved his family an estimated $11 to $13 billion in taxes.

To develop a growth mindset, use this trick:

A good rule of thumb is to double down everywhere in your life. If your goal is ten, ask the question: “How can I reach 20?”

At the beginning of part 2, Keller describes how he became a workaholic , and eventually ended up in the hospital because of it.

This made him realize that working nonstop was not the answer. Rather, it was about bringing all your focus to the right things .

I learned that success comes down to this: being appropriate in the moments of your life.

Chapter 10: The Focusing Question

Put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket. Andrew Carnegie

To pick your ONE Thing, use the focusing question . It states:

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

There is a macro and a micro perspective to the focusing question.

The macro perspective goes: “What’s my ONE Thing in life?”

The micro perspective goes: “What’s my ONE Thing right now?”

Chapter 11: The Success Habit

Asking the focusing question is the ultimate success habit. Ask it when you wake up, ask it when you get to work, ask it in your personal life.

Specifically, Keller recommends applying the focusing question to seven key areas in your life:

• Your spiritual life
• Your physical health
• Your personal life
• Your key relationships
• Your business
• Your finances

Here are three examples:

Physical Health:

“What’s the ONE Thing I can do to ensure that I exercise … ?”

Key Relationships:

“What’s the ONE Thing I can do to improve my relationship with my partner … ?”

“What’s the ONE Thing I can do to make us more profitable … ?”

Chapter 12: The Path to Great Answers

There are four ways to frame a question :

• Big & Specific
• Big & Broad
• Small & Broad
• Small & Specific

Let’s work our way backwards.

Small & Specific. Example: “What can I do to increase sales by 5 percent this year?” Concrete, but not challenging enough. A 5 percent increase is marginal.

Small & Broad. Example: “What can I do to increase sales?” Too vague and not challenging enough. This won’t induce action.

Big & Broad. Example: “What can I do to double sales?” It’s a great goal, but not specific enough to get you started.

Big & Specific. Example: “What can I do to double sales in six months?” The best option — ambitious and concrete at the same time.

This last frame — Big & Specific — is the frame we should apply to our focusing questions:

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?

Now that you have a great question, you also need a great answer.

There are three types of answers:

• possibility

“Doable” refers to solutions within your reach . You already know how to do that.

“Stretch” is an answer that requires you to do some research . It is more challenging, but it can be done.

“Possibility” is outside your comfort zone . You don’t know how to get your desired result yet.

To get somewhere with this last type of answer, you need to do two things: benchmark and trend .

The benchmark method is to study your predecessors — what did the great achievers do who came before you? How did they accomplish it?

Trending is trying to predict what will come next , based on the benchmarks. When you have an approximation, you can be the first.

There are three key components to achievement:

• Productivity

You can think of those as an iceberg. What you see, the tip of the iceberg, is productivity. Below the surface level follows priority. And at the base, we have purpose.

These three elements propel each other . Purpose drives priority, which in turn drives productivity.

Chapter 13: Live With Purpose

We have to be careful what we choose as our purpose, as it ultimately determines our happiness.

One common pitfall is to subscribe to serial success seeking . There is always one more goal to be accomplished, one more dragon to be slain. But the ensuing happiness never lasts.

It is your job to discover your “Big Why,” the thing that truly drives you. It might be family. It might be teaching. It might be a skill, like a sport.

If you are not sure, take a guess and go with it , until you develop a better hypothesis.

Chapter 14: Live by Priority

Purpose needs priority to make a dent. Otherwise, it remains powerless.

To give priority its due, use a process called “Goal Setting to the Now.”

The idea is to start with the end mind. By looking at your long-term goal 5 years from now, you reverse engineer the process to get there .

The sequence looks like this:

By answering each of these questions in writing, you “connect all your tomorrows.” Your purpose turns into priority.

Chapter 15: Live For Productivity

The last step is to translate priority into productivity.

Here, Keller uses money as a metaphor for productivity. We all get the same amount of time, yet some of us create much greater wealth than others.

The key is to make time for your ONE Thing. Keller calls this time blocking .

It’s a way of making sure that what has to be done gets done.

You set an appointment with yourself on your calendar for your ONE Thing. For example, if your ONE Thing is generating leads , you might block the hours from 10 am to 12 pm each day to cold call clients.

These appointments are sacrosanct — nothing is allowed to distract you . It’s a type of monk mode .

This can be hard to pull off, especially if you have a boss who expects you to be available.

Keller claims that such deals can be negotiated, though , and that soon the people around will start seeing the advantages. By becoming extremely productive, you will win them over.

When time blocking, Keller recommends this 3-step approach :

• Time block your time off (vacations, long weekends, etc.).
• Time block your ONE Thing.
• Time block your planning time.

Start with your time off, because you need to recharge yourself regularly ; otherwise you’ll break down.

Then time block your ONE Thing , whatever that may be — making sales calls , painting, practicing a sport, teaching. It depends on your purpose.

There are two best practices here:

• Block time as early in your day as you can , since that’s when you are the most energized
• Block four hours a day , five days a week

In the beginning, you might have to schedule your time blocks around your job or family obligations. It’s tough, but you need to ride it out. Later, you’ll be able to plan your day as you see fit.

Last, you schedule your planning time. This is to assess your progress. Look at your annual and monthly goals. Ask yourself — am I on track? Do I need to make adjustments? Do this for an hour each week.

A great way to hold yourself accountable is to put up an annual calendar on the wall . Put a big red X across every day you worked on your ONE Thing. You will see the chain grow longer every day. Don’t break it.

The chapter finishes with four best practices for time blocking:

• Build a bunker. Find or create a distraction-free environment. This might mean occupying an empty meeting room. It might mean getting up early when everybody is still asleep. Or deleting the wireless network drivers on your laptop.
• Store provisions. Have any supplies, snacks or beverages at hand, so you don’t have to leave your bunker.
• Sweep for mines. Eliminate all electronic distractions. Turn off your phone. Block certain websites. Turn off the internet.
• Enlist support. Let the people around you know what you are doing. When they know your “Why,” they will be more supportive.

Chapter 16: The Three Commitments

To succeed with your ONE Thing, there are three commitments required:

• Follow the Path of Mastery
• Move from “E” to “P”
• Live the Accountability Cycle

Mastery can be measured in hours. It usually takes about 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become an expert at something.

That equals about 3 to 4 four hours of practice a day (depending on if you take the weekends off or not) over the course of 10 years.

Moving from “E” to “P” refers to “Entrepreneurial” and “Purposeful.”

Entrepreneurial is our default. Using the skills we have , we apply ourselves to get what we want.

But often, we hit a ceiling. Now we need a Purposeful approach. This is where you start looking for new models to carry you past your limitations.

The Purposeful person follows the simple rule that “a different result requires doing something different.”

To live the accountability cycle is to take complete ownership of your results . It’s facing reality vs. avoiding reality. It’s looking for solutions vs. blaming the circumstances.

One way to cultivate accountability is to find an accountability partner. This person will provide frank, objective feedback. A coach or a mentor are the best choices for that role.

Chapter 17: The Four Thieves

There are four thieves of productivity :

• Inability to say “No”
• Fear of chaos
• Poor health habits
• Environment doesn’t support your goals

Inability To Say “No”

When you say yes to something, it’s imperative that you understand what you’re saying no to.

Every “Yes” will deter you from your ONE Thing. Friends requesting your assistance. Strangers wanting help. Invitations. Interruptions.

Therefore, it’s imperative to learn how to say “No.”

Options include:

• Simply saying “No”
• Ask them a question to help them figure it out themselves
• Pointing them to someone else

The only time you should say “Yes” is when the request connects to your ONE Thing .

Fear of Chaos

When you want extraordinary results, your life gets messy .

Because while you work away at your ONE Thing, the world keeps moving. To-dos rack up .

You must learn to live with these loose ends.

Poor Health Habits

You must manage your health in order to stay productive.

A healthy diet , exercising, and sufficient sleep are not optional. If you don’t take care of these, you cannot succeed . Not only will your productivity suffer, but you might damage yourself beyond repair.

A set morning routine can help with that. Keller recommends this order:

• eat a nutritious breakfast
• spend time with your family
• plan your day

Environment Doesn’t Support Your Goals

The people close to you and the environment you live in must support your goals.

If you are surrounded by negative people , it will rub off on you . Therefore, consciously choose your tribe.

Vice versa, if you spend a lot of time with high achievers, you are more likely to become one yourself .

Likewise, your physical environment plays a big role. Try to remove distractions. Stop watching the news . Avoid the chatty neighbor. Don’t check your emails first thing in the morning.

Chapter 18: The Journey

Dream big. Whatever matters to you — business, relationships, fitness — come up with a goal that is intimidating . Then double it.

Next, go small.

Choose the ONE Thing that will have the greatest impact in relation to your goal right now. Take that first step. Then take the next step.

Keep lining up your dominoes until you get there.

Because if you don’t, you will pay for it in regrets.

Bronnie Ware, in her book “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying,” asked terminally ill patients what they would have done differently.

The most common regret was this: I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself not the life others expected of me.

This is why you need to base your life on purpose, priority, and productivity. When you know your mission, you are less likely to get lost .

This “The One Thing” book review wouldn’t be complete without a few critical observations. There are five ways in which the text could have been improved.

1. Don’t Water Down Your Message

The book is spot on about its core message — success is about focusing on one thing, to the exclusion of everything else .

It’s this radical single mindedness that differentiates the top achievers from the masses. Think Steve Jobs or Michael Phelps.

But that is a difficult message to convey if your target audience are those exact masses .

So not surprisingly, right after introducing its radical message, the book starts to water it down .

Suddenly, we are supposed to never let our ONE Thing compromise our personal life , what Keller calls counterbalancing.

Then Keller wants us to ask the focusing question for all the different areas in our lives — business, health, spirituality, relationships, etc. — essentially reintroducing multitasking .

Next we are told to start each morning with a morning routine of meditation, exercising, healthy cooking, family time, and day planning — all of those before we even get to our ONE Thing .

How is any of that concentrating on just one thing?

It’s not Keller’s fault, though.

To most of us, the ONE Thing philosophy is only intriguing from a distance. But when it comes to applying it, we don’t want to give up anything . We want things to stay as they are.

So Keller’s move is unfortunate, but understandable from a business point of view .

2. Don’t Push Counterbalancing

Counterbalancing is the idea that you focus on one thing for long stretches of time in your professional life. But you should only go short in your private life , to not damage your relationships.

Especially for employees — which I assume make up the majority of Keller’s readers — that is not realistic .

If you have a 9-to-5 job , your boss won’t let you time block four hours at the workplace to become a professional musician. You will get fired.

But to reach your goal, you must put in the hours. So where do you take them from? Right, the only thing that is left — your private life .

That is the regrettable truth. And yes, you will hurt people close to you . The biographies of uber successful people are proof of that. Think Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos.

But you cannot have it both ways.

3. Acknowledge the Risks

Keller is a big proponent of thinking big, and he has a point. Most people indeed think too small and end up in a prison of their own making .

But there is a reason for that — they are scared.

They are scared of the sacrifices — the hardship, the discipline, the lost time, the social experiences missed out on.

Keller mentions these fears in passing, but never addresses them .

But they are substantiated, and they should be addressed.

You need to know about the price you are going to pay when you try to become extremely successful at something. Just spreading self-help platitudes about thinking big will not help with that decision.

4. Stay Away from the Phrases

“The ONE Thing” excels when it talks about practical techniques for achieving your goals, like “Goal Setting to the Now” or time blocking.

But the book does less well when it starts to throw around “big words.” Specifically, the sections on purpose, priority and productivity are overblown. They use lots of bombastic language, but they say little .

To be fair, this is a common problem of many self-help books . They try to get you emotionally fired up, when they should really prime your sense of reality.

5. Embed the Anecdotes

“The One Thing” uses a lot of stories, parables and anecdotes.

In principle, there is nothing wrong with that — if those anecdotes connect to the point you are trying to make .

Unfortunately, that is often not the case .

Just one example. In chapter 7, Keller tells the story of the famous Marshmallow experiment .

It’s a great story. But the message of the experiment — “The ability to postpone pleasure is an indicator for success” — does not support the message of the chapter — “We only have limited willpower available each day.”

This goes on throughout the book. The stories are entertaining, but not embedded.

Read It Anyway!

Despite these criticisms, “The ONE Thing” is a great book, well worth reading . The core message, that we must radically focus on one thing to see extraordinary results, is spot on. It’s the reason why I have been recommending this book to friends for years, and why I wrote this “The ONE Thing” summary.

About the Author

Gary Keller originally published “The ONE Thing” in 2013 with co-author Jay Papasan. Subsequently, the book made it onto the bestseller lists of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

Before that, Keller had already co-authored “The Millionaire Real Estate Agent” (2004), and “The Millionaire Real Estate Investor” (2005). Both of these books also became bestsellers.

In total, Keller has sold more than a million copies worldwide.

Keller was born on July 21, 1957, in Pasadena, Texas. After attending Baylor University in Waco, Texas, he moved to Austin in 1979.

He was first employed as a real estate agent, but started his own company in 1983, which eventually became Keller Williams Realty International (KWRI). Keller Williams is now the largest real estate company in the world by agent count.

As KWRI grew, Keller strategically removed himself as a bottleneck. He found key team members to take over for him so he could focus on his role as an educator and writer.

Keller is married and has a son. All of them still live in Austin, Texas. He is an avid guitar player, and originally had plans to become a professional musician. With his band, he regularly plays at Keller Williams events.

Did you like this “The ONE Thing” summary? Then leave me a comment! I would love to discuss your take on the book with you.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Privacy Overview

Recently Visited

Top Categories

Children's Books

Discover Diverse Voices

More Categories

All Categories

New & Trending

Deals & Rewards

Best Sellers

From Our Editors

Memberships

Communities

• Business & Money
• Job Hunting & Careers

Amazon Prime Free Trial

FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button and confirm your Prime free trial.

• Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
• Unlimited FREE Prime delivery
• Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
• A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
• Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists

Important:  Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.

Buy new: .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } -42% $15.60 $ 15 . 60 FREE delivery Monday, December 2 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35 Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com

Return this item for free.

We offer easy, convenient returns with at least one free return option: no shipping charges. All returns must comply with our returns policy.

• Go to your orders and start the return
• Select your preferred free shipping option
• Drop off and leave!

Save with Used - Acceptable .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } $9.79 $ 9 . 79 FREE delivery December 8 - 12 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35 Ships from: Amazon Sold by: Windflower Bookstore

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the authors

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results Hardcover – April 1, 2013

Purchase options and add-ons

What's your ONE thing?

People are using this simple, powerful concept to focus on what matters most in their personal and work lives. Companies are helping their employees be more productive with study groups, training, and coaching. Sales teams are boosting sales. Churches are conducting classes and recommending for their members.

By focusing their energy on one thing at a time people are living more rewarding lives by building their careers, strengthening their finances, losing weight and getting in shape, deepening their faith, and nurturing stronger marriages and personal relationships.

YOU WANT LESS. You want fewer distractions and less on your plate. The daily barrage of e-mails, texts, tweets, messages, and meetings distract you and stress you out. The simultaneous demands of work and family are taking a toll. And what's the cost? Second-rate work, missed deadlines, smaller paychecks, fewer promotions--and lots of stress.

AND YOU WANT MORE. You want more productivity from your work. More income for a better lifestyle. You want more satisfaction from life, and more time for yourself, your family, and your friends.

NOW YOU CAN HAVE BOTH ― LESS AND MORE. In The ONE Thing, you'll learn to:

• cut through the clutter
• achieve better results in less time
• build momentum toward your goal
• dial down the stress
• overcome that overwhelmed feeling
• revive your energy
• stay on track
• master what matters to you

The book has:

• Made on more than 575 appearances on national bestseller lists
• Been #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller, New York Times bestseller, and USA Today bestseller
• Been translated into 40 languages
• Won 12 book awards
• Voted Top 100 Business Book of All Time on Goodreads

The ONE Thing delivers extraordinary results in every area of your life--work, personal, family, and spiritual. WHAT'S YOUR ONE THING?

• Print length 240 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Bard Press
• Publication date April 1, 2013
• Dimensions 6.03 x 0.8 x 8.54 inches
• ISBN-10 9781885167774
• ISBN-13 978-1885167774
• See all details

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

“Encouraging bones of advice worth gnawing on, but absent substantial meat to sink your teeth into.” ― Kirkus Reviews

“It kind of hit home for me […] that when you wake up in the morning, you put your focus on this one thing of what you want to accomplish during the day, which seems like a no-brainer.” ―  Maria Sharapova, World #1 Womens Tennis Association

“ The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan is an easy to read but profound book that helped me to focus on keeping the main thing the main thing in all areas of my life.” ―  Brandon Turner, Author and Podcast Co-Host

About the Author

Gary Keller is executive chairman of both kwx, a holding company that represents the collection of all Keller Williams affiliates and subsidiaries, and of Keller Williams Realty, Inc. Several of his books have been bestsellers, and held positions on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal lists. Collectively his titles have sold more than 5.4 million copies worldwide.

Before Jay Papasan co-authored the bestselling Millionaire Real Estate series with Gary Keller, he worked as an editor at Harper Collins Publishers. There he worked on such best-selling books as Body-for-Life by Bill Phillips and Go for the Goal by Mia Hamm. Jay is a keynote speaker, and co-owns a successful real estate team affiliated with Keller Williams Realty with his wife Wendy in Austin, TX.

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1885167776
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bard Press; First Edition (April 1, 2013)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781885167774
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1885167774
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.08 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.03 x 0.8 x 8.54 inches
• #36 in Business Management (Books)
• #103 in Success Self-Help
• #108 in Personal Transformation Self-Help

Videos for this product

Click to play video

What is The One Thing About?

Could This Be What You Have Been Looking For?

Patrick Smith

Customer Reivew - Great Entrepreneurial Read

Shelly Mettling - Putting it in the cart

MIND BLOWN! - Honest Customer Review of The One Thing

✅ Real Reviews with the Lyons ✅

My honest review of the one thing

(THIS WILL HELP YOU FOCUS) The One Thing Book Review

✅ Benjamin Jacques

Honest review The One Thing

Eddie Hanson

Honest review from an entrepreneur who has read 300 books

Jesse's Prime Insights

Books to read

thetravelingtrendsetter

The ONE Thing: Unclutter your thinking & get great results

✅ Anthony English recommends ⬇️

About the authors

Gary keller.

Gary Keller is executive chairman of both kwx, a holding company that represents the collection of all Keller Williams affiliates and subsidiaries, and of Keller Williams Realty. Several of his books have been bestsellers and held positions on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal lists. Collectively, his titles have sold more than 5.4 million copies worldwide.

Jay Papasan

Jay Papasan [Pap-uh-zan] is a bestselling author who serves as the Vice President of Strategic Content for Keller Williams Realty International, the world’s largest real estate company. He is also Vice President of KellerINK and Co-Owner, alongside his wife Wendy, of Papasan Properties Group with Keller Williams Realty in Austin, Texas.

Jay was born and raised in Memphis, TN. After attending the University of Memphis, he spent several years working in Paris. He later graduated from New York University’s graduate writing program and began his publishing career at HarperCollins Publishers. There, he helped piece together bestselling books such as Body-for-Life by Bill Phillips and Go for the Goal by Mia Hamm.

After moving to Austin, Jay joined Keller Williams Realty International, and in 2003 he co-authored The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, a million-copy bestseller, alongside Gary Keller and Dave Jenks.

His most recent work with Gary Keller on The ONE Thing has sold nearly 2.5 million copies worldwide and garnered more than 500 appearances on national bestseller lists, including #1 on The Wall Street Journal’s hardcover business list. It has been translated into 41 different languages.

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 76% 16% 6% 1% 1% 76%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 76% 16% 6% 1% 1% 16%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 76% 16% 6% 1% 1% 6%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 76% 16% 6% 1% 1% 1%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 76% 16% 6% 1% 1% 1%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the book accessible, easy to read, and well-written. They also say it's insightful, has great ideas, and practices. However, some readers feel the content is repetitive, disjointed, and boring.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the book amazing, accessible, and well-written. They say it's straight and to the point. Readers also mention the book is well organized and has a simple, almost visual idea.

"...The authors emphasize the power of simplicity and the importance of identifying the one thing that will make everything else easier or unnecessary...." Read more

"...Reading this very accessible book will ensure the message is internalized.And you will be very pleased you did...." Read more

"Wow, this is an easy to read and easy to understand and simple almost visual idea of what we all do to get in our own way on the journey to..." Read more

"...Haven’t got to finish reading it yet, but seems good ." Read more

Customers find the book insightful, practical, and compelling. They say it has great ideas and practices. Readers also mention the book helps them figure out their true purpose and overcome multitasking. They appreciate the excellent examples that make his point crystal clear.

"...Overall, “The ONE Thing” is an insightful and practical book that encourages readers to prioritize their efforts and focus on what truly matters to..." Read more

"This book opened me up to better understanding and the importance of focusing on the most important thing...." Read more

"...The final section motivates with unusual clarity on the four thieves of productivity: • Thief #1: Inability to Say “No” • Thief #2:..." Read more

"...To me, while the whole book is replete with great insight , the chapter, actually the page that made the most impact (Kindle version), were pages 90..." Read more

Customers find the book actionable. They say it has different strong concepts, practical advice, and interesting exercises. Readers also mention the book is realistic and easy to understand and implement.

"...The book’s clear, concise writing and actionable steps make it an accessible and valuable read for anyone looking to boost their productivity and..." Read more

"...There are some interesting exercises to do (like “Goal Setting to the Now”) but apart from the main idea that you need to focus on your ONE Thing as..." Read more

"...This book presented me with the Mother of All Questions and teaches how to create movement . This book has come at the appropriate time in my life...." Read more

"...The book is inspiring and actionable . I haven't figured out my ONE thing completely, yet, but I have what I need to get there...." Read more

Customers find the book practical and easy to implement. They say it teaches them to work smarter, not harder, to achieve any goal. Readers also mention the book is straightforward and hard to put down.

"An amazingly easy , straightforward read that has helped me immensely professionally...." Read more

"...Great read full of gold. Simple process that anyone can apply to their business or industry." Read more

"...the theory to a basic & practical way of working which can be easily applied ...." Read more

"...But a lot of the points are really simple , and not too mind-blowing...." Read more

Customers find the book helpful in realigning their focus on what matters most. They say it's an easy read and helps them get laser-focused in life.

"...this book to be an amazing set of stories, principles, and tips on how to intensify focus and achieve extraordinary results in life...." Read more

"...Of course, Focusing Question is great . Well, well, all things are great in this book. You never regret, just pick it...." Read more

"...If you know what your one thing is, this book will help you find a greater focus ...." Read more

"...The focusing question gave me clarity . I was able to drill down to the One Thing in my life that would make me more resourceful...." Read more

Customers find the book excellent and helpful for stopping multitasking. They say it makes them stop and prioritize. Readers also mention the book will make them rethink how they set their priorities.

"...The highlight off this book is that I have been delivered from multitasking and focusing on my “One Thing”, which I was able to experience the..." Read more

"...It is a simple idea to not multitask and to work on one thing at a time...." Read more

"...And yes, I see a difference in my priorities and work schedule ." Read more

"...What do you have to lose? It has really challenged me to re-think my priorities and to have more faith in the way the universe works...." Read more

Customers find the book repetitive, disjointed, and not worth reading. They say the content isn't appealing and has no substance. Readers also mention the approach is tiresome and overwhelming.

"...book, the fact that we must focus on our ONE Thing, is somehow not well introduced ...." Read more

"...It covers a lot of really basic things, and gets a little repetitive sometimes.For example:X was famous. X's story is blah blah blah...." Read more

"...Upon a closer examination, the book is sorely disappointing .The author tries to fit everything in the context of "The One Thing"...." Read more

"...It is also dry and a bit repetitive at times . The information is good, but could've been delivered better.A few of my favorite passages:..." Read more

Reviews with images

This book can help you evolve into the fully optimized person you are meant to become!!

• Sort by reviews type Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Registry & Gift List
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

• About Tubarks Consulting
• Read to Succeed Media Kit
• Evernote Media Kit
• 80 Ways to Use ChatGPT in the Classroom
• Strategies for Success: Scaling Your Impact as a Solo Instructional Technologist and Designer
• The New York Times® Best Sellers
• Book Review Sign Up

Book Review: The ONE Thing – The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

Always interested in how to get more out of my day, I always felt I was missing something. I discovered this book while listening to Entrepreneurs on Fire —a podcast focusing on entrepreneurs. This book helped me find a clearer path to my goals. I have already started to apply some of the lessons to my work and I am happy with the results. I also forewarned my team that we would be using some of these ideas to knock out some of our team goals. 

This 240-page book is a quick and enjoyable read. Keller and Papasan have incorporated a wealth of stories that drive home the points they are trying to make. The book also pulls in quite a bit of research. In addition to a three chapter introduction, the book has three major parts: The Lies, The Truth, and Extraordinary Results. Overall, there are 18 chapters.

The ONE Thing

Keller and Papasan began with a story outlining Keller’s frustration of not being as successful as he wanted. His life changed when he focused on one question:

“What’s the ONE Thing , you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?” (Keller & Papasan, 2012, p. 9).

He pointed out that when he began focusing on one thing, positive things began to happen. As Keller explained the power of dominoes, he noted that it was not only important to focus on the ONE Thing , it was important to focus on the right ONE Thing . What is the one thing that when completed would set up the success of the next one thing? In this introduction, Keller also highlighted different businesses and people who achieved great success because they focused on the ONE Thing .

In this part of the book, Keller focuses on “six lies between you and success” (Kelle & Papasanr, 2012, p. 30):

• Everything Matters Equally
• Multitasking
• A Disciplined Life
• Willpower is Always on Will-Call
• A Balanced Life

As Keller and Papasan addressed equality, they pointed out that to-do lists could be improved by turning them into “success lists.” We should be narrowing down our extensive to-do lists to the key items that will help us move whatever we are doing forward. They advocated narrowing it down even further to the One Thing that will make other items on the list unnecessary. As part of this discussion, they included Pareto’s Principle . This was a great discussion about focusing on the ONE Thing that will move you forward.

In the chapter on multitasking, Keller and Papasan presented a wealth of research showing how multitasking is a lie. Instead, we need to focus on tasks to completion, rather than trying to do many things at one time. They advocated for blocking out time to focus on the ONE Thing .

As Keller and Papasan spoke about discipline and habits, they noted that “You don’t need to be a disciplined person to be successful… Success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right.” (Keller & Papasan, 2012, p. 55).

One of the topics that really stood out to me was on the one on willpower. The authors explained that willpower was an essential attribute to leverage; however, willpower takes energy and depletes over the length of the day. You seem to have less willpower when you are tired or worn down. You can re-energize by taking adequate breaks during the day. As a back up to willpower, you need systems and processes to ensure you are doing everything right even when your willpower is down.

The authors also knocked down the notion of playing it safe and not going for the fences. Trying to play it safe does not yield the results you need to get to the next level. They referenced the “ Think Different ” Apple advertising campaign.

This section only had three chapters focusing on asking the right question, doing the right thing, and looking for the right answers. The authors stressed the importance of asking the right question. What is the question that will help you succeed? The authors introduced this question at the beginning of the book:

“What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” (Keller & Papasan, 2012, p. 106).

Keller and Papasan talked about breaking the complex into the simple. The eating of the elephant. They pointed out that asking this question would help to decide upon doing the right thing at the right time regardless of your area of life: work, health, personal life, finances, etc. The demonstrated how to tweak the question to hone in on the ONE Thing to do for a variety of different subjects and areas of life. When tweaking your questions, Keller and Papasan recommended getting as specific as possible. They also describe where to get answers. One of the places to get answers is through the experiences of others. They stressed the importance of reading. By reading, you can stand on the shoulders of others. I also think that reading is key. Not only do I regularly read books , but I also read what others are sharing on the Internet. I am grateful for those who work out loud and share what they know.

Extraordinary Results

This last section focused on important elements to include: purpose, priority, productivity, three commitments, the fours thieves, and the journey.

On a philosophical level, Keller and Papasan discussed the importance of having a purpose to what you do. What is the reason you do what you do? With a purpose, you can more easily establish your priorities. The authors provided an exercise that takes your someday goal and narrows it to the task that you should be working on right now. They showed how to connect the dominoes. They also provided some extra tips for succeeding a goal setting as well as accomplishing the goals.

Perhaps one of the useful chapters for me focused on productivity. “Productive people get more done, achieve better results, and earn far more in their hours than the rest. They do so because the devote maximum time being productive on their top priority, their ONE Thing” (Keller & Papasan, 2012, p. 158). In this chapter, the authors discussed time blocking; when to block it, how much to block, and how to protect it.

Keller and Papasan also addressed three commitments that you must make to achieve extraordinary results: focus on mastery, focus on purpose, and being accountable. It boils down to taking responsibility for your actions and striving for the best. They also stressed the importance of finding a coach to help you with you with gaps.

Finally, Keller and Papasan talked about creating an environment conducive to success. This means saying no when it does not align with your purpose and you ONE Thing. It also means taking care of your health so that you can have the willpower to succeed.

I thought this was an inspiring book. The ONE Thing has presented me with some ideas to leverage to make my life just a little bit better. If you feel you are frantically paddling and getting nowhere, I would then recommend this book.

Additional Reading

• Book Review: Get It Done: The 21-Day Mind Hack System to Double Your Productivity and Finish What You Start
• A Simple Tool That Can Give a Boost to Productivity
• #ATD2018: Getting Things Done: How You and Your Team Can Become More Productive and Valuable at Work
• Book Review: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
• Book Review: Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business
• Book Review: Tools of Titans-The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-class Performers
• Book Review: Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself

* In the spirit of full disclosure, this is an affiliate link, which means that if you purchase this item through my link I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. I only recommend products & systems that I use and love myself, so I know you’ll be in good hands. Plus, when you order through my link, it helps me to continue to offer you lots of free stuff. 🙂 Thank you, in advance for your support!

Share this:

The One Thing: Summary & Review

In “The One Thing” Gary Keller’s promotes the idea that to succeed in life you need to focus on one thing in life and ruthlessly prioritize that one thing, while mostly forgetting about all the rest.

Bullet Summary

1. start out thinking big, 2. prioritize your tasks: pareto principle, 3. the one thing & the focusing question, 4. habits: the key to success, 5. focus on the one thing (until it’s done), 6. pay attention (and conserve) your willpower, 7. focusing on one thing means saying no to many others, 8. visualize the process, 9. let chaos pile up, real life applications.

• Focus on one important thing in your life (your one thing)
• Prioritize daily on what will have the biggest impact on your one thing
• Do one thing at a time

Full Summary

About the Author : Gary Keller is a successful American entrepreneur and author. He is the founder of Keller Williams a real estate company that, at one point, was the largest real estate company in the world by agent count and second in closed sales volume, and units sold. So, we may add, Gary Keller is speaking from experience when he talks about “focusing on your one thing”.

Think big .

Gary Keller tells the story of how Arthur Guinness (producer of Guinness beer) and J. K. Rowling (author of Harry Potter books) embarked on their life quest with huge expectations.

Guinness leased the beer factory for 9.000 years and Rowling envisioned seven books before even starting to write the first.

Keller says they were successful in no small part because they started out with huge vision and goals (also read: The Magic of Thinking Big ).

When You Think Small You Waste Your Potential

But what do most of us do instead?

We are intimidated by big thoughts and visions and we settle down for something “more realistic”. But when we settle down for “something more realistic” we lower our future trajectory and we settle down for less than we could.

Success requires action, of course. But action requires thought. That’s why we need to think big.

Success requires action; but action requires thoughts: Think BIG!

Many of us have either done or gone through a task list at one point or another in our lives.

The One Thing makes a great point on common mistakes when starting said task lists: tackling the easiest first, the first on the lists or the most time-consuming.

That’s a big mistake because not all tasks are the same.

Some won’t do much of a difference if at all, while some others can provide you with a quantum leap towards your goals.

That’s why we should all ruthlessly prioritize our tasks by the impact they will have on our goals.

Here’s the question to achieve just that:

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

And that’s exactly the principle behind The One Thing:

That simple question right there will do two things for you:

• Remind you of the one thing, your overarching goal you are after (long term)
• Help you prioritize in the short term what you need to do

Keller says that staying steadfast in the pursuit of your goal is not so much self-discipline as it is about habits.

Think of Michael Phelps , he says. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Such as, that he wasn’t able to focus on just one thing.

Instead, he focused on just one thing: swimming every day.

My Note: ADHD is a rather common diagnosis these days and not nearly as a handicap as The One Thing makes it out to be. However, the point is still valid.

Keller righteously says that once the habit has been formed it won’t take nearly as much discipline to maintain it. And after it becomes an established part of your life, you can go back to “cruise control” or, even better, focus on building another empowering habit (also read The Power of Habit ).

I like this quote on the subject:

Hard habits are difficult to build but make for an easy life. Easy habits don’t require any effort but make for a hard life. – Brian Tracy

Multitasking is not something to be proud of: multitasking saps our efficiency .

We can do a few things at the same time, yes, but one of those activities should be very easy. Like walking (doesn’t require focus) and talking complex issues on the phone (we can fully focus on the issues).

But talking about complex issues while writing on another complex issue does not work. We cannot multitask with two activities that require our full focus and attention… Unless we do both of them very sloppily .

Also, as Ferris says in The 4 Hour Workweek , we don’t work like computers CPU work and switching from one activity to another take time to re-adjust and we waste valuable time.

“Wasting time” doesn’t sound impressive enough to you?

Well, just think this: it’s estimated that office workers, interrupted on average every 11 minutes, spend one-third of the day recovering from distractions!

Don’t waste a third of your day: focus on one thing at a time.

My Note: while Keller is spot-on on multitasking, don’t let that discourage you from looking at all ways you can become more efficient. For example, when I am doing repetitive tasks on my laptop I do listen to audiobooks (for example: adding affiliate links on this page). And when I’m doing easier tasks such I might listen to easier Youtube videos.

Your willpower is like a fuel tank. It will run out after you’ve run with it for a long time.

It’s a phenomenon called ego depletion .

Keller says you must work with that in mind to be efficient: choose carefully what you need to pay attention to and do the most important things first.

My Note: I prefer the analogy of willpower as a muscle as it can also grow over time. Also the notion that willpower is limited has been challenged and you can read more in my pop-psychology article .

To focus on your one thing you must learn to say no to many more other projects and opportunities.

If you receive too many requests, think of ways to reduce them, or learn to say no without sounding mean about it. Bottom line is, you gotta say no to say yes to your one thing.

• Say no while maintaining a good relationship
• How to be assertive

Assertiveness: 6 Steps to Empowered Communication

These days everyone talks about the importance and usefulness of visualizing.

I liked though that Keller adds a further step to it: don’t just visualize your goal, but visualize the steps that will get you there.

Students who visualized themselves studying VS students who just visualized getting top grades reported higher levels of satisfaction while studying.

Keller says that as you focus on one thing your life will keep happening in the meanwhile. He says that, at a certain point, you should come to accept chaos as an inevitable part of life.

My Note: this resonated with me a lot as I read it.

I always used to feel bad about my house not being perfectly clean. Well, now I know that it’s a normal part of focusing on knowledge acquisition instead.

• Ruthless Prioritization

This is something that I’m really sold into.

I had a mindset where I often would keep my best moves for the future. That way I could lull myself in the idea that “the best is yet to come”. BS. Life is short, always ask yourself what’s the biggest bang for the buck you can do right now .

• Accept Some Chaos While You Purse Your One Thing

When you focus on one thing you know that you can expect other areas of your life to suffer. It’s OK.

This was a very important concept for me and now I accept more openly that, well, my house won’t be as perfectly clean as I like it to be.

Starting With Huge Vision?

The author picks a few examples to make the point you must start with huge vision. But that does not prove the effectiveness of the method (it’s a typical case of inductive reasoning fallacy, also read Fooled by Randomness ).

I can think of as many people who started with big dreams and got crushed by a much harsher reality than they expected.

As a matter of fact, I think that envisioning a huge goal come true before you even start can be dangerous because the first drawbacks can discourage you.

As Keller himself says, better to also focus on the hard work to get there. And as The One Thing itself quotes: the secret to getting ahead is getting started (even if you don’t have your grand vision yet).

The secret to getting ahead is getting started

It Makes Sense: To Succeed In A Highly Competitive World, You Must Focus On One Thing

The One Thing is somewhat of a happy crossover between Grit by Angela Duckworth (stay with one thing) and Start with WHY by Simon Sinek (find your one thing).

To which Keller adds ruthless prioritization.

The One Thing is a great book. Lots of wisdom and lots of sensible information to live a fulfilling and successful life.

It’s a five-star book (but I give it four stars here because I am adamant about keeping my 5 stars to a very limited number of books).

Read more summaries or get the book on Amazon

About The Author

Lucio Buffalmano

Related posts.

100 Million Offers: Summary & Review

Power: Why Some People Have It – and Others Don’t: Review

The Power of the Pussy: Book Summary & Review

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

• Privacy Policy
• Productivity Frameworks
• Tips & Tricks

The One Thing Book Review: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

This is something that we all know intuitively. Multitasking doesn’t work. It is the truth short-term – you can type on only one keyboard at a time. This is also the case long-term. If you chase too many goals, if you and your team are not clear on the next big project to execute – it will lead to chaos, frustration and missed deadlines in the end. My recent discovery in this topic is the book: The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results.

“The One Thing” is a best-selling book by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan that offers a surprisingly simple solution for achieving extraordinary results in your personal and professional life. In this book review, we’ll explore the key concepts and takeaways from “The One Thing” and discuss how you can apply them to your own life.

What is “The One Thing” 🎯

At the heart of “The One Thing” is the idea that success is not a matter of doing many things, but rather of doing one thing at a time, and doing it well. The authors argue that by focusing on your most important task, or “one thing,” you can achieve extraordinary results and make progress towards your goals much faster.

The book provides a simple framework for identifying your “one thing” and eliminating distractions that can get in the way of achieving it. The authors also discuss the importance of goal-setting, time-blocking, and maintaining a sense of purpose and passion.

Key Takeaways 🚀

Here are some of the key takeaways from “The One Thing” that you can apply to your own life:

• Focus on your most important task: Identify your “one thing” and prioritize it above all else.
• Eliminate distractions: Say no to anything that doesn’t align with your “one thing” or help you achieve your goals.
• Set specific goals: Define clear, measurable goals that are aligned with your “one thing.”
• Time-block your schedule: Block out time in your schedule for your “one thing” and protect that time from interruptions.
• Stay focused on your purpose: Keep your “why” in mind and stay motivated by the bigger picture of what you’re trying to achieve.

Three major lessons 🎓

1. prioritize the vital few: focus for impact.

“The One Thing” urges us to pinpoint and prioritize tasks that truly matter. Skip multitasking and zero in on the one thing that can make a significant difference. This focused approach boosts productivity, propelling us closer to our goals.

2. Time Blocking Unlocks Peak Productivity

The book introduces time blocking—allocating specific chunks of time to concentrate on crucial tasks. This technique minimizes distractions, enhances efficiency, and nurtures the habit of sustained focus. Structuring your day with time blocks paves the way for substantial progress.

3. Domino Effect: Small Steps, Big Wins

Emphasizing the domino effect, the authors highlight the power of small, consistent actions. Starting with a manageable task—the lead domino—sets off a chain reaction, moving you toward significant milestones. “The One Thing” advocates breaking down goals into achievable steps for sustainable success.

The most valuable takeaways from this book is the concept of The Focusing Question:

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

As a manager, you will need to be efficient and also make sure that your team is doing the right thing at the right time. It is a skill that can be trained. It will help you with dilemmas like: should I focus on interviewing for new positions in my team, or should I focus on this burning project that needs to be executed? Should I attend this important meeting with no agenda, or should I meet with my people to clarify their goals?

I invite you to read this position because nowadays we have the wrong concept of productivity that assumes, or even promotes:

• multitasking
• having many priories – (priority should always be in the singular form, no?)
• and in general – lack of focus on one activity at hand.

My favourite quotes below 💬

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. Gary Keller

Multitasking is a lie Gary Keller

A life worth living might be measured in many ways, but the one way that stands above all others is living a life of no regrets. Gary Keller

It is not that we have too little time to do all the things we need to do, it is that we feel the need to do too many things in the time we have. Gary Keller

Juggling is an illusion. … In reality, the balls are being independently caught and thrown in rapid succession. … It is actually task switching. Gary Keller

Thinking big 💪🏼

I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all. Gary Keller

>Big is bad< is a lie. It’s quite possibly the worst lie of all, for if you fear big success, you’ll either avoid it or sabotage your efforts to achieve it. Gary Keller

Don’t let small thinking cut your life down to size. Think big, aim high, act bold. And see just how big you can blow up your life. Gary Keller

Success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right. Gary Keller

Other people quotes in the book ✍🏼

People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures. F. M. Alexander

We are kept from our goal, not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal. Robert Brault

More books and reviews here . The blog posts where I write about the principles covered in the book .

Conclusions ☕️

“The One Thing” offers a powerful framework for achieving extraordinary results in any area of your life. By focusing on your most important task and eliminating distractions, you can make significant progress towards your goals and achieve success faster than you ever thought possible. Whether you’re looking to improve your personal or professional life, “The One Thing” is a must-read business book that provides actionable insights and a simple yet powerful approach to achieving your dreams.

Buy it here. 🛒 Listen here 🎧

Thanks for reading!

If you are interested in topics like this, I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter, where I cover book reviews, information about new episodes of my podcast and many more topics that will help you to develop your leadership skills.

Privacy Overview

• ADMIN AREA MY BOOKSHELF MY DASHBOARD MY PROFILE SIGN OUT SIGN IN

THE ONE THING

The surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results.

by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013

Encouraging bones of advice worth gnawing on, but absent substantial meat to sink your teeth into.

The founder of Keller Williams Realty outlines approach patterns for achieving great results in your work life.

Keller opens with a scene from City Slickers , in which Billy Crystal turns to Jack Palance and asks him to divulge the “one thing” that is the secret to life: “ ‘But what’s the ‘one thing?’ ‘That’s what you got to figure out.’ ” This is an appropriate opening, as Keller, with the assistance of Keller Williams vice president of publishing Papasan, also leads readers up to the edge, then abjures specifics. Not that there aren’t scads of sound, if generalized, opinions about getting something done well—e.g., narrow your concentration, focus, get to the point, get to the heart: “If today your company doesn’t know what its ONE Thing is, then the company’s ONE Thing is to find out.” Success is geometric, not linear. You must embrace chaos, find a supportive environment, block out your time, be committed, accept responsibility and have no regrets—some failure is a given. Pay attention to scale; both the big picture and the small focus are important. Perhaps the best piece of advice is to find a mentor: “No one succeeds alone. No one.” Yet the nub is elusive; “here’s how you get to the answer” is in short supply. So much is circular (“the only actions that become springboards to succeeding big are those informed by big thinking to begin with”), tautological or disconnected: “When you make faster decisions, you’ll often be the one who makes the first decisions and winds up with the best choices.”

Pub Date: April 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-885167-77-4

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Bard Press

Review Posted Online: March 15, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013

BUSINESS | LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT & COMMUNICATION | GENERAL BUSINESS

Share your opinion of this book

THINKING, FAST AND SLOW

by Daniel Kahneman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2011

Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...

A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.

The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1

Page Count: 512

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011

BUSINESS | LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT & COMMUNICATION | PSYCHOLOGY

More by Daniel Kahneman

BOOK REVIEW

by Daniel Kahneman & Olivier Sibony & Cass R. Sunstein

More About This Book

IN THE NEWS

THE CULTURE MAP

Breaking through the invisible boundaries of global business.

by Erin Meyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 27, 2014

These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.

A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.

“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.

Pub Date: May 27, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1

Page Count: 288

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014

BUSINESS | PSYCHOLOGY

• Discover Books Fiction Thriller & Suspense Mystery & Detective Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy Nonfiction Biography & Memoir Teens & Young Adult Children's
• News & Features Bestsellers Book Lists Profiles Perspectives Awards Seen & Heard Book to Screen Kirkus TV videos In the News
• Kirkus Prize Winners & Finalists About the Kirkus Prize Kirkus Prize Judges
• Magazine Current Issue All Issues Manage My Subscription Subscribe
• Writers’ Center Hire a Professional Book Editor Get Your Book Reviewed Advertise Your Book Launch a Pro Connect Author Page Learn About The Book Industry
• More Kirkus Diversity Collections Kirkus Pro Connect My Account/Login
• About Kirkus History Our Team Contest FAQ Press Center Info For Publishers
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Reprints, Permission & Excerpting Policy

© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC.   All Rights Reserved.

Popular in this Genre

Hey there, book lover.

We’re glad you found a book that interests you!

Please select an existing bookshelf

Create a new bookshelf.

We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!

Please sign up to continue.

It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!

Already have an account? Log in.

Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.

Almost there!

• Industry Professional

Welcome Back!

Sign in using your Kirkus account

Contact us: 1-800-316-9361 or email [email protected].

Don’t fret. We’ll find you.

Magazine Subscribers ( How to Find Your Reader Number )

If You’ve Purchased Author Services

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up.