The ONE Thing by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan

Being called "The ONE Thing" there is still a lot to take in when reading this book.

"The ONE Thing" is about putting your focus into your most important thing, rather than focusing on lots of things, because "if you chase two rabbits... you will not catch either one." Using the ONE Thing approach the authors also help you to aim big - "the moon is reachable if you prioritise everything and put all your energy into accomplishing the most important thing".

The book is split into three sections - the Lies, the Truth, and the Extraordinary Results. "The Lies" section tries to debunk common theories that people hold that are anti-One Thing if you like. For example, the lie that multitasking is good, when in fact "to do two things at once is to do neither".

"The Truth" section goes through the processes you should do to make the ONE Thing work, then "the Extraordinary Results" section gives you the tools to use it to break through the ceiling.

The chapters in the book are arranged with introductions, have key points underlined and end with a Big Ideas section providing a summary of the chapter if you just wanted to skim read through. There are also appropriate quotes from various people dotted through the pages and several diagrams to illustrate some of the concepts explained.

Some of the bits in the book you may have come across before, e.g. how writing and sharing your goals with others makes them more likely to be acted upon, but there is no harm in being reminded of these things. The writing is concept-y so takes some concentration. There is some story-telling in there that makes it more readable, but not enough for me. And the ONE thing idea is stretched a bit, e.g. "...your first ONE Thing is..." (surely there should just be one?). However if you make the effort then reading this book could be worthwhile.

Overall I think the ONE Thing approach could work with the key thing for me being to continually use the "focusing question" - "what's the ONE Thing I could do such that by doing it everything else will be easier on or unnecessary?"

Publication date: 25 April 2014

Available on Amazon UK: The ONE Thing