The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results Author: Visit Amazon's Gary Keller Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1885167776 | Format: EPUB
The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results Description
About the Author
Gary Keller is chairman of the board and cofounder of Keller Williams Realty, Inc., which holds the #1 position as the largest real estate company in North America. His New York Times bestselling books have sold more than 1,300,000 copies.
Jay Papasan, a former editor at HarperCollins Publishers in New York, coauthors Gary’s books and is Vice President of Publishing at Keller Williams. He’s a frequent event speaker and corporate trainer. - Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: Bard Press; 1 edition (April 1, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1885167776
- ISBN-13: 978-1885167774
- Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
This week Gary and co-author Jay Papasan publishes their next book -- The ONE Thing. I had an opportunity to read an advance copy and there is no doubt that this book will surge to the top New York Times best seller list this month!
In an information overload and multi-tasking world their message is clear and single-minded. You have to FOCUS on ONE thing. Extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus. Of course for most of us that is really hard to do. Distractions and popular philosophies are often the reasons why we think we can't or didn't succeed.
Well, early in this book the authors challenge six widely popular beliefs and confront them as lies.
1. Everything Matters Equally
2. Multitasking is Good
3. Success Requires a Disciplined Life
4. Willpower is Always on Will-Call
5. A Balanced Life is Required
6. Big is Bad
They thoroughly discuss each point, although I am sure one could write a book about each of these topics. But that's not what this book is about. This is about ONE thing, and that's FOCUS. Being successful, according to the authors, requires less discipline than you think. It's about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right. So if you wish to thrive, prosper and flourish...decide what things you're not going to do!
Bottom line... this is a self-help book and I have read hundreds of self-help books, even written some. I can vouch that it's always way harder to create, write and compile your many thoughts into a string of words that deliver a powerful message. Gary and Jay have done a great job! The book is an easy read with good structure, commonsense illustrations and a singularity of message. I would most certainly recommend reading the book.
If you think "The ONE Thing" is an acronym, you are wrong. It is indeed "One Thing" and many little others. Considering that this book took 4 years, research and Gary Keller's tremendous (and oft-repeated) teaching experience to create it is surprisingly short on originality and substance.
It starts out with "Six Lies", their "truthiness" soundly defeated under the heavy blows of (recycled) research. Then moves on to the "Truth", the focusing question. There is a big-picture and a small-focus question. This then turned into a habit, promptly focused onto seven areas of life. Surprisingly then we have to look for others to set up a benchmark and follow trending. Then we move from icebergs to dominoes, to arrive to "The Three Commitments" and to "The Four Thieves". Then there will be success.
I feel that most of us promptly will run into the following problem. Not being the chairman of the board of a multimillion dollar company, we will have a hard time to create a four hour-a-day blocked time segment to pursue our ONE Thing. Then of course we have other areas of our lives with their own little ONE things.
The book is a pretty little thing, well designed with cute graphics, colored quotes, great feel...yet it just feels amiss. Somehow it feels as the brainchild of a very succesful businessman, who is unable to truly relate to others in other profession in other stages of their careers. It is also somewhat contradictory. The author himself admits that he went through stages of different life/career philosophies as he built his own business. He then lost his way to find THE truth that eventually allowed him to find peace and balance (excuse me, balancing).
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