THE ONE THING

I recently took an airline flight.  On layovers between legs of the flight the one thing I do [actually one of about four things I always do] is to step into Hudson’s booksellers and see what’s on the new or best-sellers books display.  Last week I stepped in on a two-hour layover and picked up a best-seller titled The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan.  I quickly skimmed the table of contents and speed-read parts of most of the chapters for the 3-4 minutes I could get before the cashier got nervous and started to dust the jackets of the books in the area in which I was standing while surreptitiously eying me to see if I was going to steal something.  Actually I did—I stole the idea for this essay. 

I am interested in being a better person.  I am interested in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen R. Covey).  I am interested in “Be ye therefore perfect …” (Bible, Matthew 5:48) [“perfect” means ‘fully formed, complete’].  I am interested in not “wasting the days of [my] probation” (The Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 9:27).  And yes, I am interested in learning ‘the one thing’ –if there really could be ‘one thing’—that could help me accomplish my highest ambitions and goals.

What I learned in my speed-reading of their book was this: the one thing that people need to get the results they want is to identify their highest priority and then double down and totally focus and concentrate on it and work on it without allowing anything to distract you or derail you during your most productive time of the day (early morning after a good night’s sleep).  Then do it over and over again until it becomes a habit (which takes, they say, an average of 66 days, --not 21 days as we used to be taught). 

To do this we must learn to say ‘no’ to lesser priorities—especially others’ priorities which don’t align with ours.  We must become single-minded to our priority until it is accomplished to the standard we have identified or bought into.  We must be willing to make sacrifices. “If you want your life to sum up to something different, then you need to make additions and subtractions from it.”  If we keep doing what we always have done we will continue always as we are. 

The authors identify, I think, six myths that hold us back [I can remember only five]: 1. Myth—Have a balanced life. They say it won’t get you there. [I would need more convincing on this point although I used to teach it myself: you can’t even walk, let alone run, if you aren’t unbalanced momentarily with every stride.] 2. Myth—Everything matters equally. [I’m in total agreement here.] 3. Myth—You can get more done multi-tasking.  [Ditto no. 2] 4. Myth—A disciplined life is all it takes. 5. Myth—Will power [alone] will get it for you. Myth 6 (I think)—You can make it on your own. [I would agree with this entirely--that is, you can't.]

To build a new habit requires that we completely avoid temptations that derail us. Don’t have that stuff around us.  If we can’t avoid it then move, quit the job, say ‘good bye’ to the erstwhile friend, etc., etc. 

  

I would have liked to have the time to read the rest of the book.  I guess I could have, but at the time I didn’t want to part with the twenty-five bucks to pay for the book. 

Regrets.

 

But I guess that’s what you get when you give in to the temptation to go into a bookstore.