Have you caught onto the fact that we love reading? Because of some goals we set for this year, we are really making it a priority to learn and educate ourselves through the books we are reading. Once a month, we are going to share 5 takeaways and an overall “review” of one or two books, depending on how fast we get through our books. We know it sounds boring, but if you like reading or want some insight from books without reading them, these posts will help you with that 🙂
The One Thing was a really thought provoking book. Some days it made me so frustrated reading, that I had to put it down and work on other things because I felt like I couldn’t answer the question(s) it was asking me. I would put the book down and think all day about that question until I had an answer. Because of this process with this book, it wasn’t a really fast read for me. I had to take it slow to really soak in what it was trying to “teach” me. Although it took me a little longer to read it, I do feel like it’s a good book if you are wanting to grow a business or yourself. It is also a really good book to help you make sure you are on a path that will really take you to where you need to be because of those hard questions it asks you.
My 5 takeaways from The One Thing by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan
- What’s the ONE THING I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary? This is the main question the book asks and then helps you see how that one thing can be a huge game changer for you personally and as a business. What’s your ONE THING today? Just to clarify, your one thing isn’t just business-related; the book goes through different parts of our lives to help us find the one thing we could be doing to improve our marriages, spirituality, and own lives. Answer that question for each part of your life, marriage, business, personally, spiritually, etc. And once your one thing has been finished, find the next one!
- Give yourself a time block to accomplish your ONE THING. In regards to the business aspect of the ONE THING, each day you need to devote time (hours) to accomplish that one thing for the day. Once the one thing is done, you move onto the rest of the things you need to accomplish for the day. In February, our ONE THING was finishing our Bridal Guide magazine for our brides. I would spend hours focused on just that before moving onto anything else. Once the time block is set, protect it! Don’t accept appointments or anything else during that time. Focus on your one thing and then move onto other things and set up appointments outside of that time. Do not answer phone calls or emails during that time, as those serve as distractions to finishing what you are working on. Once our bridal guide was done, we set off to find our next one thing!
- Saying no gives you the chance to say yes to your ONE THING. “Each additional obligation chips away at your effectiveness at everything you try. So the more things you do, the less successful you are at any one of them.” Why not be selective at what you choose to do and put your best efforts into that thing and make it amazing?! Think about it.. what things can you say no too?
- Purpose and priority help you become more productive. The book tells you to picture an iceberg. What we see sticking out of the water, is usually 1/9th of the entire iceberg. That 1/9th is the productivity. At the bottom of the iceberg is our purpose. It’s the largest part of the entire thing, followed by priority. When we have a purpose, we know what we are doing something for and we create priorities to get things done. Because we believe in our ultimate purpose, we set off to be productive to achieve our priorities! There is one thing you need to know to get this idea working for you, what is your purpose?
- Goal setting to the now helps us work towards our big goals and accomplish things today! I love goal setting. I bought a planner for 2016 based solely on the fact that it has a place for monthly and weekly goal setting. This book took goals to another level. They took you from a someday goal to a daily goal and helped you see just how setting goals can help us really get to where we want to be in the future!
Interested in more book reviews?
The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus
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