The One Thing

[Longstreet]

I posted this on the GTD Connect forums and thought I would do so here on the public forums.

I recently read the book "The One Thing" by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. It is an intriguing concept. Of course we all know that there are certain goals, projects, etc. within your life that are inherently more important than everything else. And we pursue them within the framework of GTD. What we have to be careful about is putting too much focus on only one thing to the detriment of everything else in our lives. This piece on Next Actions Associates touches on this well -- avoiding target fixation:

https://www.next-action.eu/2017/04/26/avoiding-target-fixation-gtd/

So....yes, focus on those important projects and goals with drive and passion. But if everything else goes to hell in a hat basket, your victory is going to come with a heavy price. Ignoring all of your other areas of focus, projects, and actions is not a good idea.

What do you all think?

 

[TesTeq]

I think Einstein, Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg, Musk, Bezos were/are fixated on the target. They have paid/pay the price and weren't/aren't writing posts about avoiding target fixation... Just saying... ;-)

 

[Longstreet]

I think Einstein, Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg, Musk, Bezos were/are fixated on the target. They have paid/pay the price and weren't/aren't writing posts about avoiding target fixation... Just saying... ;-)

Ah, this why we love you, @TesTeq. Straight to the point.

I think a counterbalance approach, which they describe in the book, may be important. The greatest things take incredible focus -- and sacrifice. I guess each of us has to decide where that line is in terms of sacrifice.

 

[treelike]

So....yes, focus on those important projects and goals with drive and passion. But if everything else goes to hell in a hat basket, your victory is going to come with a heavy price. Ignoring all of your other areas of focus, projects, and actions is not a good idea.

What do you all think?

If you're doing GTD reviews at all levels at the appropriate intervals then everything else shouldn't go to hell in a hat basket, unless you're OK with that happening.

As for the One Thing, it's great to have purpose at level 5 because everything else falls into p!ace. And if you don't then it's still fun exploring.

 

[Cpu_Modern]

Having all those other Areas, Projects and Actions under control is the prerequisite to be able to spend as much time and energy (work) on the one big thing as you want.

 

[clango]

So we are saying the system, if well developed, can manage even the one thing!
That's said, we need to face-up the barrier we sometimes put to ourselves and list them accordingly.

 

[PTKen]

I loved The One Thing. It reminded me a lot of Essentialism. To the point of target fixation, I have adapted The 4 Disciplines of Execution from a team method to a personal method. In the language used in that book, I am able to make progress on my wildly important goals in the midst of my whirlwind. In other words, everything else does not go to hell in a hat basket (I thought it was a hand basket...) and I achieve my important goals not instead of my day-to-day, but in spite of it.

 

[Longstreet]

I loved The One Thing. It reminded me a lot of Essentialism. To the point of target fixation, I have adapted The 4 Disciplines of Execution from a team method to a personal method. In the language used in that book, I am able to make progress on my wildly important goals in the midst of my whirlwind. In other words, everything else does not go to hell in a hat basket (I thought it was a hand basket...) and I achieve my important goals not instead of my day-to-day, but in spite of it.

You are right....it is in a hand basket!