In the 1991 comedy City Slickers, there’s a memorable exchange between the film’s protagonists, in which the older, sage figure tells the younger character, “Do you know what the secret of life is? One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that, and everything else don’t mean sh*t…. That’s what you’ve got to figure out.” Gary Keller (co-founder of the world’s most successful real estate company, Keller Williams Realty) teams up with his editor, Jay Papasan, to convince the world that this is the soundest advice out there, that to find and pursue that One Thing is the key to a life that is simpler, less stressful and more meaningful.

With success, the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. The path to success is not doing more, but going small—honing in on that One Thing that matters most. This means learning to separate the precious from the worthless, setting aside all the things that you could go for in order to go after what you really should be pursuing. The more you tighten your focus, the more amazing and noticeable your results will be. We often exhaust ourselves doing way too many things and achieving only mediocre results in all of them, instead of doing a handful of things well.

Spread yourself thin, bury yourself in the never-ending to-do lists, and you risk settling for average work with no noticeable impact; and resigning yourself to the belief that c’est la vie — “such is life.” This is how dreams die, and people conclude their lives are insignificant.

Going small is refreshingly simple, and, paradoxically, it will give you more: you will have more time; what you do will feel more meaningful; and anxiety over which decisions need to be made - including when and how often - will decrease. Learning and acting on your One Thing is the key.

Bear in mind that success does not come all at once. It is built over time, one item at a time. If you hope for instantaneous success, that everything will miraculously converge, you’ll quickly feel overwhelmed by any signs of challenge or complexity.

Founded from some of the lowest points in our lives, we started Holtz Leather - in our basement and on a shoestring budget. By God’s grace we have watched the business grow into so much more than we ever could have imagined. We want our business to be passed down to our children, and the products we make to be heirloom quality. We’ve expanded beyond just leather to millworks, candles, pottery and custom leather patch hats, all handmade in our Huntsville, AL shop. But the greatest expansion has been when we adopted 5 children from Costa Rica, in 2020. We value honor, tradition, family and hard work. Shop Holtz Leather and proudly support an American family business.

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No one is good at everything. Look at the success stories of athletes, entrepreneurs, musicians and other famous individuals. They are typically known for that One Thing for which they had a particular knack. Maybe van Gogh was a good poker player, but everyone remembers him for his exquisite paintings. Bill Gates might be good at Sudoku, but he will be remembered for his remarkable skill as a computer programmer. Programming was his One Thing since middle school when his school got a computer. And maybe Michael Phelps is a half-decent singer, but we know him and will remember him for his Olympian swimming ability. Or consider Apple’s wildly successful branding. In 1998, Apple began to market their Mac computers as iMac. Then came iTunes, iPods, iPhones, and iPads. From that One Thing came a successful family of electronic products.

The secret to success is not a complicated formula but a simple principle.

This sounds exciting on paper, but before running out to do that One Thing, it is helpful to debunk mistaken assumptions that pass by undetected because they resonate with our cultural sensibilities. Here are a few lies that have proven detrimental to success:

One common lie that derails the success train is that all things are equally important. Equality is a noble ideal in the realm of human rights, but from an achievement perspective, the notion is paralyzing. If all decisions are weighted the same, you will become frantic and reactionary. Everything feels urgent and in need of immediate attention. The busiest doer isn’t necessarily the most effective or productive. Checking off twenty unimportant tasks is subpar to completing one meaningful task.

Another lie is that multitasking is a skill worth cultivating. This goes against the grain of conventional wisdom. In Western cultures especially, we prize efficiency. Multitasking is an ability people speak about with pride or envy. But if we really valued efficiency, we’d be better off without the multitasking. Multitaskers are not especially talented—they’re just especially prone to distractions. We can do two things at once, but we are unable to focus on both things simultaneously. As the ancient Roman thinker, Publilius Syrus, once wrote, “To do two things at once is to do neither.”

Multitasking leads to mistakes, ineffectiveness, stress, and the cultivation of poor decision-making skills as one learns to prioritize the newest information over older information, even if the older task at hand was the more important.

There’s no need to beat yourself up over succumbing to distractions, as it comes pretty naturally; but, over time, giving in to the impulse to multitask will leave its mark on your work and your mental and emotional stability.

When people are stressed over to-dos and deadlines piling up, the common conclusion is, “I need more discipline in my life.” This is another common lie that clutters out One Thing one-track focus. Achievement has far more to do with doing the right thing than getting it all right. It’s not a question of more discipline. We’ve got enough. It’s more about establishing a habit.  A disciplined life sounds like someone trying to fire on all cylinders all the time, which is exhausting and impossible. You just need enough to form a habit—a habit of doing One Thing. It’s more about just doing it. By simply doing One Thing, you’re freed from the pressure of killing it in every little thing.

“Habit” is a daunting word for some. Just as it takes more energy to catalyze a chemical reaction than to sustain one, so habit-building takes more effort on the front end. If you do something enough, it will eventually become second nature, a part of the habit loop that your brain will anticipate and crave. Studies show that it takes about sixty-six days for a new habit to form and stick. This is only overwhelming if you attempt a complete life overhaul. Success builds. It doesn’t come all at once. Start with one habit that aligns with that One Thing you’re going for, and then give it time to stick.

These lies about equality, multitasking and discipline will throw you off the path to success. Other common notions that ring true—but are flat-out falsehoods—are that willpower is something that can be summoned at any time, that balance is a mark of success, and that thinking too big is arrogant and unattainable. 

We’re all looking for  answers, but we’re often asking the wrong questions. The process of discovering your One Thing must begin with the Focusing Question: “What’s the One Thing I can do, such that, by doing it, everything else will become easier or unnecessary?”

The Focusing Question is powerful because it requires us to give thought to the big picture, as well as the particular actions required to get there. One Thing looks at macro and micro, orienting us toward the ultimate goal and the action that needs to be taken right now. Picking One Thing means putting all your eggs in one basket. By streamlining our tasks, the dominoes are lined up. You knock one over, and success starts to come more and more quickly over time. You start with the biggest, most important task, and the others come to completion more easily.

Using the Focusing Question in life’s various spheres (spiritual, social, physical, vocational) is the best habit we can form because it teaches us to prioritize.

 

The point of asking a great question is to move toward a great answer. The Focus Question is a great question because it requires attention to ultimate ends and particulars. Likewise, the answer we form should be both broad and particular. You will find answers to these great questions in one of three realms: the doable realm (where you feel confident and comfortable), the stretch realm, or the outer band of the doable realm (where an answer is attainable through research and some extra effort), and the realm of possibilities (where you venture into the unknown). It is good to do research and start conversations with people, but don’t hang out in the doable and stretch realms. The realm of possibilities is the arena of high achievers, those willing to brave the unknown, and who end up doing things completely differently. Don’t stop with research and conversations with the experienced. Push into the possibilities, and the threshold for the stretch zone will continue to rise. What you used to consider the outer limit of your comfort zone is now completely comfortable. 

Benchmarking and trending is the best way to find an answer in the realm of possibilities and hone in on your great answer. A benchmark is where things stand at present in an area of interest. Trends are the possibilities for future successes in that area. This will land you in situations of uncertainty and chaos, because it will mean looking for new answers that haven’t already been given. When you approach a question from an angle no one else has, you’re in territory that’s unfamiliar - not just to you, but to just about everyone else, as well. Consider yourself warned: New answers will often lead to new behavior. Your experience in the realm of possibilities will inevitably shape you, but people who have the courage to find these answers find it worthwhile. 

When many people think of success, they jump straight to, “What can I produce?” They are anxious for concrete results. But productivity is just the visible tip of the success iceberg. The vast majority of a glacier is submerged beneath the surface, invisible but substantial. Far below the surface are purpose and priority. Purpose deals with the core of your idea identity. From this comes Priority - what we value most. Productivity is the outworking of those values. This is the life well-lived - one in which these three P’s are in sync.

Purpose, Priority and Productivity are mutually reinforcing. As you take actions that align with your purpose, the feedback will solidify your sense of purpose and determination to maintain your priorities. The tip of the iceberg (productivity) will grow as the subaquatic base (purpose and priority) does.

It’s one thing to know who you are and what you’re about. But if you have no sense of priority, then you will be ineffective. The word priority itself comes from the Latin word for “first.” This is where the One Thing is so vital. It is the link between purpose and productivity. 

As people go for their One Thing they sometimes run into productivity blocks. The main ones are the inability to say “no,” the fear of chaos, not maintaining health, and tolerating environments that aren’t conducive to goal achievement.

Some people have a hard time saying “no.” They’re afraid of sounding mean or selfish. But by saying “yes” to something, you are implicitly saying “no” to other things. Too many yeses will leave you scattered, and cut into your One Thing time. It is imperative that you’re saying “no” to the unnecessary, and “yes” to the One Thing.

Chaos is part of the deal when you passionately pursue that One Thing. Messes pile up. Miscommunications abound. People and projects you care about - but are not essential to your One Thing - will vie for your attention and create inner tension. To turn aside from the One Thing in order to deal with the minutia will feel like a relief, like you’ve released a pressurized valve. But when you get into the weeds, you can say goodbye to productivity. This is not to downplay the difficult circumstances in people’s lives, nor the time-intensive obligations; but it is advisable to think in terms of solutions and alternatives, so that you can continue to devote time to your One Thing. Impossible? Maybe. But argue fiercely enough for those constraints in your life, and you’re far more likely to hang on to them.

One must never see good health as optional; nor should health and success be viewed in either-or terms. Health is vital to success; it’s not supposed to be sacrificed for success. Meditation, prayer or connecting with a purpose greater than yourself is essential. Breakfast is still the most important meal of the day. Exercise is critical to health and high performance. So is staying connected with loved ones.

Are you spending all your time with Negative Nancy and Debbie Downer? Even if you consider yourself mentally and emotionally resilient, it’s just a matter of time before they rub off on you. Studies have shown the huge extent to which those in our “spheres of influence” are actually influencing us. Take stock of the people with whom you surround yourself. To be with ambitious, positive people intent on doing something meaningful with their lives creates what sociologists refer to as a “positive spiral of success.” Ideally you get caught in that upward spiral, but that doesn’t happen if you spend time with pessimists and cynics. It also doesn’t occur in isolation. You need others who will spur you on.

These insights are just an introduction. If you're ready to dive deeper, pick up a copy of The One Thing here. And since we get a commission on every sale, your purchase will help keep this newsletter free.