Our client companies are in the practice of choosing up to 5 priorities (and the top 1 of the 5) for the quarter, to help leadership teams invest energies and resources in the most beneficial directions. Today's post is about YOU - the individual. What would happen if you would focus on just One Thing? Amid the juggling, the competing business and personal priorities, what would happen if one item were important enough to draw your entire focus? What would that One Thing be?
You know, of course, that this is the reason why some people actually enjoy crises to some extent. Perhaps enjoy is a strong word given the devastation that the pandemic wreaked and is still wreaking. That said, that big, overwhelming thing that's happening removes the responsibility of choice, of prioritizing - it places itself smack-dab in the center of your attention and you HAVE to deal with it and only it. Your energy and resources are focused there. What if you weren't in a situation where you have to react, though?
For some people, when there's no crisis the squeakiest wheel, the loudest complainer, draws attention and action - if only to shut them up. Novelty is appealing to others, so they can become diverted to investigate the most recent bright, shiny thing. And some are pulled by whatever direction other people are going, or they follow the influencers whose opinions they value.
What if you made a point to choose your One Thing? Would One Thing transform your business results, or maybe even your life?
The One Thing might be one critical number that you want to achieve at work, like a certain number of quotes this month, or a close ratio on the quotes you issue. Or you might target a measure of productivity and effectiveness that creates beneficial impact all the way through your business cycle. Make that the center of your focus, and do whatever is necessary to hit it.
The One Thing could mean One priority at home. Single-mindedness benefits you in certain pursuits that are important, but that are easy to let slide when life intervenes. Maybe you want to accumulate X dollars in savings. If that's truly your One Thing you are going to make decisions about vacations, entertainment, and dining out that are in alignment with it. You might even choose to take on a side hustle to build that balance AND score a bit of extra cash for fun things.
It would be overly simplistic (OK, unrealistic too) to presume that you can only have one thing going on at a time. Think of it instead as your One Thing being the item that you place at the top of the list. It's what you consider first when choosing. Identify a time frame during which you are going to keep it at the top of the pile. And then at the end of that time frame, either renew it for the next month, or quarter, or replace it with something else.
The point is in identifying what is important, and then to choose it rather than having it thrust itself upon you. A coaching colleague and friend says, "You can have anything you want, but you can't have everything you want." Famed feminist Betty Friedan said, "You can have it all - just not all at the same time." Choosing something over here may mean giving up something over there. But that's what your One Thing is all about. When you concentrate your force, your focus on that One Thing, you're more likely to achieve it.
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