The following contains excerpts from the book, The One Thing (Gary Keller, Jay Papasan).
At our music school in Odessa, Texas we believe that music is more than sound, it is relationships. When delving into the subject of relationships, the subject of Leadership comes to the fore. One of the most profound aspects of successful Leadership is gaining insight into what to focus on, bringing those being led into consensus.
This is a book about focus and priorities. The thesis is essentially the concept of the Pareto Principle, taken to the extreme. If 20 percent of the effort produces 80 percent of the results, then what is the 20 percent of the 20 percent, and even narrower: What is the 20 percent of that 20 percent, down to the One thing that leverages your greatest strength?
Although the author’s direction is toward life-focus, he allows that this can be done for every part of one’s life in this priority structure: spiritual life, physical health, personal life, key relationships, job, business, and financial life.
At our music school in Odessa, Texas we make it our goal to help the student develop core competencies in their areas of study that allow them to achieve success in a myriad of directions they may choose.
In the author’s introduction, he states, “extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus…You need to be doing fewer things for more effect instead of doing more things with side effects.” Analogizing the sequential effect of ‘doing the right things’ in a priority sequence to a string of dominoes, he states, “extraordinary success is sequential, not simultaneous…success builds on success.”
“Often, the line between passion and skill can be blurry. That’s because they’re almost always connected…Passion for something leads to disproportionate time practicing or working at it. That time spent eventually translates to skill, and when skill improves, results improve. Better results generally lead to more enjoyment, and more passion and more time is invested. It can be a virtuous cycle all the way to extraordinary results.”
Three Commitments
Follow the Path to Mastery
“Most assume mastery is an end result, but at its core, mastery is a way of thinking, a way of acting, and a journey you experience…I believe a healthy view of mastery means giving the best you have to become the best you can be at your most important work. The path is one of an apprentice learning and relearning the basics on a never-ending journey of greater experience and expertise.”
The goal we have for students in our music school in Odessa, Texas is that they grow to their potential. Each person is different and has unique strengths that can be developed.
“In 1993, psychologist K. Anders Ericsson…essentially gave us our first real insights into mastery and birthed the idea of the ‘10,000-hour rule.’ His research identified a common pattern of regular and deliberate practice over the course of years in elite performers that made them what they were- elite. In one study, elite violinists had separated themselves from all others by each accumulating more than 10,000 hours of practice by age 20. Thus the rule. Many elite performers complete their journey in about ten years, which, if you do the math, is an average of about three hours of deliberate practice a day, every day, 365 days a year. Now, if your ONE Thing relates to work and you put in 250 workdays a year (five days a week for 50 weeks), to keep pace on your mastery journey you’ll need to average four hours a day. Sound familiar? It’s not a random number. That’s the amount of time you need to time block every day for your ONE Thing.”
Diligent daily practice is the only way to mastery of one’s craft. At our music school in Odessa, Texas we teach students to strive each day to gain even incremental progress. After consistent, habitual practice, which can take years, the growth will seem exponential. However, the main focus must be daily focus.
“What might pleasantly surprise you is how giving yourself over to mastering ONE Thing serves as a platform for, and speeds up the process of, doing other things.”
Move from E to P
E= Entrepreneurial (Doing what comes naturally)
P= Purposeful (Doing what comes unnaturally)
“Ask an ‘E’ to cut some firewood and the Entrepreneurial person would likely shoulder an axe and head straight for the woods. On the other hand, the Purposeful person might ask, ‘Where can I get a chainsaw?’”
“Highly productive people don’t accept the limitations of their natural approach as the final word on their success. When they hit a ceiling of achievement, they look for new models and systems, better ways to do things to push them through…A different result requires doing something different.”
“The Purposeful approach says, ‘I’m still committed to growing, so what are my options?’”
Perhaps the greatest benefit we can offer students in our music school in Odessa, Texas is the value of objectivity. We can provide the student with perspective and mature decisions on the path forward for their unique strengths and direction.
“It could be to follow a new model, get a new system, or both. But be prepared. Implementing these may require new thinking, new skills, and even new relationships. Probably none of this will feel natural at first. That’s okay. Being Purposeful is often about doing what comes ‘unnaturally,’ but when you’re committed to achieving extraordinary results, you simply do whatever it takes anyway.”
Live the Accountability Cycle
“Accountable people achieve results others only dream of. When life happens, you can be either the author of your life or the victim of it. Those are your only two choices- accountable or unaccountable.”
“Ericsson’s research…observed…‘the single most important difference between these amateurs and the three groups of elite performers is that the future elite performers seek out teachers and coaches and engage in supervised training, whereas the amateurs rarely engage in similar types of practice.’”
“You’d be hard-pressed to find elite achievers who don’t have coaches helping them in key areas of their life.”
The Four Thieves
- Inability to Say “No”
- Fear of Chaos
- Poor Health Habits
- Environment Doesn’t Support your Goals
Inability to Say ‘No’
“The art of saying yes is, by default, the art of saying no. Saying yes to everyone is the same as saying yes to nothing. 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. You can’t please everyone, so don’t try. In fact, when you try, the one person you absolutely won’t please is yourself.
“The rule is simple. A request must be connected to my ONE Thing for me to consider it.”
Fear of Chaos
“When you strive for greatness, chaos is guaranteed to show up…Oscar-winning filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola warns that ‘anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos.’ In other words, get used to it and get over it.”
Poor Health Habits
“High achievers and extraordinary results require big energy…when you spend the early hours energizing yourself, you get pulled through the rest of the day with little additional effort.”
The Highly Productive Person’s Daily Energy Plan:
- Meditate and pray for spiritual energy.
- Eat right, exercise, and sleep sufficiently for physical energy.
- Hug, kiss, and laugh with loved ones for emotional energy.
- Set goals, plan, and calendar for mental energy.
- Time block your ONE thing for business energy.
Environment Doesn’t Support Your Goals
“Your environment must support your goals…Hanging out with people who seek success will strengthen your motivation and positively push your performance…No one succeeds alone and no one fails alone. Pay attention to the people around you…I’ve learned when you clear the path to success- that’s when you consistently get there.”
The Journey
“When you lift the limits off your thinking, you expand the limits of your life. It’s only when you can imagine a bigger life that you can ever hope to have one…Getting your focus as small as possible simplifies your thinking and crystallizes what you must do.”
“Gilovich and Medvec in 1994 wrote, ‘When people look back on their lives, it is the things they have not done that generate the greatest regret…People’s actions may be troublesome initially; it is their inactions that plague them most with long-term feelings of regret.’”
At our music school in Odessa, Texas we endeavor to help the student strive to reach their fullest potential, so that when they look back on their lives, they can have a sense of satisfaction, knowing that they achieved their best and focused on what was important.