One Thing
Thanksgiving is the day many in the United States look back at the year and recall things for which we are thankful. Even in the throes of tragedy, we try to find the good. It’s healthy to look back, to be grateful for where we have been. And, after looking back, it’s good to look forward.
Reflection moves us forward. As I reflect on 2024, and my word for the year (which is focus), I think about how much I have learned about writing, about life, and about myself. My one thing has been to write. Yet if you read Focusing on the Big Rocks or any other blog I posted about goals, you know I struggle with focusing on one thing. Even when I sit down to write, I question: “Should I write a summary of my book? Or should I write a blog? Or should I write in my journal?”
One thing I find fascinating, though, is the timing of how pieces of information come together and weave the fabric of our lives into one neatly designed quilt. Currently, a few hundred of my best friends and I are taking an 8-week class with speaker, podcaster, and author, Jon Acuff. Jon is preparing us for “The Greatest Year Ever.” Our homework assignment for day two was to make an extensive “looking forward to list.” From that list, he encouraged us to make goals, and then to funnel our list of goals into one goal. One goal! He challenged us to commit to working on one goal for a minimum of fifteen minutes a day for thirty days.
Jon likens this challenge to dating, rather than marrying. Often people commit to doing something for 365 days that they have not even tried for 1-7 days. On January 1, people set goals such as ‘I’m going to run five miles every day,’ when the only running they have been doing is from couch to refrigerator. So, Jon is encouraging us to start small and build. We may find that after 30 days of “dating our goal”, we don’t even like it. That’s the point of dating. We can break up and find a new goal to date.
Now, while Jon is encouraging our group to focus on one thing, I noticed on Goodreads that Jon just finished listening to Do It Now: Overcoming Procrastination by Fuschia Sirois. Not wanting to procrastinate, I downloaded it and listened to it myself. The author points out that we can’t multi-task like we think we can. We lose our focus every time we get a text, an email, or a phone call, and it takes valuable time to refocus on our task at hand. She says we get less done by trying to do more. She also noted we procrastinate on tasks we know are going to be difficult or unenjoyable. That’s why Jon says we should pick one thing we love. Focusing on one thing we love could lead us to more enjoyable lives.
Before I finished Do It Now, a friend told me she was listening to a book called, The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. I bet you can guess the underlying theme of this book. Yes, like Jon is teaching us to focus on one thing, the authors reiterate the importance of focusing on just one thing. How did Michael Phelps, diagnosed with ADD as a child, become the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time? Among similar stories, the authors note Michael won twenty-eight Olympic medals by focusing on one thing.
Everything I have heard this week is telling me to focus on one thing. So, as you reflect today on what you are thankful for, I challenge you to make your “looking forward to list.” Then, think about what you might focus on in 2025. We have a month to “date” a few goals before we pick one to “marry.” Do you already have something in mind? What is your one thing? I’d love to know your thoughts. Please scroll down and comment below.
*Photo by Janice Burrell
November 28, 2024 @ 7:59 am
So happy to hear how the book, The One Thing fit so perfectly into your focus word for the year! My word for 2025 will be prioritize. Jeff’s word will be contentment.
November 28, 2024 @ 11:29 pm
Yes, Annemarie, I love seeing how our lives and little things intertwine. Oh, good for you! Love that you and Jeff are already thinking about 2025. I think my word will be finish.
December 1, 2024 @ 11:36 am
Interesting to me about the “ one goal “ discipline.
Closing in on 75 years old, I find that I’ve accomplished most of my one goal objectives. Along the way, many side bars and organizational items have been cast aside in order to achieve that one specific goal.
At times it seems overwhelming to clean up these so called piles of incompletions yet at the same time it gives me purpose and structure on a daily basis with no one particular outcome in mind. You might say a life’s “ to do list “ without the focused intensity of getting one , specific goal accomplished.
As we age , time plays a bigger and faster part of our lives. If we are blessed with the gifts of soundness of mind and body then there is a somewhat orderly methodology to all of this.
Help others , feel good … always the main motivational factors in decision making.
Thanks for the article .
December 1, 2024 @ 5:13 pm
That’s a lot to ponder, Tim. I hadn’t thought of the “one thing” from the perspective of a 75-year-old. As a 60-year-old late bloomer starting a new career, I think my perspective is more like a 40-year-old in transition.
Thanks for your input.
November 28, 2024 @ 8:46 am
That’s the most sensible “coming into a new year” advice I have ever heard! Thank you!
November 28, 2024 @ 11:33 pm
Awe, thank you Ardie. It really does make sense to ramp up to the new year. I’m enjoying the planning, thinking ahead, and preparation time.
November 29, 2024 @ 5:18 pm
I love the “dating not marrying ” idea. Makes all the sense in the world! Thanks for this!
November 29, 2024 @ 10:53 pm
Thanks. I thought that was a good one too. Jon Acuff is full of good ideas like that.
December 1, 2024 @ 4:28 pm
Thank you, Joy! I encourage you keep focusing, it’s all coming together.
December 1, 2024 @ 5:06 pm
Thanks for your support, Janice.