Book Review: The One Thing

The ONE Thing by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan was a book that had been on my reading list for a few months now. I’d heard it come in podcasts such as Bigger Pockets and seen it pop us a recommended read on Amazon. I had very high hopes for this book and because of that, I was slightly disappointed. Overall the book delivers a clear message on focusing on a single stretch goal and then continually breaking that down into one thing you focus on now.

The concept is clean and delivered in an easy to consume manner, my difficulty, which may be more to do with the difficulty of breaking down my one thing, is practicality of implementation. While the book is focused on teaching you to focus on the most important thing first, it dictates that there are many important ONE things in various areas of our life. This could be in your health, business, family, spiritual, or financial life. The key is focusing from there as to how you dictate that one thing each day and within specific time frames. They do try to discuss different strategies utilizing a calendar, but in practice, this is the most difficult piece for me.

I do believe it is a good read and will help you with your time prioritization and there are many good points about multitasking which are valid. The book missed the mark simply from how hyped up it was from all of these other sources that quote it as a top business book. If I didn’t have preconceived notions about how earth shattering this book would be, I would have likely taken away more.

The premise I find very important and strong of focusing on the single most important tasks or activities that will put you closer to your goals. This resonates with me and is a simple to implement strategy in your everyday life. I’ve read one of their first real estate books The Millionaire Real Estate Investor which I very much enjoyed as a practical and educational guide. The ONE Thing is a quick read and worth brushing up on prioritization and focus on your goals.

Amazon link and other book reviews:

Thinking for a Change

Commit to Win