Welcome to the Pursue You Podcast, where we are empowering you to continually reflect, design and pursue who you were created to be so you can give the gift of your best self to your family, community, and business!
Up until a few years ago, I wasn’t what you’d call a big reader. I’d gotten through a few books here and there, but as a realtor, entrepreneur, wife, and mother, my day to day schedule was crazy! Books or professional and personal development took a back burner. It wasn’t until my life and business hit a wall that I realized I needed to step it up a bit. My original business passion is real estate and Gary Keller is the author of a book I was introduced to as a result of my career with Keller Williams, and though I had read it before, I decided I needed to read it again after I had this mindset change, and it ignited a fire in me! I saw how consuming this content actually converted into me being more productive and feeling more confident in myself. It allowed me to live proactively rather than re-actively!
Because of the impact this book made on me, The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan is my first Pursue You Pick! This pick is a book or podcast that I love and think you would benefit from. I’m going to share my big takeaways, and how it’s impacted me, and I hope it will encourage you to check it out for yourself to dig deeper.
[2:15] I introduce the book, The One Thing, and talk about the tagline, “the surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results”. The simple truth is that there is one thing you can do, that if you do it, will make everything else easier or unnecessary.
[4:00] I highlight the three sections of the book: the lies, the truth, and extraordinary results.
[4:25] I dig into the first section, the lies and share the three that impacted me the most. The biggest one is that we believe that everything matters equally. This pointed out to me that just because I think of things in a certain order, doesn’t mean that is how I should prioritize them.
[6:45] I talk about how I practically narrowed down my tasks to things I need to do, things I need to dump and things I need to delegate. The resulting list was my success list, the things I would do that would help me move the needle toward success.
[11:45] I talk about how I found a small habit that I could change that transformed how many hours I had in my day and gave me back my time and energy.
[13:35] I talk about the lie of having a balanced life, and how it really is about finding counter balance. We need to figure out what matters most and make sure that part is getting all the time it needs to have.
[17:30] I move from the section on lies to the section on the truth, and the details on what can actually push us towards success.
[19:00] I share the book’s idea on how to find successful productivity: Ask yourself this question, “What is the one thing that you could do that if you do it, it would make everything else easier or unnecessary?”.
[21:40] I sum up the book by highlighting part three and the extraordinary results. The book details how we need to have purpose in our lives. It aligns so well with this podcast, and there is a quote I love that says, “Happiness happens on the way to fulfillment.” When we’re working towards our purpose, we find happiness in the productivity we have as we pursue the goals we’ve set.
The ideas of this book aren’t earth shattering, they are mostly simple, and it finishes with some tactical advice on time blocking and recognizing when you need systems to break through dead ends and avoid burnout. Despite its simplicity, however, this book helped me move from merely entrepreneurial to purposeful. After spending the last few years reflecting and working on my productivity, I realized it wasn’t the grind that brought me success, and it wasn’t necessary. The problem with the grind for me was that I lacked the awareness of the damage it was causing in the other areas of my life. The takeaways from this book had a big impact on helping me recognize this and reorient my business and life to allow me to pursue my priorities in the best way.
I hope you’ll grab the book, check out the podcast and dig deeper into materials that will present you with small tweaks that will allow you to pursue you and have a greater impact on those around you.
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