Resolutions, and goals, and habits, oh my!
The new year is a fresh slate, which like a blank piece of paper, can be overwhelming or inspiring, or both.
Are you grateful for having choices but confused about which choices to make?
Me, too.
Over the holidays I read a book called The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan
At first, it seemed too simplistic and geared for the business crowd.
But I kept reading and there was just too much truth to ignore: if you run in too many directions you won’t accomplish what you want.
I liked the quotes included, those nuggets of wisdom in such short pithy statements.
I also appreciated the examples where he got more into the nitty gritty of how you adjust your schedule to make time for your one things and how that might look different if you are a mom, a caregiver, an employee rather than an executive.
A reminder that
- you have the power to choose what is important to you -your priority
- you have the power to choose how you will focus on what’s important to you
- making choices about your priority usually requires saying no or goodbye to things that are not your priority
One thing.
Not a scattered zillion things like I try to do, and then wonder why I get nothing done.
But how do you figure our your one thing?
Use this focusing question to help you figure out what to work on:
What’s the ONE thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?
And when you take the time to reflect and decide on what your one thing is – in different areas of your life – how freeing that can be.and how it reduces stress as you make decisions to make progress on that one thing.
I also loved this quote:
There is an art to clearing away the clutter and focusing on what matters most. It is simple and it is transferable. It just requires the courage to take a different approach. George Anders
More words of wisdom for reflection:
How we phrase the questions we ask ourselves determines the answers that eventually become our life.
Clarity must come from us. We must envision our own journeys, make our own maps, and create our own compasses. – Yes — an unschoolers manifesto!
Just yesterday I saw this video about 5 essential questions which I also thought was really helpful:
Over to you:
How are you phrasing your questions?
Which questions make sense to you?
What s the ONE thing you can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?