What One Thing?

A few weeks ago I asked my readers what the most important issue was in their business. Hundreds responded with a variety of answers, but one of the most common was, "How do I get everything that needs doing done?"

Happily, I have an answer for this question, but like many things in life, it carries both good news and bad news. The good news is, if you are one of those fortunate few with access to unlimited resources, you can get everything done.

But that's really the bad news, isn't it.

Because among all the people I know - not a single one of them - not one - has access to unlimited resources. Even executives I work with whose budgets run into the hundreds of millions - even they do not have unlimited resources. Even they have to make choices and trade-offs.

Earl Nightingale once asked the question, "What one thing would you do if you knew you could not fail?" And Jack Palance's Curly in City Slickers, asked a similar question: "What is the one thing?"

Their questions contains seeds of the answer to this quandary.

Because all things on your plate are not created equal. They are not all important. They do not all have the same impact, the same dependencies, the same possibility of reward.

And even if you think they do, upon close examination you'll find they do not.

The trick of course, is to figure out the one thing that matters most...

Right now...

And focus on that.

Of all the ideas I have sifted through in my role as an executive coach and business coach among the most relevant is the concept of sacrifice. My definition is giving up something of value for something of even greater value.

Sacrifice is the key. You have to let go of your attachment to most things on your plate, and figure out what things are of greatest value.

You don't get everything done, and you can't get everything important done. If you select well, and are willing to sacrifice the rest, you can get the most important things done. By letting go of the rest, everything essential, everything vital, everything earth-shattering can be done.

Can you imagine what life would be like if you only worked on things that were earth-shattering?

While this seems simple, obvious even, most of us have struggled with it all our lives.

You probably have trouble figuring out, from day to day, what is going to make the greatest difference. I'd be willing to bet that if you take a look, you probably can't even figure out what the criteria are.

So let's go back to Earl Nightingale's question: What one thing would do if you knew you could not fail?

Look at the things on your to-do list this way:

What will have the biggest impact?

What will yield the greatest revenues and profits?

What will open the doors to the future you desire?

What has the strongest possibility of success?

What has the largest reward to risk ratio?

What will give you the finest return on your investment?

What will free up the most time?

What will free up the most resources?

What will help you realize your success strategy?

And, what will bring you closest to your goals?

If you can first figure out which among these questions are most relevant for you, and answer them for all your projects, you can rank the things on your plate according to what matters most and is absolutely essential.

And once you do that, you can figure out which among all the various tasks you have should - no, must - get your attention.

THOSE ARE THE ONLY ONES YOU WORK ON.

Get those done, and if you have time left over, turn your attention to the next batch.

I call it strategic focus. Figuring out what's really going to rock your world. Figuring out what is really going to deliver the goods. And working on those things.

Only those things.

The rest of it will simply have to wait.

Maybe forever.

If you can wrap your mind around this one simple idea, figuring out what to do next becomes pretty easy. And because you are focusing your energies on few things instead of many, things get done.

To make it easier for you to figure out what matters most in your business and help you build systems to take care of the things that are, I've developed a new, comprehensive and first-of-its-kind program. The Turnkey Your Business Home Study and Mentoring Program is a twelve month hands-on course, containing step-by-step how-to manuals, audio CDs, CD-ROMs, monthly conference calls and personal mentoring. It helps entrepreneurs and executives create detailed systems and processes to "turnkey" their businesses. One of the most important elements of the program is the Critical Factors Process which helps you rank every aspect of your business, along with every task associated with it, in the order of importance for your company. That way you can create duplicable business processes for those things that matter most, and then optimize those same things getting the greatest return on your efforts and your time.

You can find out more about the Turnkey Your Business Home Study Program by linking to http://www.turnkeycoach.com.

Best regards,

Paul Lemberg

Paul Lemberg is the President of Quantum Growth Coaching, the world's only business coaching franchise system built from the ground up to rapidly create more profits and more life for entrepreneurs. (http://qgcf.com) Paul is also Executive Director of the Stratamax Research Institute specializing in helping entrepreneurial companies quickly increase short term profits for sustainable long term growth. Of course, he is available for keynote speeches and workshops and can be reached via http://lemberg.com

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Google News Updated : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:05:39 GMT State falling way behind No Child Left Behind - San Francisco Chronicle Modesto Bee State falling way behind No Child Left Behind San Francisco Chronicle - 6 hours ago California schools, required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act to lift more students over a higher academic hurdle this year, instead stumbled and slipped back, as nearly 1400 fewer schools met test-score targets. Only 48% of California high schools meet federal standards, even ... Los Angeles Times Middle schools lead county's API scores The Salinas Californian Visalia Times-Delta - Record-Searchlight - Modesto Bee - Register Pajaronian all 106 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:41:11 GMT McCain honors NH soldier in convention speech - Boston Globe BBC News McCain honors NH soldier in convention speech Boston Globe - 1 hour ago ST. PAUL, Minn.—In his speech to the Republican National Convention, presidential candidate John McCain paid tribute to a New Hampshire soldier killed in Iraq. Video: "Change is coming," McCain tells convention - 05 Sept 2008 AlJazeeraEnglish US media mixed on McCain speech BBC News Marin Independent-Journal - Memphis Commercial Appeal - Today's TMJ4 - Detroit Free Press all 1,008 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:43:54 GMT Thai PM buys time with referendum plan - Reuters BBC News Thai PM buys time with referendum plan Reuters - 4 hours ago By Darren Schuettler BANGKOK (Reuters) - Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has bought some time with a referendum aimed at defusing street protests, but it will do nothing to resolve Thailand's fundamental political conflict, analysts say. Video: Locking horns over politics in Thailand -- 05 September 2008 AlJazeeraEnglish ANALYSIS: Thai demonstration raises democracy issues Monsters and Critics.com AFP - Times Online - Aljazeera.net - Inter Press Service all 3,754 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:33:48 GMT Jobless rate soars to 6.1% - CNNMoney.com Macon Area Online Jobless rate soars to 6.1% CNNMoney.com - 59 minutes ago Unemployment surges to 5-year high as employers cut workers for eighth straight month, bringing '08 job losses to 605000. By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney. Unemployment Rate Hits 5-Year High As Economy Continues to Shed Jobs Wall Street Journal Unemployment Rate Rises to 6.1% New York Times TheStreet.com - Forex Pros - Reuters - RTT News all 36 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:05:45 GMT So What If Sarah Palin Used a Speechwriter? - FOXNews BBC News So What If Sarah Palin Used a Speechwriter? FOXNews - 1 hour ago By Betsy Newmark Disdaining Sarah Palin’s speech last night because she had a speechwriter is one of the lamest criticisms of her performance last night. Video: Inside the Tent: Reactions to Sarah Palin's speech Part 4 ReutersVideo Panel Reviews Palin, Previews McCain RealClearPolitics Baltimore Sun - Detroit Free Press - New York Times - Los Angeles Times all 4,224 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:03:46 GMT Haiti doubles hurricane death toll; US extends storm watches and ... - International Herald Tribune Boston Globe Haiti doubles hurricane death toll; US extends storm watches and ... International Herald Tribune - 51 minutes ago AP WILMINGTON, North Carolina: Tropical storm watches and warnings in the United States were extended from Georgia to areas just south of New York City on Friday as states along the Atlantic braced for Tropical Storm Hanna, which killed at least 137 ... Southeast states brace for Tropical Storm Hanna The Associated Press Hanna heads to Carolinas; Ike not far behind CNN International guardian.co.uk - StarNewsOnline.com - Greenville News - New York Times all 2,807 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:14:26 GMT Partisan Reception Greets Palin as VP Pick - ABC News CTV.ca Partisan Reception Greets Palin as VP Pick ABC News - 2 hours ago Sarah Palin is receiving a highly partisan reception on the national political stage, with significant public doubts about her readiness to serve as president, yet majority approval of both her selection by John McCain and her willingness to join the ... Video: Joe Biden On Palin's Speech CBS Obama Camp Turns to Clinton to Counter Palin New York Times Boston Globe - AFP - Evening Bulletin - USA Today all 1,899 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:18:50 GMT RSS to Blog RSS Software

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