3 Takeaways For Entrepreneurs From "The ONE Thing"
Most aspiring entrepreneurs have massive goals, but get frustrated when they don't accomplish them.
"The ONE Thing" by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan gives an actionable and comprehensive guide for business success. They strip away the most common excuses people tell themselves and believe. To achieve what we want, it's essential to get more specific and strategically shift focus to what will get results.
After reading The ONE Thing a few times, 3 big takeaways seem more relevant than ever in 2026.
Takeaway 1: Narrow Goal Focus Till There Is Only ONE Thing
[author] advises focusing bug goals and small actions with The Focusing Question: "What's the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?"
The Focusing Question not only helps take goals down into action, but helps clarify what the next immediate action should be. What's more, getting your ONE thing done each day compounds, allowing for more progress as each day's actions stack toward the goal. Compounding is how it seems like successful business owners get more done in the same hours we all have: they have already put the work in.
But no one can leverage compounding if their focus is fractured by pursuing a multitude of goals and priorities.
Takeaway 2: Don't Settle For Small Goals
"Don't fear big [goals]. Fear mediocrity." (p. 92)
As a kid in the early 2000's, I was told that I could achieve anything I set my mind to, but the story changed to "set reasonable goals" around graduating collage. Success is clearly possible, but only if you set big goals and reach outside your comfort zone. Most people limit themselves by setting smaller "reasonable" goals after failing to set good actions to backup big goals.
I'm tired of being "reasonable" and want to achieve bigger goals than I had as a teenager.
Takeaway 3: Don't Try To Do Everything Right
"You can become successful with less discipline than you think, for one simple reason: success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right." (p. 55)
When I was just starting to achieve success on Instagram in 2019, I fractured my focus by attempting to focus on growth on YouTube, Instagram, and several other platforms at once. When I tried to do everything right everywhere, I got frustrated and started doing nothing right anywhere. Instead of focusing on the ONE right thing, I unintentionally abandoned it and struggled to regain momentum ever since.
Focusing on perfection and too many goals is a common newbie Maker mistake that is also all too common when starting an online business.
