Article author: Melody - a full-time second mother who strives to grow upwards
Source: Autumn Leaf Writing Workshop
Teaching Assistant: Moon Spirit
EDIT: Swallow
You must have had this experience:
Busy every day, but the work is still not improving? Made a to-do list, there are always things that can't be dealt with? Can't get up in the morning, can't sleep at night, always feel very tired every day. Looking at the mess at home and not wanting to clean up, the family often complained that the family had not sat down for a long time to eat.
Modern people's lives are getting busier and busier, there are many things that need to be dealt with every day, we struggle in the quagmire of busyness, we are exhausted, but success does not come to us because of busyness.
The American writer Thoreau once said: "It is not enough to be industrious, and ants are also industrious, depending on why you are busy." "Many times blind diligence can not be exchanged for good results, rather than doing everything in detail, it is better to pick the most important one to do well."
So, what's the most important thing? How do you find the most important thing? How do you do it after you find it? In the book "The Most Important Thing, There's Only One Thing," author Gary Keller uses his personal experience to explain them to us.
The most important thing, only one thing, the author of Gary Keller is the founder and chairman of Keller Williams International Real Estate. His company was in crisis that year, and many things were waiting for him to solve. However, he only did one thing at the advice of his mentor, focusing on 14 key people, and finally turning the company around. The author believes that whether you want to achieve the best results at work or life, you must try to narrow your goals, focus on the most important thing in the moment, and do one thing.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >, what is the most important thing? </h1>
In the movie "City Country Guy", the cowboy leader Lao Ke and the city country boy Mitch had a conversation.
Old Ke said: "Do you know what the secret of life is?" That's it. He said this as he held out a finger.
Mitch asked incomprehensibly, "Is the secret of life the finger?" ”
Lao Ke said: "The secret of life is to do only one thing, just one thing." Do only one thing, and nothing else is worth mentioning. ”
Mitch asked what the matter was, and Old Ke replied, "You must find it yourself." ”
The secret of life that Lao Ke tells us is actually the secret of success: only doing the most important thing is the shortcut to success. So how can we find this most important thing? Below I provide two methods for your reference.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >1, use the law of two eights, keep narrowing the target, and find the most important thing. </h1>
Everyone's time and energy are limited, and things can never be done, and it is even more impossible to do everything well. According to the Pareto Law, 80% of the gains come from 20% of the effort. Therefore, we must continue to narrow the scope of force, seize the key 20% of concentrated firepower to do, selectively pay, in order to get effective returns.
Author Gary Keller takes this rule to the extreme, finding 20 percent out of 20 percent, and then finding 20 percent out of it, until it's reduced to one thing. He said that he only started learning guitar at the age of 40 and only had 20 minutes of practice every day, so he had to constantly narrow down the scope of learning. The advice given to him by professional guitarists is that if you only have time to practice one trick, practice the scales. As a result, the author found that after practicing this scale technique, he would soon be able to play the songs of many rock masters, and the practice scale was 20% of the 20%.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >2, keep pushing the target backwards to find the most important thing at the moment. </h1>
First of all, we need to have a long-term goal, based on this goal, think about the most important thing in the next five years. Then, pushing backwards based on the five-year goal, what is the most important thing this year? And so on, what's the most important thing I'm going to do right now?
In this way, we can ask layer by layer, constantly pushing the target backwards, forming a backward chain like the following:
What is the most important thing I should do for the next 5 years for my long-term goals?
What is the most important thing I should do this year for my 5-year goal?
What's the most important thing I should do this month to achieve this year's goals?
What's the most important thing I should do this week to achieve this month's goals?
What's the most important thing I should do this year for this week's goals?
What is the most important thing I should do now for today's goals?
Through the two methods of the law of two eight and the goal backward method, we can find the most important thing, which is the key to success, and only by finding the most important thing can we achieve a successful and efficient life.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Second, why only do the most important thing? </h1>
Jobs used the method of constant questioning to screen out Apple's most important targets. At the annual meeting, the 100 things to be done each year are reduced to 10 things, and then 3 things are selected, and finally 2 of them are cut off without hesitation, leaving only the most important one and spending a whole year to do.
That's the greatness of Apple's Steve Jobs, because focusing on one thing creates something that stands out. Archimedes said, "Give me a fulcrum, and I can pry up the whole earth." This idea seems absurd, but it is not, as long as such a fulcrum is found, it is like tearing down the first domino.
Why do only one of the most important things? The answer: the domino effect. In the book "The Most Important Thing, Only One Thing," the author says that accomplishing the most important thing is like tearing down the first domino, and then the remaining problems will be solved. Small dominoes, big energy, once passed down, can inspire amazing potency.
It's not hard to see that most people succeed because they stick with one thing.
Yuan Longping cultivated hybrid rice, which solved the problem of feeding billions of people around the world;
Ono Jiro, the god of Japanese sushi, has spent his whole life making only sushi, which is quite famous;
Tao Huabi, the founder of "Old Ganma", made chili sauce and finally became a billionaire.
The biggest difference between successful people and ordinary people is that they can always find out the priority, that is, the most important thing, and allocate their time and energy to this, so that there is a close connection between goals and actions.
So, not everything is equally important, a successful life needs to be focused, please find the most important thing, start your domino life.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > three, how to complete it efficiently after finding it? </h1>
1. Under what circumstances do you say "no"
Some people say that behind one "yes", there are often a thousand "no". When we take the time to do one thing, it means that we choose to give up the possibility of doing another thing. Sidney Howard, the screenwriter of the film Gone with the Wind, suggested, "If you want to understand what you need, you have to understand what you have to give up." "So, we don't always look ahead, keep a clear head about what we want to pursue, and always do only the most important thing."
In addition, when others ask for me, and I can't do it, I must say "no" in time, which is the greatest respect for others.
2. The premise of maintaining efficiency is to reserve 3 time periods
There is a questionnaire online with the theme of "Do you feel that you have enough time in your life", and the survey results show that 41.1% of the respondents believe that they do not have enough time. It can be seen that many people's time is very tight. In this case, it is important to set aside time for the most important thing.
Gary Keller suggests setting aside at least three time periods: free time, priority time, and planning time.
There is a popular saying, "People who don't rest won't work." "Free time is to let us have a buffer period in addition to heavy work, and sufficient rest can ensure more efficient work."
The second is to set aside time for priority matters, and the author suggests that it is better to plan for 4 hours a day. Be sure to plan your time early and use the most energetic time in the morning to do your most important work. For example, Haruki Murakami insists on getting up at 4:30 in the morning all year round, and then writes for 4 hours, 10 pages a day, and does not move.
Our goal is to accomplish priorities, and we certainly won't be able to meet our goals without allowing enough time for them. Efficiency off target is meaningless.
Finally, set aside time for planning, and the authors suggest setting aside one hour a week to reflect on your annual and monthly goals so that you can make adjustments in a timely manner. It is important to make a plan, and every step of the plan is clear about what you are doing, and you know what you should do next, where the key difficulties are, and everything is in your own hands.
3. Act now
Why do you listen to so many truths, but still live this life badly? Because the reason has been listened to, but the action has not kept up. Mark Twain once said, "The secret to getting ahead of others is to get started." "So, how do you get started? This requires disassembling the mission goals into small tasks that can be performed, and then, step by step towards the goal, as you walk, you will find that a grand plan has been accompanied by the achievement of small goals, and the final success has been achieved. So, it's not that hard to achieve big plans.
The author tells his own story of wanting to plant an apple tree in his yard, but is distressed that he can't buy a mature apple tree. Instead of sitting dry and waiting for a ready-made tree, he chose to buy a small sapling to plant.
Nourished by the sun and rain, the small saplings have grown day by day, and now they have grown into many towering trees, from a small sapling to an apple orchard, the key is to act immediately.
German architect Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe has a classic design concept: Less is more, which means "less is more". The book "The most important thing, only one thing" wants to tell us is this sentence printed on the cover, the most important thing, there is only one thing. The whole book is meant to tell us this sentence on the cover. And once we make up our minds to focus on what matters most, success will follow with us.
So, from today on, start practicing "the most important thing is only one thing", and you will find that there is another way of living in the original life.
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