The document discusses focusing on one goal or task at a time in order to achieve more. It recommends categorizing different areas of one's life, such as career, health, relationships, and choosing one major priority per category. This allows a person to focus deeply without taking on too many goals at once. It also suggests managing desires, practicing mindfulness, and single-tasking to improve one's ability to focus on one thing. Only after controlling desires and practicing focus should one set clear goals for each area of life using the one-thing strategy.

1. You Can Achieve Anything If You
Focus On ONE Thing
You can achieve almost anything in life…As long as you focus on
achieving one thing at a time. It’s a time-tested strategy that’s been
shared by many successful people.
Gary Keller and Jay Papasan even wrote a whole book about this simple
idea. But don’t let the simplicity of this idea fool you. It’s one of the
hardest things to implement in your life.
Last year, I published an article about focusing on one thing called “The
Power Of Compounding.” I’ve received dozens of questions about it
like, “I get the idea. But I struggle with putting it into practice.”
That’s because we, human beings, are fickle. Our desires are constantly
changing. We pursue new things before we finish our old goals.
We’re dealing with an invisible force that is always trying to confuse us.
Instead of focusing on one thing at a time, we set multiple goals, and
think we can multitask ourselves to achieving them.
There’s a discrepancy between what we know ( to focus on one thing at
a time) and what we do (focusing on everything at the same time).
The question is not whether focusing on one thing is a good strategy
(just look at the image at the top of this article); it’s HOW can we stick to
it? In this article, I share how I apply this strategy to my life. But first,
let’s define the “One Thing” strategy.
Watch an example from this video:https://uii.io/youcan1

2. One Thing Per AREA Of Your Life
Too often people assume that you should only focus on one thing in
your life, period. But that’s not what this strategy is about. It’s about
being smart about what you pursue. Yes, you can achieve a lot of
things…But just not at the same time.
You can’t build a career, get in shape, compete in marathons, write a
book, invest in a business, get kids, and travel the world. But you can do
all those things in a lifetime.
I stick to one major priority per area of my life. I’ve categorized my life
as follows: Career, health, learning, money, and relationships.
That means I never work on more than one major project. I either write a
book or create an online course. I also learn only one skill at a time. And
I am either saving my money or am looking to invest it (naturally, I’m
saving most of the time). For my health, I’m either building
strength or endurance. And so forth.
These categories are not based on anything but my own perspective on
life. You can categorize your life any way you want. And you don’t need
to criticize how others compartmentalize their lives. What matters is that
we understand how we categorize our own lives. Otherwise, there’s no
structure.
And when there’s no structure. There’s chaos. And when there’s chaos,
there’s no one thing: There’s everything. That’s bad.
Manage Your Desires
Watch an example from this video: https://uii.io/youcan2

3. The natural thing to do for most people is to start setting goals or
picking one priority they want to focus on. But unless you
have trained your mind to focus on one thing, it’s not a smart thing to do.
You must improve your focus muscle first. Otherwise, you set a goal,
focus on one thing, and get back to your old behavior within a week.
You want to change your mindset. Go from “I want everything” to “I
appreciate what I have.”
That’s the only way to live this “one thing” idea. In other words, control
your desires.
I recommend practicing Mindfulness or Stoicism for that. Both
philosophies talk extensively about detaching ourselves from our
desires. I think our excessive desire for more is the reason we can’t focus
on one thing.
Remove your desires, and you will have true freedom. The Stoic
Epictetus said it best in one of his classes (as captured by his student,
Arian):
“Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men’s desires, but by the removal of
desire.”
If you manage your desire, you attack the problem at the core. In my
experience, you CAN’T live a calm and focused life if you’re always
desiring more and new things.
I have an article in which I share Zen Buddhism principles, and I have
created a podcast series about Stoic ideas. Look into those if you want to
take control of your desires.
Watch an example from this video: https://uii.io/youcan3

4. All this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t desire to improve our lives. On the
contrary, the whole purpose of life is to move forward. So don’t be
afraid to set goals and aim for great things. Just achieve one thing after
the other.
Practice Single-Tasking
Now, it’s time to practice. For the next week, only do ONE thing at a
time. If you’re a modern human being that is used to technology, that
will be very hard. But I guess you like the challenge, otherwise you
wouldn’t be reading this. So try this:
 Go for a walk (or workout) without listening to music
 Put your phone in Do Not Disturb Mode for the whole day
 Don’t pick it up when you’re having a conversation
 When you are working, focus on a SINGLE task at a time
 In meetings, don’t check your email
This is also called being present. Just be less distracted. That’s all. And
you can practice with anything by doing only one thing.
Time To Set ONE Goal Per Area Of Your Life
Only after you have controlled your desires and practiced doing one
thing at a time are you ready to apply the “One Thing” strategy to your
life.
The reason you want to practice is that life is long. If you take the time to
become less distracted by desires, the more reliable you will become.
You will become a person who does what they say. You will become a
person who achieves what they set out.

5. And after you start achieving one thing after the other, you will get
momentum. Your job is to keep the momentum.
This is how people become happy and wealthy. Both those things add
up over time.
Remember to keep the bigger picture in mind. You WILL achieve all
your goals. Who cares whether you achieve them now or in the future?
What matters is that you are not influenced by desire or outside forces.
You are the maker of your own life.
Watch an example from this video: https://uii.io/youcan4