The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
For the first entry into the series it is more than appropriate that the author is one of the leading people in the world of real estate. Gary Keller is chairman of the board and co-founder of Keller Williams Realty, Inc. KW is the largest real estate company in North America.
First off this is a GREAT book. It is well written, easy to understand, clear in its message, and it walks you through the exercises to get you on the path to doing your ONE THING.
Finding the ONE THING that should be done to the exclusion of everything else is the main message of the book.
It is the drill down and simplification of what needs to be absolutely prioritized above everything in order to be successful.
Science has debunked the myth of multitasking for productivity. It just doesn’t work. The better approach is laser-like focus on the thing that should be top priority.
Similar to the saying, “jack of all trades master of none” this approach is about ruthlessly cutting out all the extra things in life that don’t ultimately “move the needle” and get you the results that actually MATTER.
Each of us only has 24 hours a day and if we get lost in the shuffle of doing the things that aren’t truly necessary then we don’t have a shot of living the extraordinary life.
Lesson 1: Think Big
If we are being honest with ourselves we often limit what we are trying to achieve.
Perhaps you are looking to wholesale one house a week. That is a goal in the beginning, but why was that the number we picked? Because it seems doable.
Well one of the lessons in the book is that if you shoot big, take massive action, then maybe you won’t do 10 wholesale deals in a month but you might get 6, and that is already more than the first plan.
There is more to it than just hoping, wanting, and praying though, it is taking massive action on the one action that creates a domino effect that moves more and more dominos. Not only that, it moves bigger dominos.
How do I know how big to go, you ask?
To get better questions we need to ask better questions. That means thinking big and being specific.
Instead of how do I make more money, try: how do I double the number of properties I wholesale in the next 3 months?
The next natural reaction is ok, how big do I go then? The answer to that is surprisingly simple do you know anyone who is doing that? Well there is your baseline.
If someone else in your real estate investing association is doing 10 wholesale deals a month than good news! It is doable.
- What is their system?
- Can you model it?
- Can you work with them?
- Can you do 11 deals?
Think big, act big, achieve big.
Lesson 2: Success Comes from Skills
What if, to the exclusion of everything else, you focused all your efforts into marketing for leads, say cold calling For Sale by Owner Signs?
Then that becomes the one thing that leads to more negotiations, that leads to contracts, to assignments.
You could have focused on your networking, or your website, or your business cards, but instead of those if you picked one marketing technique and made it work.
I remember when I first started cold calling as a real estate agent responding to ad inquires.
In the beginning the conversations were odd and awkward, I was nervous and pretty much at the edge of hanging up in all moments. But I kept at it until I had the skill set to talk to buyers and sellers.
And make no mistake the ability to talk IS a very important skill because people only deal with individuals they like and trust. Also, look to master these skills.
Commit to walk the path of always learning and evolving.
It honestly takes the pressure off of you. No need to stress about how you need to be perfect now if you see yourself as a student of the skill and slowly but surely improving. Don’t be perfect now (that is impossible anyway) be better than you were yesterday.
Yes, you do need to have a web presence, network intelligently, and be everywhere on social media. But the point is you don’t have to do all of that right now, right this moment.
Build the skills and you build success.
Lesson 3: Focus
I am a big fan of Dwayne the Rock Johnson. “Focus!” is that man’s mantra, so who are we to argue?
It is easy to get caught up with the storm of BS that is all around us. Everyone wants our attention and everything rings, vibrates, and has pop up icons that let us know we should take a peak.
However, all that take a toll on our focus, and that degrades our ability to do what is worthwhile. So in order to better focus ensure the environment works for you and you block out the time to make it work.
So if you are working on your website then make that the priority. X out the email, put away the cell phone, and say “no” to all the unimportant interruptions.
If you are pulling up comps for a property concentrate on understanding that one property at hand and don’t work on cleaning your desk or planning the vacation.
One thing at a time.
What is the one thing you are working on? Do only that, even as I write this I want to get up and grab a coffee go for a walk outside and play with my dog, but all that has to wait, this is important.
One thing at a time.
Lesson 4: Purpose Leads to Priorities which Creates Productivity
The people who are the most prolific in life are the ones that act through purpose.
Let’s take a look at a man like Tony Robbins who has legendary productivity. He does seminars in front of hundreds of people and takes the stage of nearly entire days at a time. How does he do it?
He is driven by his purpose which is to help other people. More specifically his purpose is to help people through feeding 2 million people, this year alone! Talk about thinking big!
How does this help us in REI? Ask yourself why do you do what you do?
My business partner and I have our motto, “a safe clean place to live” that is the purpose of our business. That isn’t just catchy (and c’mon really the bare minimum standards for a rental) but there is a deeper meaning there. That is something we want for our tenants and our families.
I’ve seen a lot of the world. Not everywhere is clean and safe and unfortunately not everyone’s home is either. But that is the thing that drives me to uphold certain standards. It is something that I can control for my renters and my family members, as much as I can. At the end of the day people are very much the same and a safe clean place to live is our service, it is our purpose.
That means I am prioritizing this business and giving up nights and weekends to get things done.
Purpose allows us to sacrifice, it allows us to say no to the things we may want to do and say yes to the things we know we should do. Don’t do more to be busy, be efficient with your time and energy.
“Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it”
-J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan
There we go, my favorite lessons from the book The One Thing!
Remember this isn’t intended to be a summary but rather an example of how we can apply that to our real estate investing business.
Again, I highly recommend this book because what you have just read here is merely scratching the surface of what you can learn and apply.
Thanks for joining me on this journey and feel free to send me an email to connect. I hope you enjoyed this post, stay tuned for more to come!
The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
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