What separates great men from the rest of those who only toil with their potential isn’t the ability to do more, but the ability to focus on one thing and see it to fruition. No matter what distractions come their way it’s the great men who are able to resist them and maintain focus on that one thing that matters most.

Have you ever been so wrapped up in a moment or a mission that nothing else in the world seems to exist? You forget about your worries and fears and family and friends; this single moment in time is all there is and all else vanishes. The sunrise over the ocean, the novel you’re writing, the game you’re playing, the company you’re building, the woman’s eyes you’ve gone and lost yourself in.

This is how life should be, always. A single thing, nothing more and nothing less. Just one thing that consumes you, making it your world. Alas, that is not how life is, at least for the majority of us and for the bulk of our time living. We experience only glimpses of this focus and appreciate for the moment, neglecting our one thing in the name of experiencing a little of all things.

Life is One Thing

Our lives should always and only consist of one thing. We should be guided by one great purpose. Our attention should be focused on one primary goal. In spreading out we take parts of who we are away from the one thing that is us.

When you’re in the gym you should be focused on nothing but the training you’re undertaking. Worries, leave them outside. Stresses, do the same. Fears, don’t dare bring them with you.

When you’re playing you should be playing, experiencing the energies around you, the laughter, the joy, the wine and the beer and the whisky.

When you’re working, work. Don’t sit down at your desk like I did today taking 2 hours before I truly got down to work after the emails and the facebooking and the checking of stats and tedious tasks that don’t truly aid me in my quest to accomplish my one thing. Work. Focus. Have that discipline that you have in spurts, always.

The Simplicity of Life

Life isn’t as complicated as we’d like it to be. We look at life and its breadth and we try to do it all, but that’s not how life should be done or lived, it requires a completely different approach that only a small fraction of us have figured out. Rather than doing everything all at once, we should be focused on one thing and one thing alone until it’s completed.

Experience and focus and create, don’t dabble or dottle, drive and dare mighty things; rather, dare a mighty thing.

As you embark on yet another day in this life, focus. Clear your mind. Determine what your one thing is. Then figure out what one task should be done first to make this one thing a reality. Then work and play and dream, but never all at once.

One thing, that’s the secret of life. Just one thing.

P.S. If you enjoyed this article, read this book: The One Thing.