the ONE thing
What’s the MOST important thing you need to accomplish today?
You might be noticing a pattern in a lot of the habit hacks that I’ve been throwing at you.
Get rid of stress and get more done.
Is life more complicated than that?
Sure.
But simple truths work. I don’t care how complex this life is.
And you’ll be successful when you inject this simple truth into everything.
Remember: your brain wants your success. But your brain hates stress.
Less stress = more success
Your brain creates strategies at the subconscious to make you happy. When you visualize your success in concrete terms, your brain creates the road map to get you there.
But stress gets in the way. Nobody likes stress. You don’t like it. Your brain doesn’t like it. Stress takes energy.
And guess what? Your brain needs energy.
Remember, your brain isn’t some mystical force that works on magic. It’s a physical object. An organ just like everything else in your body. It’s made up of blood and tissue, and it uses energy to get things done.
The less energy it spends on stress the more it has to get things done.
So get a clear visual picture of what you want, and get rid of stress and limiting beliefs. Do this and your brain will be more efficient.
Clear the way
I’ve shown you how with a lot of habit hacks: creating structure, micro habits, using procrastination, and many others. There are a million different ways to get rid of stress and negative emotions.
For now let’s focus on just one way, and that’s the ONE thing.
What’s the ONE thing?
Only you know that.
It could be your taxes. It could be that exercise plan you keep putting off. It could be the resume you need to rewrite. Or the website you need to build.
Here’s a hint though. The most important thing isn’t necessarily the most important thing.
What causes the most stress?
Okay...what am I talking about? Nobody wants a “what’s the sound of one-hand clapping” riddle or whatever.
No, but seriously, sometimes the most important task for you to focus on isn’t necessarily the most important in terms of your overall goal. It’s just the thing causing you the most stress at that moment.
It’s the most important thing to get out of the way right now, because it’s the best way to relieve the stress on your brain.
It doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, it’s the one thing that looms in your conscious mind as the BIG TASK that just seems a little more important...or a little more difficult...or a little more...stressful to deal with right now.
Whatever that thing that’s occupying your mind. And I mean that literally.
This isn’t the sort of thing you need to brainstorm here. Whenever you try to relax or take your mind off work, what’s the one thing that keeps resurfacing in the back of your mind?
What nags you?
That’s the ONE thing. If you can’t let it go, then it’s causing stress.
And that, my friend, is precisely why you need to find a day to dedicate to that ONE thing and knock it out pronto. Because every day you spend putting it off, it’s just gonna keep slowing you down everywhere else.
Does this fit?
Wait a minute, haven’t I said you can be more productive by working on different things? By structuring your work days, theming your days, or even working with time blocking?
Sure.
And with all those methods, the reason they work is because they let your brain focus on one. thing. at. a. time.
They’re just different methods of taking stress off your brain.
The ONE thing is just another way to do that.
Look, you can’t do it every day. Sometimes you need to knock out several things a day or switch from one task to another with time blocking. And when you can do that effectively, you should.
But sometimes you will have ONE thing that’s stressing you out and eating at your brain. That’s when you need to STOP and get that ONE thing out of the way.
This isn’t all the time, but we all know it’s some of the time.
Be flexible
Try out a bunch of different “habit hacks.” They won’t all work for you. Some will. Some of them won’t. And some will work better than others.
But it’s good to have a lot in your toolbox. And when you put these hacks into place, you’ll have a sense for when a particular hack will be more useful in getting things done.
Because your conscious mind is a part of the process. Consistently audit what’s working. Consistently visualize and think about the steps that are needed to reach your goal.
And when that one task or project keeps popping into your mind - even if you try to think about something else - then that’s a sign you need to focus on that ONE thing.
Because if your mind keeps bringing that thing up, then that means that it’s creating stress for your brain, and you need to get rid of that stress.
And when you get the ONE thing done, do you know what the best part is?
ONE thing = lots of rewards
You’ll feel relief. You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment. Also - and I guarantee this - you’ll get fresh insight.
When you get stuff done, you get insight. I don’t care what you’re working on, you’ll get better, fresh ideas. The kind of ideas that get you pumped up and excited.
Mark my words. Try it. Tomorrow think about that one annoying task that you need to get out of the way but that you’ve been putting off. And just do it. Just go on out and Shia-Lebeouf-do-it. Get it out of the way.
I’ll say it again, mark my words, ideas will just start popping up into your head.
You know why? Because it’s your brain breathing a sigh of relief. That huge stress is off its shoulders, and now it can start thinking about success and happiness again. That’s what it wants to do and what it does best.
Work with Anthony and hit the rocket fuel 🚀button on your success!
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