The One Thing

Imagine what becomes possible when you and your most important relationships get on the same page about your future. Spoiler alert: Everything.Jay and Wendy Papasan have been setting goals together for the last 14 years. As a result, they have a stronger relationship and a bigger life than they could ever imagine. So much of their success is a credit to the framework they’ve established for how they communicate, how they think big, and how they make an impact in the world.You’re going to hear them share the proven framework that’s catapulted their success and so many other people who’ve attended our goal-setting retreats.If you would like to join in on this experience, we strongly recommend you join our Goal Setting Retreat at the1thing.com/setmygoals.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: the1thing.com/pods.In this episode, you will learn…[04:41] What a couple’s goal-setting retreat looks like[08:07] The importance of getting in alignment with your life or business partner[17:27] How to enlis

On April 1st, 2022, The ONE Thing book turned nine years old. To celebrate nine years of helping people discover their lead domino, prioritize what matters most, and achieve extraordinary results, we’re looking back at our top nine favorite podcast episodes.Extraordinary results become possible when you are clear on what you are saying yes to.We can’t say yes to everything. When you set up dominos, the path to knocking them all down doesn’t involve flicking at them randomly one at a time. You set them up, line them up, and whack away at the first one. But so many people doubt that they can find that ONE Thing when it feels like they have so many things to focus on.Every year, Jon Gordon identifies one word that he’s going to focus on, a word that brings purpose to what he does. He uses that one word every single day to bring clarity to his actions. Using the tools Jon mentions in this episode will help you bring focus to every aspect of your life, too.If you are inspired by this episode and want to bring more

On April 1st, 2022, The ONE Thing book turned nine years old. To celebrate nine years of helping people discover their lead domino, prioritize what matters most, and achieve extraordinary results, we’re looking back at our top nine favorite podcast episodes.Extraordinary results become possible when you are clear on what you are saying yes to.We can’t say yes to everything. When you set up dominos, the path to knocking them all down doesn’t involve flicking at them randomly one at a time. You set them up, line them up, and whack away at the first one. But so many people doubt that they can find that ONE Thing when it feels like they have so many things to focus on.Every year, Jon Gordon identifies one word that he’s going to focus on, a word that brings purpose to what he does. He uses that one word every single day to bring clarity to his actions. Using the tools Jon mentions in this episode will help you bring focus to every aspect of your life, too.If you are inspired by this episode and want to bring more

On April 1st, 2022, The ONE Thing book turns nine years old. To celebrate nine years of helping people discover their lead domino, prioritize what matters most, and helping people achieve extraordinary results, we’re looking back at our top nine favorite podcast episodes.How do you succeed in health, your relationships, and with your money when there is so much uncertainty in the world?With all that’s going on, a lot of us have been facing challenges. Our health routines have been disrupted, our relationships have been strained, and a lot of our financial worlds have been rocked.Today, you’re going to hear stories from two groups of The ONE Thing members. One is a husband and wife couple who have gone on a journey of transforming their health, their wealth, and their relationship. The other is a corporate attorney who has leveraged The ONE Thing’s goal setting principles to not only maintain a thriving career this year but make sure she’s showing up as a wife and as a mother first.To learn more, and for the c

You know what it’s like to question why you’re here, to feel like you’re working long and hard but deep down wonder if you’re doing the right thing, to look up at the end of the day, know you were busy, but question whether you actually got anything done. We all face these problems – some of us more than others.Lionel Strong has faced all of these challenges in a unique way throughout his career of over 20 years with the US Army Special Forces as a Green Beret. Today, he is the Command Sergeant Major within the Army – essentially the COO of the military. We discuss how he came across The ONE Thing, how he struggled to identify his purpose beyond his teams, what it looks like to prioritize things when everything feels like a top priority, and how to strike better counterbalance with your family when your job could otherwise consume so much.Where do you have the biggest opportunity for improvement? What's The ONE Thing you can do, such that by doing it, everything else would be easier or unnecessary? If you are

If you’re like most people, you know what it feels like to reach a point of burnout. No matter how much you love your work, you just can’t put any more hours in because it feels like your life is falling apart.That’s where The ONE Thing comes in. It’s not just a productivity tool, but a way of radically transforming your life by allowing you to focus on what matters most in all areas.Casey Gocel, a returning guest, is now five years into her journey of living The ONE Thing. She shares the things she has learned over the years on how to be more present at home with her family, and how to deal with the guilt of being a working mom.We hope that you identify ONE Thing that you can put into practice that will help you be more present when it matters most.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: the1thing.com/pods.In this episode, you will learn...[02:10] Where Casey was when we first spoke to her[11:10] Setting rules for your time and holding yourself and others accountable[14:35] Embracing the princ

So many of us have dreams of starting a business, but it’s often fear of the unknown that stops us from pursuing those dreams. If you’re an employee, giving up those golden handcuffs can be difficult. Sometimes it takes waiting until the pain of our current situation is unbearable to necessitate change.For Brian Scudamore, founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK and its parent company O2E Brands, that pain was realizing that what started out as a way to pay for college was actually what he was meant to do – even if that meant disappointing his family. Now, over thirty years later, Brian is sharing what he knows about building businesses in his new book, BYOB: Build Your Own Business, Be Your Own Boss.When you’re starting towards a new goal, it can be deflating to attach yourself to an ideal outcome and constantly measure your success by whether or not you’ve achieved it. Instead, align yourself with the journey and know that each step is a victory. If you want to get started on a business of your own, check out Brian’

Today’s episode begs a few questions. What’s the right job for you? What do you do exceptionally well that brings value to the people around you and the greater organization? And, where are you spending your time that doesn’t align with the answers to those questions?Every single one of us wants to have the perfect job, a job that we love to do, that we are great at, that fulfills us, and that creates value. That said, most of us know what it feels like to question if we’re heading in the right direction at all.Mark takes us through his journey to discovering what the right seat was for him and his business – and unpacks his realization that the long-term success of his company could no longer depend solely on him.If you would like support on your own journey, visit the1thing.com, where individuals can learn about our Jumpstart Workshop, or where organizational leaders can request a consultation to bring The ONE Thing to their business.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: the1thing.com/pods.

Sometimes, it takes having a massive amount of pain in your life to force you to make a change. We’ve all done it. We know what we should be doing – but sometimes we just don’t do it. That is, until we get to a point where there is no other option. That’s when an interest in making a change turns into a commitment to making a change, at the point where the pain of resisting change finally outweighs the discomfort of having to change.In this episode, we hear the story of Phillip Stutts. He was seeing massive success at the start of his entrepreneurial journey, at the expense of feeling extraordinary amounts of pain in his personal life. Once he hit the tipping point where he could no longer take it, he set out to answer the question: How can I thrive both personally and professionally? That’s when he was introduced to The ONE Thing. If you find yourself wanting some guidance on your journey, visit the1thing.com. If you’re a leader of an organization and would like to have a conversation about wh

Do you know your Seven Circles? In life, there are seven key areas that deserve our focus and attention: Our spiritual life, our physical health, our personal life, our key relationships, our job, our business, and our finances.If you’re listening to this show, you probably naturally focus on your job, your business, and your finances. The problem is, those three areas are like rubber balls. If you drop them, they bounce back. The other four areas are more like glass balls. If you drop them, they can be scuffed, cracked, or shattered completely.In this episode, we focus in on one of those areas, key relationships. The truth is, we can naturally give our professional life so much attention that we don’t show up purposefully in the relationships that matter most to us. Susan Scott is the author of Fierce Conversations, which we’ve highlighted in the past. Her newest book, Fierce Love, takes those principles and applies them to your romantic relationships. Among many other things, she teaches us that relati

Perfect nutrition for peak performance or better health takes a lot of mental energy and time.Unless you let someone else do the hard part for you. Athletic Greens is an incredibly comprehensive and nutritional beverage. The all-in-one superfood is delicious and easily fits into your daily routine. A single scoop contains 75 essential vitamins, minerals, and whole-food sourced ingredients to support your immunity, gut health, aging, and energy in a way that’s lifestyle friendly, so whether you’re keto, Paleo, or gluten-free, Athletic Greens has got you covered. You probably already know what your most important goal is by now. But that doesn’t mean you know how to remain accountable to it. We kicked off 2022 with an episode on why this year’s success comes down to ONE Thing. Now it’s time to make sure you’re able to follow through on making that success a reality.Many ordinary people will sit back and think, “I have all year to achieve my goals. I can relax.” But if the true purpose of your goal isn’t ab

Chances are, if you’re listening to this, you’re familiar with The ONE Thing and you’re already implementing its lessons in your life. But what if you’re doing your best to follow your ONE Thing but still feel like you’re coming up short? What does success, or even progress, look like? Today’s guest is Laurie Roth. You’ve heard from Laurie before, but today is a little bit different. She’s been following the ONE Thing since she was introduced to it in 2018, but struggles to put it into practice each day. This is a common refrain. Knowing what we should do isn’t the same as actually doing it. And let’s be honest, when your boss or colleague needs something from you, it’s very easy to discard your priorities to be a people pleaser. The constant course corrections become exhausting and the lingering feeling that you’re doing something wrong can make you want to abandon your ONE Thing altogether, which is never the right thing to do. Your best option is to protect your time once it’s blocked. You w

Do you find that you’re constantly setting lofty goals for yourself, but then backing down when it comes time to turn them into reality? It’s a common problem, even for the most successful people. Your goals might be completely achievable but without knowing how to properly evaluate your situation and choose the right path to take, we can get stuck at square one.Today’s guest, Matthew Hermann, knows this all too well. At an early age, he faced adversity as his mom was diagnosed with cancer, turning them from a poor family to one in severe debt. It made him prioritize making money above all else in life. His defining goal became financial security, so he went to medical school – only to then begin doubting his path.Over a decade later, he realized he needed change and managed to get himself unstuck from the flattened trajectory he was on. He’s now pursuing his true life’s goals – things that bring him happiness and contentment instead of just being what he assumed he was supposed to do. But derailing yourself

We all know what it’s like to have big goals accompanied by a sense of self-doubt. We might want to achieve incredible, ambitious goals – and, even better, we might be able to do it. Even, and especially, when we know it’s something we can achieve if we set our mind to it, there’s this little voice in the back of our minds telling us the task is insurmountable. This week, we talk to April Splide, who’s had a very successful career in The Air Force, about how she was able to take ONE Thing principles and use them to overcome these feelings in herself on the way to competing in Ironman Triathlons. When she first decided she wanted to compete, the idea seemed completely beyond anything realistic to her. By following a 4 1 1, she was able to make her dreams a reality. We break down the many tens of thousands of steps, laps, and miles, on her journey, and how you, too, can apply the ONE Thing in your life to achieve whatever you set your mind to. If you’d like to see what a 4 1 1 looks like for your

Do you ever wonder how much time is wasted in your workplace because a request takes someone away from something more pressing or simply a better use of their time? No one can be expected to know every little detail about the inner workings of a company and its employees – and, with working from home, this is truer now than it’s ever been before.It might sound silly, but think about it. Let’s say you’ve set time aside to work on your ONE Thing, but then you get a call from your boss. Are you going to finish what you’re doing or drop it in order to be a people-pleaser? Most of you would do the latter. But in all likelihood, only you know the best use of your time within your job because you’re the only person spending as much time doing it.This sense of trust and freedom to prioritize your workload as you see fit is a staple of our corporate culture at ProduKtive, and it’s something that Sarah Hendricks is still getting used to. It makes sense, but pushing back when people ask you for your time is easier said

It’s only January, but you could already be behind on your goals.The purpose of a goal is to be appropriate in the moment; it’s not about achieving a result. That means there are things you should be doing, starting January 1st, to ensure you’re on track for where you want to go by December 31st. Of course, most people don’t think this way. They may not have even set those goals. If you are not clear about what you need to be doing, this week, right now, to achieve your goals by the end of the year, you are falling behind.In this episode, we give you a healthy lens through which to view your goals at the beginning of the year and teach you how to set yourself up for success by playing with a lead.If you would like to have a conversation about driving this across your whole team, visit the1thing.com and request a consultation.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: the1thing.com/pods.In this episode, you will learn...[01:06] Why you need to be clear about your goals starting January 1st[03:33] H

As we step into a new year, we often take stock of our goals and ambitions. But hang on, if you do this every year, how often do you set targets, then look back at the end of the year only to realize you could have done better? Chances are, there are a few fundamental issues with how you’re thinking about goal setting.One of the major pitfalls that trips people up with resolutions is that they set their goals, then they don’t think about them until the end of the year when it’s time to see if they succeeded or not. Think about applying that logic to any other aspect of your life. It makes about as much sense as leaving raw ingredients out and returning to the kitchen expecting them to be cooked and prepared as a meal. Not only will they not be cooked, but some ingredients may even spoil in the time you’ve waited.Or, we discuss another example: you’ve met someone you like, romantically. If you really hit it off and you like each other, you’re not going to say, “Let’s check in with each other a year from now an

We’ve reached the final episode in our six-part series exploring the benefits of the ProduKtive System, our proven method for applying The ONE Thing to your life, such that by doing it, everything else becomes easier or unnecessary. Sometimes, good habits are all you need, but getting them to stick can be easier said than done. Let’s explore how we can build them into our lives with intentionality. Chances are, you’ve heard the idea that all you need to make seismic changes in your life are a few good habits. Many of us roll our eyes and dismiss the notion. If you want to lose weight, it’s easy to say, “Just form the habit of working out.” If it was that easy, you’d already be as fit as a pro athlete.The secret to all of this is that it actually is that easy. You just need to know what habits to form to get you from A to B. More often than not, that takes breaking down both cause and effect. What are the reasons you’re not achieving or maximizing your goals? What can you do to change that? That’s where o

In part five of our six-part series on the ProduKtive System, our proven method for applying The ONE Thing to your life, we look at taking action. It’s easy to read about carving out blocks of time intentionally and with purpose. But when it comes to actually turning down time with family or saying “No” to people, it can be a different story. That’s what the ProduKtive System is here for. There are common traps people fall into, but if you put the concepts into action, you’ll find yourself living your ONE Thing in no time.In this episode, we show you the four steps to effectively blocking out time for productivity: build your bunker, store provisions, sweep it for mines, and enlist support. Listen to find out what each of these steps entails. Doing so can save you so much time in the long run.These rules for living are easily discussed, but putting them into practice can be a different story. Tune in to learn how to live your ONE Thing, instead dreaming about it.If you would like help implementing this i

This is part four of a six-part series diving into the ProduKtive System, our proven method for implementing the principles of The ONE Thing into your life. While these principles are surprisingly simple to understand, they can be challenging to put into practice. Today we focus on how you can prioritize things so that you can stay on track to hit your daily, monthly, and yearly goals.It might seem like merely knowing what you should be doing is enough, we know that’s never the case. People struggle to bridge the gap between their yearly plan and what they need to accomplish this week. They are often reactive when they need to be proactive and they struggle to say no to the things that don’t matter as much. In this episode, we unravel each of these ideas so that you can learn how to overcome them and achieve greater results in less time.If you would like help implementing this in your own life in less time and with less stress, visit the1thing.com. As an individual you can learn more about our Living You