“In a world of no instructions, (The Focusing Questions) becomes the simple formula for finding exceptional answers that lead to extraordinary results.
What’s the ONE THING I can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” – Gary Keller The One Thing
The focusing question is all about finding your highest point of leverage. What is the one thing you can do that will make everything else easier or unnecessary?
Let’s work through an example.
- I’d like to grow the readership of this blog.
- I’d like to write fewer SEO specific posts.
- At some point, I’d like to publish original research (that’s, probably, way down the line).
The one thing I can do to address all three of those issues is to learn some form of digital marketing. Digital marketing is a large umbrella term that includes search engine marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing, just to name a few.
Fortunately, for our one thing, we only need one. And, for the time being, that one is going to be Search Engine Marketing (SEO).
“Archimedes said, “Give me a lever long enough and I could move the world,” and that’s exactly what this last part tells you to find. “Everything else will be easier or unnecessary” is the ultimate leverage test. It tells you when you’ve found the first domino.” – Gary Keller The One Thing
SEO has a relatively low-cost barrier of entry. A relatively low-cost barrier of entry facilitates an easier learning path. An easier learning path facilitates getting more readers with fewer posts. More readers with fewer posts facilitates more paths of monetization and more diverse posts. More diverse posts further facilitates even more monetization. Even more monetization pays for high-quality writers and researchers.
Learning SEO is the domino that makes everything else easier and/or unnecessary.
What goal are you committed to tackling? Write it down and then list out the issues you’re facing. Find your highest point of leverage that will make the listed issues easier or wipe them out entirely. That’s your One Thing.
That’s The Focusing Question in action.
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