The Core Philosophy

“How we phrase the questions that we ask ourselves determines the answers that eventually become our life”

Ask questions.

How do you come up with uncommon questions that lead you to uncommon answers? Keller proposes we ask The Focusing Question.

The Focusing Question

“What’s the ONE THING I can do such that by doing it everything else will become easier or unnecessary?”

This question leads you to the first domino - the one action that makes everything else follow.

Application Framework:

• Big Picture: What is my ONE thing?
• Small Focus: What is my ONE thing right now?

Apply across life domains: Personal Life, Health, Business, Finances, Relationships

Purpose → Priority → Productivity Hierarchy

Productivity
   ↑
Priority  
   ↑
Purpose (Start Here)

• Purpose sets our Priority
• Priority determines the Productivity our actions produce
• “Purpose without priority is powerless”

Goal Setting: Connecting to the Now

Someday Goal → Five-year Goal → One-year Goal → Monthly Goal → Daily Goal → Right Now

Helps you connect one goal with the next, until you know the most important thing you must do right now.

The Three Commitments

1. Follow the Path of Mastery

“More than anything else, expertise tracks with hours invested”

2. Move from E to P

• E = Entrepreneurial
• P = Purposeful

“The path of mastering something is the combination of not only doing the best you can do at it, but also doing it the best it can be done”

Breakthrough Levels: Focus → Models → Systems → Breakthroughs

3. Live the Accountability Cycle

The Accountable Path (when Life Happens):

1. Seeks reality: “What’s happening?”
2. Acknowledges reality: “This is the way it is”
3. Owns it: “If it is to be, it is up to me”
4. Finds solution: “What can I do?”
5. Gets on with it: “OK, let’s do it!”

The Victim Path (when Life Happens):

1. Avoids reality: “Asks no questions”
2. Fights reality: “That’s not how I see it”
3. Blames: “If everyone would just do their job!”
4. Personal excuses: “It is not my job”
5. Waits and hopes: “If it was meant to be, it’ll happen”

The Four Thieves

Things that steal your focus from your ONE thing:

1. Inability to Say No
2. Fear of Chaos
3. Poor Health Habits
4. Environment doesn’t support your goals

Daily Practice

• Visualize the process
• Set off a time block for 4 hours every day to work on your ONE thing
• “Until my ONE thing is done, everything else is a distraction”

Conclusion

“A life worth living might be measured in many ways, but the one way that stands above all others is living a life of no regrets.”

The book’s central message is about the power of focus. By identifying and consistently working on your ONE thing - the single most important task that makes everything else easier or unnecessary - you can achieve extraordinary results. The key is asking better questions, maintaining focus through time blocking, and building systems that support your priorities.

“Happiness happens on the way to fulfillment. Pick a direction, start marching down that path, and see how you like it. Time brings clarity, and if you find that you don’t like it, you can always change your mind. It’s your life.”