Do you feel like you are constantly spinning your wheels, getting nowhere? Are you frustrated with a nagging sense that life is not working, and you don’t know how to change course?

Years ago, I went through a period where I felt completely stuck. Life was not bad, I was merely plodding through the days and couldn’t figure out how to get anything moving in a positive direction. It seemed like the answer should be obvious, but I was not making any progress. Without a lot of premeditation, out of desperation, I began reading. Up to that point, I read less than one book a year. To get going, I set one goal to read 10 books in a year. It turned out that the one change of reading started a domino of changes in me as I began to grow internally for the first time in years.

Gary Keller in his simple, but profound book, The One Thing, asks the question, “What one thing could you do, such that by doing it, would make everything else either easier or unnecessary?” His conviction is that our efforts to accomplish so many things all at once are sabotaging our efforts to achieve the one essential thing in our life. I have seen this to be true in my own life. I am an avid goal-setter. Often, I have many goals set for the year, accomplish a few, but leave the most critical ones undone, primarily because the most important goals are usually the hardest. He suggests that if we give single-minded attention to the most important thing, other important, but lesser things will fall into place.

Is there one area in your life that is holding you back? The truth is defeat in one area bleeds into other areas, and victory in one part of our life affects the other parts. For instance, over-spending can lead to frustration, relationship issues, anxiety and excess, clutter and an overall feeling of defeat.

Is the one area that is making you feel stuck your health, a toxic relationship, a knowingly destructive habit or addiction, going to bed too late or sleeping in too long, your anger, your negativity, disorganization, crushing overload, always being behind or late, out-of-control technology?  If we think hard and dig deep, we can uncover that core issue that is bleeding into the rest of our lives causing havoc. Once we identify the area, then ask the specific question, “what one thing could you do, such that by doing it, it would make everything else either easier or unnecessary?” Avoid vague answers. For instance, “Get healthy” is not one thing, it is one idea. On the other hand, “Establish a detailed plan for the week ahead every Saturday” is specific. Commit to single-minded focus and take care of your one thing. If you do the hard work to identify the right one thing, you will find that many other things will also fall into place and you may not feel so stuck anymore.

What is your One Thing?