The One Most Important Thing

The first rule of thumb I pull out of my hat for myself and for my clients is this. Before you start working every day ask yourself “What is the one most important thing I could do today?” This is different than what you have to do or what you should do. It is the most important thing you could do. The answer, if you think carefully, is usually something that requires courage and integrity and not a lot of time. For instance, resolving an ongoing issue with a coworker or talking to your boss about the future of your career or hiring a personal trainer. When you consider To Do lists, they are infinite. In other words, there is an infinite amount of stuff you could do. So the best leverage you can get is making sure you do the most important thing first. It seems to be a human quality that we are tempted to do things that keep us busy but don’t really give us great results or great leverage in our lives. For instance, we’ll answer all our emails and go to every meeting we are invited to. You don’t have to worry about doing “normal” work items like this. They will always be there. But you can make significant positive change in your life and the life of others if you make sure to do the one most important thing each day.

— Michele McCarthy