What's Your "One Thing"?

This is a blog about procrastination and time-stewardship and self-management and all the stuff that's really hard about being an adult. And this post in particular is about the real problem with procrastination - which is not that it makes you late for appointments or has you rushing around to get paperwork finished at the last minute. That's the little stuff. No, the real problem with procrastination is that it can—if we let it—keep us from doing the "One Thing."

Most of us have one. That "One Thing" that we need to do. That "One Thing" which, if we did it, would create the most meaningful shift in our lives right now. There are very good reasons why we have not, at this point, done the "One Thing" yet:

• limitations with time or money,
• lack of support from important people in our lives,
• difficulty believing that we can—really—do this "One Thing"

The "One Thing"
Your "One Thing" might be a decision, a phone call, a commitment, or a tough conversation. It might take a minute, or it might take 6 months. But once you've done it, just imagine! This is the decision or behavior which each of us knows would most improve our life right now. More than a hundred other decisions or behaviors, the "One Thing" will make the absolute most high-leverage, killer-impact difference.

Obstacles
What are the biggest obstacles to taking care of your "One Thing" today? Specifically, what's gotten in the way up 'til now? And who? Who discourages you from tackling your "One Thing" right now? How exactly do they do that?

Resources
And who are your biggest resources here? Who's already made this decision or created this change in their own life, and could give you tips or a template for doing your "One Thing"? Who could give you a hand, or help you sketch this out on the back of a napkin, or give you a pep talk and then check in with you later about this?

Strengths
How do you know—for sure—that you can do this? What's the hardest thing you've ever done—the toughest decision or choice, the biggest achievement? What's something that comes easy to you now that at one point seemed like an impossible task? (Think: getting a date, operating a stick shift, or living on your own.) And how did that go from impossible to easy? What were the steps along that particular (you have dozens of examples of this) impossible-to-easy transformation? What resources do you still have, untapped, which will help you with your difficult but important "One Thing"? What natural talents and gifts and advantages are yours?

First Steps
Finally - if you were going to take care of your "One Thing" today, what would be the very first step you would take? Can you see yourself doing that, almost like you're watching a movie with someone else taking that step? And in that movie, how would you breathe, how would you walk, what would you be thinking?

If you're not quite ready to take that first step, then your first step might be to give this a rest for a bit, and come back to these questions later. Cut and paste the link to this post into an email to yourself, or stick it on a web-based calendar for two weeks from now. Or add a to-do item called "My One Thing" for later this week. But don't let this get by you—everything you're here to experience and learn—and to share with the rest of us—depends upon bravely knocking this one out.

And then the next "One Thing." And the one after that. Good luck!

photo: ground.zero at flickr