Ever feel like you're always busy, doing what you "should" do, but you're still not making progress?Do you look back at how you've spent the last week, month, or even year with a nagging feeling that you could be a lot further?I know the feeling because for years this was my story. (Just check out my old New Years Resolution posts!)However, after my most recent meeting with my accountability partner, I finally realize I discovered the key to guaranteeing that I make progress in my life. It's a very simple technique but for me, it's been a game-changer.In today's podcast, I share all about this technique and how it's been working for me. Click below to listen and find out how you can make guaranteed progress in your life:

Podcast Summary:

I met up with my accountability partner earlier this week and our conversation inspired me to create this post.You know how when you tell people about a new project you're doing, suddenly they have all these expectations? Like, oh, "you should do this" or "why aren't you focusing on that"?Well I was talking to my accountability and I was telling her how I'm making a lot progress ignoring what people think I should focus on and instead, focusing on THE ONE THING that I know will make the most difference toward what I want in my life.For instance, my mom has been HOUNDING me about changing the cover of my book. She thinks my face should be on the cover and she keeps telling me that she won't promote it to her friends and networking groups until I switch it up.Now mind you, I totally get where she's coming from and I agree about the cover change. Updating the cover is something I want to do when I get around to it. But here's the thing - the cover I already have on the book hasn't stopped me from making sales. And updating the cover is not going to get me any closer to my ultimate goal which is to get my business to point where I can quit my job. So as I was just sitting there talking with my accountability partner, we were reflecting on how if you aren't careful, other people's expectations will get you caught up on minutiae and you'll miss out on the opportunity to do the big things that really make a difference for whatever your goal is.Find Your One ThingI've been think about this concept a lot lately but I first got put on it when I read this book called The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. It's a simple book but a really, really good one. In it, the two authors talk about how people always ask Gary (he's the founder of Keller Williams Realty) how he get so much done and he basically tells them that he RUTHLESSLY focuses on his "One Thing". Whatever goal he's going for in life, he looks at everything he COULD do and asks himself, what’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?By focusing on that One thing FIRST and before he paid attention to anything else, he found that he made major progress in his life. I've started to do the same and it's been a game changer for me.When you're trying to achieve a goal, there are lots of things that are genuinely important, but not everything is the most important. The thing I always ask myself lately is "out of everything I could do in relation to this goal, what's the one thing that will make the biggest difference and will move me the closest to my goal, the fastest?"In other words, I'm constantly asking myself what thing out of everything is going to give me "the biggest bang for my buck"? Then I go focus on that thing first and foremost when working on that goal before I focus on anything else.When I was talking to my accountability partner about how out of everything I could do for my business, it was comical that my mom was harping on me about changing the cover, I realized this is the reason why people don't make massive progress towards whatever it is they are trying to do. They either let others or get themselves to chase rabbit holes that in the end, don't really go to anything significant.Why The One Thing is HardI think part of this is because a lot of people don't understand the concept of leverage. We get stuck because we think of things in terms of “important” vs “not important” when really we should be thinking in terms of minimum vs maximum leverage.Remember in 3rd grade science class when you learned about levers, pulleys, and other simple machines? Your science teacher probably put a ruler on top of a coffee can and used the newly created makeshift lever to lift up something heavy like a rock.The demonstration probably felt pointless in grade school but the application can be life changing as an adult.Here’s the thing - everything is important, or at least feels important, which is why it’s so easy to get pulled in a million different directions and so difficult to know what to do. If you're a person with lots of dreams and goals and even more responsibilities, trying to do the "most important" thing can feel a lot like trying to pick out the “coldest" ice cube in the freezer tray.“Important” is vague and is too easily applied. Instead, if you ask yourself what will give you the most leverage - what’s the one thing you should be focusing on that will do the heavy lifting in most other areas of your life?I love this concept because the more and more I apply it, the more progress I see in my life.I first applied this at beginning of the year when I decided on what goal I was going to focus the hardest on.When you think about a lever, if you design it properly, it will allow you to move something much bigger than what you could move without out it. That's all leverage is, it's using one thing to get maximum results out of another.So when looking at the things you could do in a given day, week, month, year, or even a lifetime, you shouldn't necessarily be focusing on "the important things" as much as you should be focusing on the things that MAKE THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE for the important things.For instance, people look at their lives and the say "Oh my family is most important to me" or "my health is most important" or whatever then they run off and try to make a difference in those areas but they don't have any LEVERAGE.Yes - it's a good thing to identify what's most important to you. But don't stop there - once you know what's most important, ask yourself what will make the biggest difference towards your most important areas then go focus on that. If you want to cut down a tree, focus on finding the best axe.It doesn't always make a lot of sense to those around me but I've feel really clear about what will make the biggest difference towards my goals in life and, you know what, I'm unapologetic about focusing on it.P.S. - If you have a dream or passion you haven't been making progress on but you want to learn how to get clear so you can start taking action, then you should join Jessica and I for our Define Your Dream live event!Tomorrow, Friday, May 29th at 8pm CST, Jessica and I will be teaching women just like you how to get clear and get going on your dreams.You'll definitely want to hear Jessica's story as she started her ministry with 8 women in her living room and it has since grown into a major organization that reaches women all over the world. She's hosted a sold-out annual conference 2 years in a row now and has featured speakers such as Heather Lindsey and Real Talk Kim (Kimberly Jones Pothier). If you want to learn how to literally start with nothing and still bring your dream to life, this is one event you don't want to miss.

This will be a live event hosted in Dallas, TX; however, we are live streaming the entire event so you can watch from anywhere. Click the sign-up button below to get all the details. And if you can't make it on Friday, May 29, still sign-up as a replay will be available for a limited time.

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