Create Extraordinary Results With the One Thing Truth

I wake up daily thinking about extraordinary people who are part of my life — or have been part of my life — and today it is Geoff Woods. Geoff and I talk every once in a while — but he agreed to come on my podcast show a month or so ago.

What struck me today was Geoff telling me about a friend and colleague who had a stroke at 35 years of age and how it changed his thinking. Geoff and his lovely wife had just had their first child and purchased a home in Orange County. Amy had decided to stay home and be a stay-at-home mom. Then the friend had the stroke, and he realized that fate happens to everyone.

A week later, his company changed its regular commission structure and Geoff lost 40% of his income overnight. Geoff realized that he was not as secure as he had believed he was.

About that time, Geoff was introduced to a Jim Rohn quote that said that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with and thought, (like I have) — “I have amazing friends, but no mentors.”

Launching The Mastermind

This realization set him on the path of doing a podcast called The Mentee, and the podcast soon launched into The Mastermind. The Mastermind was a process where mentors would fly in, and they would spend the weekend together just helping each other by enriching each other’s lives. In The Mastermind process, we would help give suggestions on careers and business. This is where Geoff and I met.

Okay — Seriously, the best thing about Geoff is how he met his wife — Please listen to the podcast here — this story is relatively close to the beginning of the podcast and well worth the listen — but I digress.

Geoff calls our work friends and colleagues and our college day friends our “friends of circumstance.” These are the friends we may maintain throughout our lives, and they’re ones that we can usually depend on and call on for nearly everything.

But when we move on to our careers and develop as partners, spouses and parents — we need people who specialize. We may still have our friends of circumstance — but now, we must begin to gather those who will help us grow. For these friends, we must be more purposeful and strategic.

Your Purposeful and Strategic Friends

If you decide to build a ONE Thing life, you will want to surround yourself with successful business owners who know how to do what has to be done. If you want to make a big impact in the world — or even a significant impact in your (smaller) world — you will get there faster and easier if someone shows you the way.

I really want to be a family man with a business — and not a businessman with a family. Geoff mentioned that he has this same goal. So if you are an entrepreneur and highly ambitious, but desire to have a solid moral compass with values — you have to get real clear real fast on where and how to get the help you need.

Do You Know Who You Are?

As a first step, you’ll want to get clear on who you are — so you can find people that will help you with your goals. Years ago, I didn’t even have my friends today in my purview or on my radar. Why? Because I hadn’t realized the importance of finding the One Thing of importance.

You will luck into many relationships and we’re all thankful for those. But when the truth hits you — the reality of the One Thing — you’ll have a mindset shift. It starts slowly but begins to grow more rapidly as you see the difference in your life.

Create Extraordinary Results With the One Thing Truth

What is the One Thing Truth? Well, Geoff Woods pointed it out. It comes to light by realizing that the lie of productivity is in everything we do. The Lie of Productivity says that you make a big ole’ to-do list every day and start blasting it out like clockwork, and you’ll be successful and make a great living.

We have to realize that all things are not equal — they have never been. Those who learn the secret learn that all the stuff on your plate is not of equal importance. The 20% drives the 80%.

You can’t do everything — you can’t maintain all of your relationships — you have to choose. It may feel awful, it may feel weird — but it’s the truth. You cannot maintain everything in your life equally.

If you learn the One Thing, you have a challenge, and that challenge is that you have to choose.

Like Geoff Woods says, “That means looking at other relationships and somewhat putting them on autopilot or minimum viable maintenance. And there are other relationships that you flat out may have to cut altogether.”

Geoff pointed out a defining, powerful truth — You may feel bad about making this choice — but think about it early and well in your life.

When you hold onto the wrong people in your life, what you’re actually giving up is your future. You’re actually giving up your dreams. –Geoff Woods

The 12 Incredible Relationships

Once, a mentor told me that it is challenging, if not impossible, to maintain more than 12 incredible relationships and that you really need to get clear on who those 12 are. And really, I’ve found that even 12 is a considerable amount of people to keep track of with any degree of accuracy.

With my wife and I, we also have to add to that number — our families. Then I add my inner circle, which includes three to five people who ultimately have the highest degree or highest level role of impact in my life.

Be inspired by the Geoff Woods Podcast — Geoff tells his story, which is both instructive and inspiring. You’ll hear how he launched his career by finding out whether to follow heart-tugging work or logical thought processes.

But the main takeaway here is — Ask yourself what will happen in your life if every person in your world is clear on the number one priority and every day whacks away at the lead domino? When you are clear on that goal — you have found the One Thing.

Image Credit: Anastasia Shuraeva; Pexels; Thank you!