Great success is achievable if you line up your priorities and put all of your energy into accomplishing the most important thing.  Highly successful people line up their priorities each day and decide where to start, creating a domino effect of extraordinary results.

Part 1 introduces the Lies that seem true, but derail our success:
1. Everything Matters Equally
When everything feels urgent and important everything seems equal. We stay constantly busy, but with items that do not move us toward success.Achievers work from a clear sense of priority, focused on the essential and let the less important things go. He encourages “Success Lists” over To-do lists – whittling the could-do's down to the most important should dos.Citing the Pareto (20/80) Principle, where a minority of items and efforts yield the majority of results and rewards, he suggests taking it to an extreme and identifying the ONE most important item on the list. Takeaways: Productivity over busyness, identify the one core activity for the TOP of your list, Say no to the less important and Don’t get so excited to “check items off” that you abandon the big things for the little things that don’t matter. Doing the most important thing (even if it’s the only thing you do), is the most important thing.

2. Multitasking
Multitasking is NOT effective, it reduces our focus and prevents us from doing either thing well.The act of refocusing after distractions, interruptions, or as our brain jumps between our “multi” tasks (task switching), costs us more time than we know. (up to 28% of an average work day is lost to multitasking ineffectiveness and chronic multitaskers overestimate the time it takes to complete tasks due to this poor use of time). Takeaways: Reduce distractions, but they will still happen, don’t let multitasking take its toll, or undermine what matters most – give that your undivided attention!

3. A Disciplined Life
“Success is actually a short race – a sprint fueled by discipline just long enough for habit to kick in and take over” – he seems to be drawing a distinction between “habits” as natural, easy to maintain routines and “discipline” as white knuckling through unpleasant tasks against the odds. Habits require less effort to maintain than to begin, and once a habit, the hard stuff is easy. If you aim your discipline at creating the right habit (which takes about 66 days), it no longer requires discipline and you can be less disciplined in other areas. You are what you repeatedly do!

4. Willpower is Always On Will-Call
We don’t always have willpower, even to get what we want. He cites “The Marshmallow Experiment” and the tactics the toddlers used to delay their gratification and get 2 marshmallows later by not eating the ONE marshmallow now. Years later, those with the willpower to hold out for the additional reward were much more successful in life. Because we don’t ALWAYS have it, we need to manage it – WHEN there’s a will there’s a way. It is a limited resource that decreases throughout the day and as our willpower and cognition are drained. Willpower is based in the prefrontal cortex with focus, short term memory, and executive function – this area requires a lot of fuel – so feed your mind with foods that regulate your blood sugar evenly over long periods. This would add into decision fatigue and causes us to resort to our defaults when our willpower is low. Do your ONE important thing early before your willpower is sapped by the day, keep your brain fed. Use your willpower first on what matters!
5. A Balanced Life
Balance is a noun that as a concept doesn’t really exist, rather we are constantly balancing, and counterbalancing. Be clear about your most important work and personal priorities, create boundaries, work when you are supposed to be working, play when you are supposed to play, be all there in each one.
6. Big Is Bad
Don’t limit yourself. Don’t fear failure – it is the road to success. Don’t limit yourself to the available options – invent a new path. Think big, Aim big, Live big.

Part 2
Here we get into the solutions.  Keller encourages us to ask the focusing question:
What’s the One thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

It will aim you at the essential (the big picture), force you to make a decision – the best action to do now to drive you to what matters (the small focus for right now) – the first domino that starts the effect.

Use this in all areas of life – say the category, the question, add a time frame, finish the question. Eg.: For my key relationships, what’s the one thing I can do to show my appreciation to my parents this year that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?
In finding a great answer, there are 3 possibilities: Doable, Stretch, and Possibility.  Doable looks at conventional answer already in our experience, it doesn’t require much change.  Stretch may be at the farthest end of our range, take some research, extending ourselves to our limits, potentially achievable and probable if you give effort. With Possibility answers, you first research and study high achievers (this is basically your “Stretch answer”), then establish that as benchmark to see if you can spot what’s “trending” and coming NEXT to beat the current performers.

Part 3
This section deals with defining Purpose, which drives Priorities, which drives true Productivity (which in a business drives Profit).  Purpose is a big idea, the driving force to happiness. Lasting happiness happens when you make your life about something bigger, when you bring meaning and purpose to your everyday actions.  Why you are excited with your life, the thing you like to accomplish. Purpose tells you where you want to go.  Priority tells you what to do to get there.  Productivity is doing the next thing required to get there (not just staying busy).

Goal setting to the Now involves working backward from a distant goal, starting with the end in mind, defining where you need to be 5 years from now,  1 year from now, what needs to happen this month, week, and now today.
Time Blocking involves setting an appointment with yourself (4 hours suggested) where you will reduce distractions and focus on the most important thing.
 
Extraordinary results require 3 commitments:  Path of MASTERY, Purposefully finding the best ways of doing things, and Accountability.  4 Thieves of success are: The inability to say no, the fear of chaos when minor things don’t get done, poor health habits, and an environment that doesn’t support your goals.

Live your life with no regrets, with purpose, on the priority that matters most, and success and extraordinary life become possible!

After Timmy was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes five years ago, we participated in Boscov’s Halloween Candy Trade In Program – they offered kids with juvenile diabetes the option to trade in a bag of candy for a modest gift card – it was about $10, which was enough to get a small toy.  While T1D children can have carbs and sugar (they just need to count, and cover with insulin), it is better in moderation, so this was a really positive initiative, offering an incentive to reduce that carb load!

What a great idea!

In our house, Halloween candy (especially the less desirables) can stay around until Easter, tucked away in a drawer or corner of a closet.  I have tried some options to discourage this candy hoard, but most have been “sticks” rather than carrots  - whatever is not eaten by Thanksgiving comes down to the kitchen and is up for grabs for anyone.  This seems fair, but is always met with groans, and since my kids stick pretty well to family guidelines for number of treats a day, it always seems to sneak up on them and is received as a NEGATIVE.

This year I’m trying the Halloween Buy Back – they will have 24 hours to set aside those items they really don’t want and get cold hard cash in return.  This has been received positively – they can see the value of cash – and will incentivize letting go up front of those varieties that they just don’t love.  This is a skill I want them to develop, and using incentives to instill good habits is useful for all of us!

I think we will go with 5 pieces of candy for $1 this year.  You could make the buy back anything you want, but I think the sweet spot would end up between a dime and a quarter/candy.  Stating it in terms of how many /dollar both makes it more valuable (A dollar still buys you something good) and gives you more flexibility in not having to land on an even number of cents (7/$1 makes more sense than 14c/candy).  My kids love IceBreakers gum (me too!), and you don’t get a lot of good gum at Trick or Treat (maybe some Double Bubble here and there), so I know Megan is already mentally reminding herself that she is essentially trading for gum, which is what she would have chosen from a “Pick Two” bowl anyway!

Buy back candy can be shared with mom and dad, put out at a party, or donated (buyer’s choice).

I have heard of others who add in the mystery of the Halloween Fairy who accepts the donations and leaves toys or money in their place.  That’s a fun twist as well!!

If your focus is to reduce carbs in your home, you may want to use a higher buy back. 
 
If your focus is to encourage open hands and hearts, you may want to forego the money all together and take the time to “Reverse Trick or Treat” in an senior community that doesn’t get trick or treaters – dress up again, fill your bags with give away candy, and spend an afternoon opening the bags at each door for older residents to pick two of THEIR favorites!!  Dressing up is half the fun, and what a surprise for a homeowner to open their door to your little cuties and their sweet offerings!!

May you find your own variations that help you reduce the sugar load and the secret stashes and encourage your kids to share from their abundance!!  Have a safe and fun night of costumes, exercise, friends, and neighbors!