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Doing One Thing Well

Guest post by: Jim Stovall

Article Overview: Our society rewards people handsomely who can only do one thing, but can do it well. It's not imperative that the thing they do well be of large significance. News reports are full of the fame, success, and notoriety of Mark McGuire and Tiger Woods. In a global perspective, playing golf or baseball is not terribly important. What matters in this case is how well they do it.

Doing One Thing Well

Our society rewards people handsomely who can only do one thing, but can do it well. It's not imperative that the thing they do well be of large significance. News reports are full of the fame, success, and notoriety of Mark McGuire and Tiger Woods. In a global perspective, playing golf or baseball is not terribly important. What matters in this case is how well they do it.

As an author and an interviewer on television, I have had the privilege of speaking with some of the greatest individuals from the worlds of sports, politics, movies, and television. Many of these people have absolutely no skills or talents outside of the one they are known for. You might be shocked to learn that some of the most successful people in our society are incapable of balancing a checkbook, going to the grocery store, or driving a car. They are so good at the things they do that the day-to-day pursuits that invade all of our lives simply don't matter to them.

McDonalds is the most popular and successful food outlet in the world. You can go into McDonalds today and get breakfast, lunch, dinner, salads, healthy foods, junk foods, and any number of other items. But, when they started, McDonalds went for many years only serving one kind of hamburger, French fries, and soft drinks. They perfected their system before they built upon it. I think most people would agree that their success is probably due to their delivery system and their manner of marketing than their food, itself. The key we can learn from this is that life will reward us when we can do one thing very well and then build on that success to build other successes in the future.

We have all heard about the proverbial "Jack of all trades." These are people who can do a great number of things fairly well, but they're not outstanding at any one thing. While these kinds of people are very handy to have around, they will never be known as super stars in any field,

because they lack the focus and the excellence in one specific area.

Work on being known for one thing and doing it exceedingly well. Build your success from there.

Today's the day!

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Article Tags: fame, Jim Stovall, Mark McGuire, Performance, Tiger Woods



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