Own Your ONE Thing

“One area where I think we are especially distinctive is failure. I believe we are the best place in the world to fail (we have plenty of practice!), and failure and invention are inseparable twins. To invent you have to experiment, and if you know in advance that it’s going to work, it’s not an experiment.”
- Jeff Bezos

What if you could learn to fail like the richest man in the world? Today we are going to look at Owning Your ONE Thing through the lens of failure. Owning Your ONE Thing is not a passive material investment, like “owning” a living room couch or “owning” a new car or “owning” an S&P Index fund. With regards to your ONE Thing, “to own” is an active and ongoing attitude as in “he really owns that corner of the market” or “she really owns that role”.

OWNING your ONE Thing means showing up day after day, regardless of whether you feel like it or not. Owning in this sense means that you are not satisfied with the status quo. You are not trying to be some long distance care-taker of your ONE Thing. You need to OWN IT!

With this level of commitment, it’s inevitable that you will encounter failures, large and small.

Failure at this level can be especially painful since you have put so much of yourself on the line. None of the usual rationalizations are available to soothe things over -  “well - I didn’t really try, I didn’t really want it that much, etc”. This might be one reason why people shy away from getting clear about their ONE thing. If you really nail down your ONE thing, a lot of comforting excuses fall away!

Fortunately, we have many strong examples of how to OWN Your ONE Thing and to not only deal with failure - but actively embrace failure. In fact, the success of Jeff Bezos at Amazon suggests that failure is the hidden secret to success in our rapidly evolving economy!

You can start to fail like Jeff by activating him as your AI coach at ROCKET Goals AI.

"Activate as an expert coach in experimentation, failure, and focus. Guide me through the process of identifying my ONE Thing—the most crucial aspect of my personal or professional growth. Like Jeff Bezos at Amazon, help me to design and implement experiments that will enable me to explore different strategies for achieving my goals, while also learning to embrace and learn from failures. Encourage me to maintain a sharp focus on my ONE Thing, assisting me in overcoming distractions and setbacks. Provide support by developing action plans that include daily tasks, weekly milestones, and strategies for overcoming mental and emotional barriers. Equip me with the tools to not only commit fully to my ONE Thing but also to continuously adapt and improve my approach based on the outcomes of my experiments and the lessons learned from any failures."

With your AI in full “failure mode” - here are some prompts and exercises to work through.

Prompt 1: Embracing and Learning from Failure
Prompt: "Recall a recent failure or setback in your pursuit of your ONE Thing. What did you learn from this experience? How can this lesson be applied to enhance your approach and avoid similar pitfalls in the future?"

Steps:
1. Identify the Failure: Clearly describe the failure and its context.

2. Analyze the Outcome: Dig into what went wrong and why.

3. Extract Lessons: Determine key takeaways that can prevent future failures.

4. Implement Changes: Adjust your strategies or processes based on these insights.

Prompt 2: Experimenting Towards Success
Prompt: "Design a small, manageable experiment related to your ONE Thing that you can implement this week. What are the parameters of this experiment, and how will you measure its success?"

Steps:

1. Choose an Experiment Area: Pick a component of your ONE Thing that needs exploration or improvement.

2. Set Clear Objectives: Define what success looks like for this experiment.

3. Execute and Monitor: Carry out the experiment and closely monitor the results.

4. Evaluate and Iterate: Analyze the outcomes and decide whether further experimentation is needed.

Prompt 3: Ownership Mindset
Prompt: "What are the mental and emotional barriers that prevent you from fully owning your ONE Thing? How can you overcome these barriers to enhance your ownership and commitment?"

Steps:

1. Identify Barriers: List mental and emotional hurdles that limit your engagement.

2. Seek Solutions: Consider strategies to overcome these barriers (e.g., mindset shifts, additional skills training, time management adjustments).

3. Implement and Review: Put these strategies into action and regularly review their effectiveness in helping you take ownership.

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These prompts are designed to activate Rocket Goals AI or any AI coaching tool, helping you to capture the essence of what it means to truly own their ONE Thing!

Remember the great paradox of progress in our age of acceleration - the quicker you start to experiment and fail, the quicker you will elevate your ONE Thing to new and incredible levels of achievement!