Author: Darren Lim

Today marks the 80th days since I gave up drinking. Yes, only 80 days, but boy do I feel good about it. Here I try to give a quick run down of the benefits that I have reaped in the 80 days.

1. A fitter lifestyle meant a smaller waist-line.
2. A healthy looking skin.
3. Better sleep. On the contrary to common belief about having a drink before your sleep…I sleep a lot better these days since I gave up drinking.
4. I think and work better during the day and even nights which means high productivity.
5. Being able to hold a deeper and better conversations during dinners with friends and colleagues.
6. Better decision making and control of emotions. I attribute that to a clearer head.
7. With increased productivity, you feel yourself being able to do more and thus more things that matters – like writing this blog.
8. Your craving for substitutes, in my case – cakes. The sweet stuff.

So far, these are some of the benefits I have reaped over the past 80 days. I am sure I would have more to share in the days that follows. As the picture suggests, “Make today the first day of the rest of your Life”… Make a choice, lead a sober life today.

Learnings from “The One Thing”…

(1) If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either.

(2) Go narrow and deep. Ignore all the things that you could do, and do only the things that you should do.

(3) Not all things matter equally. Find those that matter the most.

(4) You only have so much time and energy. When you spread yourself out, you end up being thin.

(5) No one is self made. No one succeeds alone. No one. There are many people, wishes and hundreds of situations that must fall in place for you to succeed.

(6) The line between passion and skill is often blurred. Passion leads to disproportionate practice leading to higher skills leading to better results, which feeds passion further. This chain reaction spirals to extraordinary results.

(7) Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that do not. Everything does not matter equally. Prioritize.

(8) Things that are most important do not often scream the loudest.

(9) Being busy is not enough. So are the ants.

(10) Multitasking is a myth. A human mind can focus on one task a time. Only involuntary tasks or automated tasks can happen in parallel.

(11) Task switching costs us valuable time to reach the same productivity level as we were, before we left the task.

(12) Select the right task, work consistently on it, make it a habit, and then you are liberated from having to monitor it ever. It is automated in your brain.

(13) Willpower is not available on will. It keeps getting diminished through the day as you use it.

(14) Do your toughest task in the morning when your will power is at its peak.

(15) A balanced life is a myth. The reason why we should not pursue balance is that magic happens, not in the middle, but in the extremes.

(16) To achieve extraordinary results, you must chose what matters most and give it all the time it demands. This requires getting extremely out of balance in relation to other work issues. You may infrequently counterbalance to address them.

(17) No one knows their ultimate ceiling for achievement. Giving it a shot is the only way to get an idea.

(18) On the journey to achieving big, you get bigger. Achieving big requires growth, and by the time you arrive, you are big too!

(19) People who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the only ones who do.

(20) Think big, Aim high, Act Bold

(21) Keep your most important appointment with your No. 1 priority.. everyday without fail

(22) Until your most important thing of the day is done, everything else is a distraction

(23) Turn off your phone, shutdown your email, close your browser. Your most important work deserves 100% of your attention.

(24) Focus is about deciding what things you are not going to do.

(25) When you strive for greatness, clutter is bound to show up because of your extreme focus on one thing. If a cluttered desk is an indicator of a cluttered mind, what, then represents an empty desk?

(26) It is only when you can visualize a bigger life, can you hope of living one.

(27) Whenever you look back at your life, the things that might cause you the biggest regrets are the things that you did not do. Your actions may be stupid, but it is your inaction that will cause you the regret.

(28) When you do not know what matters most, anything makes sense. The best lives aren’t lead this way.