The One Crucial Thing that Galloping Gauchos can Teach Us

11
Comments

just-one-thing1 The One Crucial Thing that Galloping Gauchos can Teach Us
Photo byquinn.anya
What is the one thing that you want to focus your whole life upon? That’s a question that came up for me when I saw galloping gauchos. Oh, maybe I should explain that I’m in Argentina at the moment. I was at a fiesta on an estancia, a huge ranch in the Pampas. The sun beat down on a crowd of people.

I snuck off and found a quiet spot under a tree. There I lay down and looked up into the tender green leaves. Ah…! It was so good to get away from the noise and hustle of Buenos Aires and actually hear myself think …even if it was about trivial things, like caterpillars and Camembert (I was drifting off to sleep).

Suddenly I woke up with a start. ‘What is the one thing?’ I thought. If someone said to me, “Do just one thing in life!”, what would that one thing be for me? As you can imagine, it wasn’t the kind of question that is easy to answer, especially on a dreamy, hot afternoon.

Shortly afterward, I went to watch a gaucho competition. The riders took turns to gallop full tilt on their scruffy horses, standing up in their stirrups, and trying poke a metal pencil through a small ring hanging up just within reach. If they managed to spear it, they galloped on in triumph, holding up the pen with the ring dangling from it for all to see.

From the start it was clear who would win. Why? Because one of the older guys was totally focused on the ring, and not on anything else at all. Some of the younger riders were trying to show off their skills with half an eye on the pretty women in the audience. But this one gaucho galloped like crazy whilst standing absolutely still in his stirrups. You could see his mind’s eye was fixed on the ring and on nothing else. At that moment it was the One Thing for him. Nothing else counted and nothing else existed.

He managed to spear the ring over and over. It was impressive.

It made me wonder about life. What would happen if I lived my life like that? With all my focus on Just One Thing? It sounds like good advice, doesn’t it: “Just do one thing!” But, I must admit, I don’t seem to able to do that. I’ve got more than one passion in life. Is this a good thing or not?

So, I’d like to ask your advice:

Do you think “Just do one thing and do it well” is a good way to live one’s life? Or not?

Enjoy GoodlifeZEN and want to support it? Click here to made a (modest) donation.

Posted on 24-10-2008 | Copyright Mary Jaksch 2008.

Join the Discussion:

....

Comments

11 comments

1. Jun Loayza on 25 October, 2008 at 1:24 am #

Argentina must be so amazing! I’ll be going to Peru later in the year.

This is a discussion that I have gone over and over in my head. Should I specialize on that one thing, or should I be a renaissance man with many different skills?

I have a startup company with a team of undergraduate campus CMOs. I have helped them set up a blog and told them to focus on a specialization for their blog. If they establish their thought leadership on a topic, then people will come to their blog to read up on that topic.

But how about for life? Should I just be known as an Entrepreneur? Don’t I have many other titles like mentor, student, brother, friend, consultant, blogger, boyfriend…

I have decided that I want to be good at EVERYTHING. Maybe this means I have to sacrifice being great at some things, but I feel I will have lived a happy and fulfilling if I have experienced as much as I possibly can.

- Jun Loayza

Jun Loayzas last blog post..5 steps that might have undergraduates worrying about a job

2. Jay on 25 October, 2008 at 6:05 am #

Good question. I’m somewhat a jack of all trades, definitely master of none, but I’m trying to stay focused in the moment and what I’m doing at the present time is what I’m 100% focused on, i.e typing this comment.

Good blog, thanks for your efforts, enjoy the trip, eat some great beef, unless your a Veg.

Jays last blog post..Book Review - Fat: An Appreciation of A Misunderstood Ingredient

3. Mary Jaksch on 25 October, 2008 at 6:29 am #

Hi Jun!
Thank you for reminding us of the Renaissance. Their ideal was the ‘homo universalis’, the man who was well rounded in arts and science.

I recently saw an exhibition of Da Vinci and I was amazed at the range of his talents!

Maybe sticking to the ‘one thing’ leads to more success, but living a broader life leads to more happiness?

4. Mary Jaksch on 25 October, 2008 at 6:32 am #

Hi Jay!
It seems like you are offering us a third way: to be focused on ONE THING in every moment.

Thanks for your encouragement!

5. Adrilia on 25 October, 2008 at 8:32 am #

Mary,
How wonderful that you are in Argentina. Have a great visit. You raise a great question. Most of us nowadays have many interests, skills and talents. I was just at lunch yesterday with an artist, business coach, college professor, and owner of 2 businesses, all 1 person. We like to explore and develop our opportunities and skills. But, if we could focus on one skill, talent, endeavor for a given year or period of time … ah the wonders we would see!

6. panchitah on 25 October, 2008 at 1:52 pm #

What a thought provoking topic! Thanks for sharing it.

Here is what I think about focusing on ‘one thing.’ It depends.

Looking at the larger-scale (the forest), a ‘one’ focus can be an overarching life purpose that is achieved through multiple mini ‘one things.’

At the nearer-scale (the tree in the forest) a ‘one thing’ focus can help accomplish something of value shorter term. But we need not think that it is a decision that will dictate all others in the future. There are phases/steps to our life journey. ‘One thing’ can help us gain insight and experience when it is the right time.

Just some of the things that popped into my mind as I was reading. Lovely post.

7. chriso on 25 October, 2008 at 11:40 pm #

Hi Mary and everybody,
heres my musicians perspective. I am lucky to have one thing in my life I’ve done since I was a kid and I keep comming back to it - drumming, On the drumset in particular. I have also dabbled a great deal in other things… In fact the longer I keep with the drumming, the more I am able to tap into my experiences in other areas, musical or otherwise. So my expression as a drummer is enriched by both sticking to drumming and exploring as broad and rich a life as I can. I say: be a jack of all trades and a master of ONE!

8. Uwe Grodd on 26 October, 2008 at 12:30 am #

Tiger Woods was trained by his father as a three year old to do ‘one thing’ at a time and only that. Then he tried to throw him off balance by talking to him negatively even as a little child and was trying to take away his concentration and positive attitude. He was only allowed to do one thing. And so he did!

9. Martin on 26 October, 2008 at 3:41 am #

I am with Jay, the trick is to be focused on one thing at a time. Be in the moment.
Leonardo Di Vinci, there was a man who had his head screwed on straight.

Martins last blog post..Solve Problems by Changing Focus

10. Kate on 26 October, 2008 at 6:40 am #

Hey Mary,

first time on your blog. This post really got me thinking. My mindset program is so set to single mindedness but there’s so many things to tackle. Day job, your passion, hobbies, your own self-growth. Aaack!!Coupled if you have family and friends, no wonder life’s complicated.

but then it’s up to you to make it simple.

I like Panchitah’s comment. Perhaps we should focus on the ‘forest’ to gain perspective on our trees.

Kates last blog post..Top Ten Global Events Rockin’ Our World

11. axel g on 8 November, 2008 at 4:59 am #

Could it be that some individuals are satisfied with little while others prefer more variety?

One of the beauties of life is that there are no hard rules. If you dream about leading a busy lifestyle, then that’s fine.

Of course, there are certain advantages of knowing something well just like there are benefits of having a broad base of interests +_+