When I was 15 I learned a valuable lesson. I worked at a local convenience store on the weekends while in high school for some extra spending cash. On Sundays I had to open the store at 4am and stay until 2pm when the owner would arrive to relieve me. Since then, I’ve never believed that all 8 hour shifts are equal.

The owner would remind me every Saturday afternoon to make sure that I didn’t let the coffee run out on Sunday. Coffee and newspapers were the two biggest sellers and she never wanted the store to be without coffee. It was her only directive. She would even show up early some days and make a beeline for the coffee pots to make sure i wasn’t falling down on the job and that we had fresh brew.

There is lots to do on a slow morning in a convenience store. Take inventory, front the shelves, stock the cooler, do some light cleaning and plenty more. All important, all subordinated to the need for fresh, hot coffee always available.

I was reminded of this simple, clear directive this week with the slew of goal planning posts for 2010. Some elaborate, some less so, all process driven to help you set your agenda for 2010. Useful, likely, but effective? Questionable.

I’d argue that we all have a goal or directive like the one my old boss had. One that the rest are subordinate too. That if we take care of that one thing all else will seem to be what it truly is-secondary.

It may be as simple as keeping fresh coffee always on. It may be much more complex, like opening a new company. Either way there is probably one thing, one objective that trumps the rest. Get that one thing right and you’ll be way ahead of where you are now.

So instead of setting goals and making elaborate plans may I suggest trying this instead? Without any uncertainty, pin down that one thing that will truly make a difference this year – and then go for it with abandon. I bet you’ll end up where you want to be.

Image via Wikipedia.