Business By Hormozi #291: The Key to Speed: Why Focusing on Fewer Things Makes Everything Faster

The Overwhelm of Doing Too Much

Jake had always prided himself on his ability to juggle multiple projects at once. He felt like a master multitasker, checking off endless tasks on his to-do list every day. But lately, something didn’t feel right. Everything seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace. Despite his best efforts, his business growth was stagnating, and the progress he had expected wasn’t coming fast enough.

He often felt overwhelmed—spreading himself thin, working long hours, and yet feeling like he wasn’t getting anywhere. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he knew something was wrong. After a particularly frustrating week, Jake reached out to his mentor, Clara, for advice.

“Jake,” she said, “If his speed in everything feels slow, it’s because you’re doing too much. It takes a lot more to make it work than you thought. There’s only one way to go fast: do fewer things.”

The Power of Focus

Jake was confused. “But Clara, I’ve got so many ideas! How can I just pick one thing and focus on it?”

Clara smiled and replied, “The problem is that you’re trying to do everything at once. You’re spreading yourself so thin that none of your efforts are moving as quickly as they could. To go fast, you need to focus on doing fewer things but doing them better.”

She continued, “The more you focus, the less time you waste. When you’re working on too many things, you’re not giving each one the attention it deserves. By narrowing your focus, you’ll accelerate progress because you’re working with clarity and energy, not scattered attention.”

Jake thought about it for a moment. It started to make sense. The more projects he took on, the more distracted he became, and the less effective he was. He couldn’t keep up the pace. What he needed wasn’t more effort, but more focus.

A Shift in Approach

Jake decided to make a change. He started by eliminating all the small tasks that were cluttering his to-do list. He narrowed his focus to the few things that would move the needle in his business. Rather than spending time on every idea that popped into his head, he concentrated on the most important goals.

He limited his projects to just three key initiatives—building his email list, improving his customer support, and refining his marketing strategy. Everything else was put on hold or delegated. No more half-hearted attempts at multiple things. If he was going to do something, he was going to do it well.

The Speed of Simplicity

At first, it felt strange to focus so intensely on so few tasks. But Jake quickly noticed a difference. Instead of feeling frazzled and overwhelmed, he felt energized and more productive. His efforts were now streamlined and purposeful. And the results were immediate. The progress he was making in those three areas far exceeded anything he had accomplished while juggling multiple tasks at once.

With a renewed sense of direction, Jake was able to go faster because he had fewer things to focus on. As he honed in on the tasks that truly mattered, everything started to fall into place. The business began to grow at a pace he had once thought impossible.

The Moral of the Story

Jake’s experience proved a crucial lesson: in order to go fast, you have to slow down. It wasn’t about doing more—it was about doing less, but doing it with full attention and intention. When you focus on fewer things, you eliminate distractions, increase efficiency, and make more significant progress faster.

Moral: "It’s hard to go slow when you’ve only got one thing to do."