A review by deenashoemaker
One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do by Phil Howard Cooke

3.0

This book is not your typical "get rich quick" book. It's not one of those "I'm going to hand you the answers to life" books.
It's the "find out who you are, find out what you love, and be that thing" book. It's a road map, if you will, that points you in all the right directions for discovering yourself. It's an organized, detailed, logical approach to finding what you are good at in life and being that person.

I was kind of skeptical about this book, as I am about most books that claim to help you find your purpose. But I was actually surprised to find out that it wasn’t like the other books I’ve seen on the topic. It doesn’t claim to hold magical 8-ball powers that send you on your way. Instead, it actually says it can’t and won’t tell you your purpose.
There is a series of steps you can take and questions you must ask yourself in order to start discovering who you are and what you do best.
I really liked the analogy inside this book about “the bread plate lady.”
The author, Cooke, went to a market one day and discovered many stands full of everything imaginable. But there was one old lady in the corner selling only bread plates. Everyone locally knew her as “the bread plate lady” and anyone looking for a bread plate was directed to her. Now, there were several other stands that also sold bread plates, but everyone was still directed to her.
Why?
Because she focused on One Big Thing.

Was her purpose in life bread plates? No. I’m sure it wasn’t. But, as the analogy says, “focus on the one thing you’re good at, and people will notice.”