It’s hard to talk about focus without also mentioning your will. After all, you can’t focus on anything without willing yourself to do it.
Without using your will, your attention quickly jumps from one thing to another, leaving you with busy, but fractured and unproductive days. And before you know it months pass, and you have very little to show for it.
However, it can be a different story if you can find something that really matters to you.
Whether you want to become the best salesperson you can be or reignite the romance in your marriage, if you keep your desire as your priority, then your life will evolve, and your days will be fulfilling.
It’s simple
The pro golfer I mentioned in the video was serious about improving his game. He wanted it so badly he had the nerve to tap me—a stranger from a popular movie—on the shoulder and say that he thought I could help him.
Later, when he asked me what one thing he could do to make him a better golfer, I shared an exercise that would help him focus.
Why?
Because we all need focus to achieve anyworthy goal.
If we can maintain our focus on changing, developing, or improving something in our lives, there’s a good chance that we will succeed.
However, if we don’t focus on it, we won’t achieve the goal, unless it’s such an easy goal that it would have happened anyway.
In other words, if you don’t have something you seriously want and must stretch yourself to get, your mind will become a plaything for outside forces—anything and everything that is happening around you. You’ll bounce around on the ocean of life because an easy goal won’t be enough to guide your focus.
A word of caution
Often when I teach people how to develop their focus, they get so excited that they find several things they want to change or improve.
That’s wonderful; I encourage you to make a comprehensive list of the things you want to be, do and have. However, you must pick just one thing from the list to focus on first because if you try to focus on two or more goals at once, you will likely fail.
Why?
Because you can’t half-heartedly focus on something; focus requires your full attention. When you try to go after more than one thing, you end up running in circles and often accomplishing little or nothing at all.
And here’s one more thing to keep in mind…
Your paradigm (your habits and mental programming) is dominant, and it will try to keep you from changing. So, even with only one goal, you need to find ways to keep your focus on it.
Here are a few things I do to help me maintain my focus on my current goal:
- Write your goal (in the present tense) on a card. Think about it first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. And think about it as often during the day as you can.
- Visualize already having your goal—engaging all your senses—for at least 5 minutes a day.
- Work on the goal each day, no matter what. Some days you might be able to work on it for just a few minutes, but just make sure you do something to move you closer to your goal.
- Get an accountability partner and report your progress each week.
- Clear your workspace. Having an uncluttered workspace will help to keep your mind clear and orderly so you can get a lot done in a short time.
Comments
Post a Comment