Focus is the single most important factor that will determine whether your dreams come true or not. Depending on what your dreams are, there are so many rivers to cross. Some hurdles look quite formidable, and a lot of folks give up at the first sign of a setback.
Focus helps you put your act together. It helps you mobilize your resources and channel them in one direction. That way, you make progress consistently in the direction of your goal or milestones.
Imagine the lamps in the front of your car. Most models use the same size and bulb and wattage. What makes a full beam is focus. Driving on a dark road at midnight, you can see up to a kilometer ahead. If the beam is focussed further, it can generate heat. Focussed further still, it cut through some materials. That is the power of focus.
To fulfil your dreams, you have to break it down into actionable segments, goals. Fulfilling the dream involves achieving the goals that make up the dream. Focus enables you meet your goals.
Without focus, you become distracted. You lose direction. Your priorities get messed up. You start to look in different directions. This may involve beginning other projects, when the one at hand has not been pursued to a logical conclusion. The cycle continues, and the net effect is that you litter the landscape with abandoned projects. If you consider the time, energy and resources committed into these abandoned projects, put together and focussed on one project, results would have been achieved.
This brings to mind a simple experiment we did in junior high. To draw a simple straight line from point A to point B, without using a straight edge. To do that successfully, we were instructed to mark out the two points at two opposite ends of a plain sheet of paper. Then placing our pencil on point A, we were to keep our eyes on point B, as we draw the line. The net effect was a simple (maybe not perfect) straight line from point A to B. We were told to repeat the experiment, this time, place our pencil at point a, and keep our eyes on the pencil as it makes its way to point B. You can guess the result; a wavy line from point A to nowhere. By the time the pencil got to the opposite edge of the paper, we had to look for point B is. We had all gone way off mark.
It was a simple and powerful lesson in focus, though sadly, few of us took it to heart; keep your eyes where you are going, and you will get there. Keep your eyes where you are, and you will get lost.
Have you ever wondered what is the difference between a magnet and a nail? They are both made of carbon steel. It is in its molecular structure. Each has a north and south polarity. In the magnet, all the molecules are in perfect alignment, all north poles pointing in one direction (to make the north pole) and all south poles pointing in the opposite direction (to make the south pole). This is what accumulates to constitute the magnetic force. In the nail, the alignment is haphazard. They point in all directions. The net effect is that the electromagnetic forces cancel themselves and the resultant magnetic force is nil.
If you bring a nail within the magnetic field of a magnet, it sucks it in. While still attached to the magnet, the nail becomes a magnet too, and can magnet other metals. What happens is the magnetic force of the magnet forces the molecules in the nail to put its act together and line up in one direction. If you remove the nail, its molecular array returns to its former state, and it becomes a non-magnet one more time.
The magnet is a focused guy. He pulls its resources together and achieves. The nail is a confused guy, he deploys its resources in all directions, jumps from project to project and cancels out whatever progress he would have made.
As a shrewd manager of or time, energy and resources we need to plan and focus. You may have a thousand ideas. Create an idea bank in your computer and store them for safekeeping. Each idea has its time. Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. If you run before time, you wear yourself out, and add your idea to your database of abandoned projects. Instead of the idea motivating you, it now becomes a source of discouragement.
Each well-run army knows its strategic strengths, and how many theatres of war it can prosecute simultaneously. If it over stretches itself, it sets itself up for defeat.
It may be time step back review your current ongoing projects. Take a second look at your short term and long term goals. Do you still believe in your dream? If so, look at projects that are on the critical path to the fulfillment of your dream. Suspend projects that distract you from getting to where you are headed. If all your ongoing projects are relevant, assign priorities to them, continue with the most critical, and keep the others in view. Pursue one project to its logical conclusion. It may not necessarily mean staying permanently on one project. You can push it to a stage that it becomes self-sustaining or delegate-able to others, then delegate and move on. It will continue to thrive, as you break new grounds. Also you can take on other projects, if and only if they do not distract you, or slow down your primary thrust.
It does not make sense to complain that you don't have enough time to do the things you need to do, simply because you got your life cluttered with so many things that are nice, but not absolutely necessary.
It is great to start. Most folks don't. But starting alone is not enough. Finish what you start. The laurel belongs to those who finish, not to starters. The end of the matter is better than the beginning thereof. If you remain focussed long enough, you will get to the finish line.
Usiere Uko is the webmaster of the Financial Freedom Inspiration website and editor of the monthly Financial Freedom Inspiration Newsletter, a free ezine to inspire you to exit the rat race and fulfill your God given dreams. To subscribe or visit the site, please click on the URL below. http://www.financial-freedom-inspiration.com
Another year has flown by and here you are at... Read More
Weve all read about personal goal setting. Weve all tried... Read More
"If the world were to blow itself up the last... Read More
Many elementary school children know the miracle of Charlotte's Web.... Read More
We all come to a point in our lives, like... Read More
What do you want to achieve?Before you actually set up,... Read More
One of my favorite techniques for achieving goals is to... Read More
Do you want to get better results from daily exercises... Read More
1. Recognize that you are the source of everything that... Read More
(excerpted from the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan)Jim Rohn's Second... Read More
It is known that the human body sends out vibrations:... Read More
Like it or not, we are all gladiators. We go... Read More
Let's face it. Overcoming procrastination can be a challenge if... Read More
We have just begun another new year in our lives.... Read More
You have enormous promise! Why compromise?I once heard one self-professed... Read More
"Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning... Read More
It's been said that everyone has goals, whether we know... Read More
6.Recognise that all vision has seasonal components within it· Vision... Read More
In a nutshell... YES!I've given a lot of thought recently... Read More
What would you like to achieve in your lifetime?Author Basil... Read More
Goals are extremely important and are the key to any... Read More
I wonder if anyone really reads long stuff from Ezines... Read More
NOTE: This article is one of the component parts of... Read More
When you map out what you want, you let go... Read More
Probably the hardest skill to teach, and the one of... Read More
Should goals take a long time?Yes and No.Yes, goals should... Read More
I have a confession to make. Once upon a time,... Read More
My goal in life is to have no goals. They... Read More
Nothing gets done unless an action is completed. Everything we... Read More
"The key to realizing a dream is to focus not... Read More
The purpose of having an analytical brain is to use... Read More
The responsibility of working hard, planning and living a successful... Read More
Did you know that fewer than 10% of people who... Read More
Most people have no problem setting goals. At the same... Read More
Own goals are actions, things we do, that stop us... Read More
Ask anybody on January 2nd 2003 if they have New... Read More
If you've been diligent in doing the past 2 concentration... Read More
If you, just by coincidence, read my short article about... Read More
Creating your path to success depends on walking on a... Read More
Many elementary school children know the miracle of Charlotte's Web.... Read More
I remember watching an NBA Basketball Game on t.v one... Read More
I guess I found some hot buttons last week eh?... Read More
Many have goals, but few reach them all. Businesses like... Read More
Do you know the single best way to "supercharge" any... Read More
One of the things that frustrated me while in school... Read More
"A man can be as great as he wants to... Read More
What would you like to achieve in your lifetime?Author Basil... Read More
Do you remember the last time you had a blast?... Read More
And if Bull frogs had wings they wouldn't bump their... Read More
Why is it that some goals have a fire and... Read More
Lately I have been studying mindset and goals, and wanted... Read More
What is it that you need to do in order... Read More
Writing goals describes the act of inscribing on a surface... Read More
(Excerpted from Week Six of the Jim Rohn One-Year Success... Read More
Making sure our goals are properly aligned with our passions... Read More
Are you feeling motivated to set some strong goals for... Read More
The fear of speaking in public ranks right up there... Read More
When setting goals it is important to know if the... Read More
Want to achieve your goals faster?Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker,... Read More
As I was driving to a friend's house, I passed... Read More
The Focus Wheel was first described by Abraham-Hicks as a... Read More
It happens a lot 'round about now. One by one... Read More
I wonder if anyone really reads long stuff from Ezines... Read More
Have you set resolutions for yourself to accomplish in 2005?... Read More
1. Write down one goal that you want to achieve.... Read More
Why is goal setting important? Because without goals you don't... Read More
Goal Setting |