The largest predictors of success that we have control over are:
- Focus on the task at hand
- Long-term focus (commitment)
- Concentration
Focused attention, persistence, and concentrated effort are the master keys. These abilities are more important than IQ or the socio-economic status of the family we grew up in for determining career success, financial success, and health.
Our time on the planted is finite, and life is short, which makes focus and concentration so important. The simple fact is that without them, we won’t have the time and resources to accomplish or pursue our most precious goals.
Make Focus Your SuperPower
Distractions rob us of everything important.
Distractions are not free mental adventures. Time is not free. It is limited, and our central goals require both time and effort. Both have limited supplies.
Without focus, our resources are scattered to the wind. Fields of dreams become a harvest of barren sorrows.
Concentration and unwavering dedication to a single purpose goes hand-in-hand with all great accomplishment. The ability to concentrate without diversion on a single subject, to the exclusion of all others, explains why ordinary people achieve extraordinary things.
An average individual with average capabilities accomplishes more by bringing all their mental powers to bear on achieving a single goal than a seemingly more fortunate person who spreads focus on several goals.
You Need Concentration Of Effort Now More Than Ever
Those who scatter their efforts in this intense, concentrated age cannot hope to succeed at any of their goals.
Dabblers may find constant busyness but seldom find satisfaction. We find the flow of life in the process towards higher skill levels.
It’s not the person that works hardest that wins, but the person who works hard at only what matters and does it consistently. Many who fail in life do enough work to succeed, but they dilute their power. With focused intent, the kindling of their futures would catch fire.
Many honest people work very, very hard. But not many attain a life they would call successful. Focus your hard work to a specific end.
Looking for the next big thing as a hack to accelerate goal achievement is the quickest way to find failure. The next big thing only works if we have laid a foundation in that area and are ready to seize the day by already being an expert.
Instead, we focus on what we want to attain and work doggedly towards it. There is no other way.
Persistence And Focus Are Key
The person who knows one thing, and does it very well, even if it only be the art of doing a pistol squat, will find patrons. Word spreads when we put all our effort into helping others achieve their desires.
A divided purpose shatters our power. We need every bit to set ourselves above the competition. We need one or two major life goals, and the rest of what we do supports those.
No one can pursue a worthy object steadily and persistently with all the powers of their mind and yet make their life a failure. Why? Because constant pursuit brings intrinsic rewards. Regardless of the outcome.
Do we want to be great or content? We are most happy and content when working on one overmastering idea, one unwavering aim of a single and intense purpose at a time.
Lack of focus walks hand in hand with our modern life. If one personal development skill merits interest in the upcoming years, focus and the ability to direct our attention would be it.
Commonplace humble habits like patience, daily toiling, and drudging attention builds success.
Make A Plan But Then Do The Work
Forming plans and resolutions are necessary steps, but getting some completion trumps all. We finish things and then move on because even when something loses our interest, we will still learn the art of completion.
By putting our whole being into one thing at a time, we learn that the unwavering pursuit of a single aim wins.
Focus doesn’t limit our experience or capability. We apply ourselves to one thing, learn it well, and move on if the situation dictates. Knowing many things well still requires focusing on one thing at a time.
Before You Go
These are the previous 3 articles leading to this one:
- The Cure To The Chaos Inside
- How I Left Fear And Anxiety Behind
- Stop Deciding What To Do On How You Feel.