Without focus, football players miss passes, field goals, and audibles at the line of scrimmage. Without focus they can also miss correct formations, called penalties, and kick-off returns.
As business people, we may be a team of one but nonetheless, focus is just as important if we want to score success in our personal and business lives. You cannot focus if you don’t know where you’re heading. John Maxwell, in his meaty book, “Talent Is Never Enough” quotes Bill Copeland, private investigator and author. “You’ve removed most of the roadblocks to success when you know the difference between motion and direction.”
John elaborates by saying, “Have you asked yourself what you really want to do? And have you determined that you will pursue it against the odds, despite the obstacles, and regardless of the circumstances?
Being intentional is about focusing on doing the right things, moment by moment, day to day, and then following through with them in a consistent way. As President John F. Kennedy asserted, “efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”
Running backs don’t focus on tackling, they focus on running. The center doesn’t focus on graceful catches; he focuses on getting the ball to the quarterback. Entrepreneurs should focus on activities that increase sales and productivity, not on time-wasting rabbit trails that simply lead to busyness.
Focus on your strengths. Focus on your talents. Focus on your goals. Focus on the positive results you will achieve. Write down five things you will dedicate yourself to focus on this week. Tape it to a corner of your monitor or bathroom mirror. I keep a list taped to my bathroom mirror of the weekly, monthly, and yearly goals I want to accomplish. Do I hit every single one every single week? No. Does it help me stay on track? You bet!
Now, go for it. The goal line is waiting…
Thomas Philippon, an economist at N.Y.U.’s Stern School of Business, thinks there is. After studying the large pay differential between financial-sector employees and people in other industries with similar levels of education and experience, he and a colleague, Ariell Reshef of the University of Virginia, concluded that some of it could be explained by growing demand for financial services from technology companies and baby boomers. But Philippon and Reshef determined that up to half of the pay premium was due to something much simpler: people in the financial sector are overpaid. “In most industries, when people are paid too much their firms go bankrupt, and they are no longer paid too much,” he told me. “The exception is when people are paid too much and their firms don’t go broke. That is the finance industry.”