Focus, or suffer from debilitation

Focus…

It’s a simple word,  My dictionary defines it as:

noun: a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity

verb: to concentrate: to focus one’s thoughts.

Okay so what does it mean, or what should it mean for you in your life?

To focus, you have to concentrate on one single task. You have to give your all to that one thing that is at that time deemed to be of the most importance. Sometimes that means that we also have to take our eyes (and minds) off of other things that may seem important, but not critical at that time.  That means that you have to prioritize, and maybe simplify, everything that you do. You can’t keep up with 100 emails, and take phone calls, and schedule the next meeting, all while trying to finish another report. You have to decide what is the most important at THIS time and focus on it with fierce intensity.

Zig Ziglar says: “You have to be a meaningful specific and not a wandering generality.”

In other words, you have to focus on the task  at hand, or nothing gets done. If you try and complete too many tasks at one time, you end up scattered in all that you are doing and accomplish nothing useful.  A lot of people are “nowhere” all day. They go to work and think about being home or somewhere else, and when they are home they think I should be finishing up my work. You have to focus where you are at if you want to win at the game of life.

We may have to upset friends or family sometimes too, because if we focus on the task at hand, that may mean that they get put on the “back burner” so to speak. Many pro athletes have such focus that they may not even know that they ignore someone that they know and are close to.

Tony Perez, the Cincinnati Reds star, when asked how he used to hit so well would say’ “I see the ball, I hit the ball.”

In other words, he had tremendous focus. He kept his eye (and mind) on the task at hand and tuned out other distractions.

We must learn to set priorities and make lists of what is most important and then follow through until we have the task at hand complete… Now when you are home with the family, focus on them. Focus on that which is most important and when it is taken care of, you can finally relax and not worry about where else you should be or what other task you need to be doing.

Use focus to win, and have the life you always hoped for… or live a life of turmoil and debilitation…  Only you can decide.