The topic for this months posts is Focus. I will be focusing on the topic with the intention of bringing you ideas and tips to help you focus on the activities that you need to create a successful and happy life.
Closely aligned with focus, is Essentialism and The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” from Greg McKeown’s book of the same name, which I wrote about in this post.
Let’s see if I can maintain my focus on the topic for a whole month without getting distracted.
There is a lot written about focus, many suggestions on how to improve focus, some good some not so good. Most miss the point entirely.
For many entrepreneurs, small business owners, professionals and other solo operators, it’s not an inability to focus, but having something concrete, real, defined, to focus on. Knowing what your business is, who are your customers, how you are serving them, what you are selling and the difference between strategy and tactics.
Walk down any street, sit for a while in any public place and you will see hundreds of people, of all ages, absolutely focused – on little screens in their hands.
We can all focus on anything that is compelling in the moment. Social media and entertainment on smart phones, computers, tv screens, live performances on stages. Some of us can still focus intently on words and images on paper in books and magazines.
The problem is not the inability to focus, it’s the problem of what to focus on in an age of endless distractions.
The key to focusing on the few critical activities needed to succeed in business and in life, is discernment. Knowing what is important and what are just pleasant, comfortable, distractions. Product design, marketing and selling are in the first group, much of social media, surfing the web, learning, designing business cards and office decor, in the second.
Goals are essential, they give you the WHY. Very often, too many people get distracted by HOW they are going to get their message across without thinking of WHAT solutions they are providing and WHO they are providing those solutions to.
I will be giving you ideas during the month to show you how to prevent distractions clouding your focus. For now, think about your goals, ask yourself if you know the Why, Who and What of your business. Get that right and focus will become simple. Then the How and When will start to fall into place.
image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti / freedigitalphotos.net
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Look forward to reading this series. I generally have focus….but sometimes I get distracted. Too easy to do when Tweets await. So hoping to learn some new skills.
Roberta, I think you could teach most of us how to Focus. I use your blog posts as an example of concentrated effort combining your creative, writing, cooking and photographic skills in one project.
This will be a wonderful series. Love the idea of a Monthly topic. Great MP3.
Thank you Chuck, I am trying to stay, even if somewhat broadly, on one topic each month. I am also trying to form a habit of producing a podcast for each post, instead of the hit and miss, schedule that I have been following.
I love the idea of a Podcast with each post…going to “steal” the idea, if OK with you.
Go for it, I just recorded the podcast for today’s post on Audacity & added it to the post with the Blubrry plugin which sends it to iTunes. Now I am going to put it on Spreaker which will also send it to You tube. All done in under 20 minutes.
Pingback:Focus – The key to Human Success. | Peter Wright's Blog
This month’s topic appeals to me, Peter. I am in need of improving my ability to focus. When I am engaged in certain activities all else around me melts away and I enter the zone of maximum productivity. That is where I like to be however, inevitably, an external force will act upon that golden space and my concentration will be shattered. Regaining the momentum is frustrating and exhausting. I hope to pick up some tips on increasing my focus so that I will invest less time on the pleasant and more on the important uses of my time.
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