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I believe a critical key to becoming successful in life is singleness of focus. |
Chasing Rabbits - Do You Lack Focus? By: Mike Shanta I believe a critical key to becoming successful in life is singleness of focus. Now, I realize that singleness of focus, like anything else, can be taken to an extreme; like when you refuse to acknowledge anything in life other than what you're dealing with. What I'm talking about here is not letting yourself become easily distracted or let yourself go chasing after rabbits in every direction. What do I mean by chasing rabbits? I'm glad you asked. Anyone who has ever clicked on a link in a newsletter, and found themselves on a webpage where a couple dozen other articles, links and offers are presented, knows exactly what I'm talking about. From that point you find yourself following one link after another. Reading this ad or that article up until next link and then chasing another rabbit. After a while you forget what you set out to do originally was read an article on having better relationships. Now, there is nothing wrong with clicking on those links and investigating different offers or information, but finish reading the article first, then move on to other things. Now this doesn't just happen in the cyber world, it happens in the non-digital world as well. I'll give you a perfect example and see how many of you don't squirm or grimis a bit at how close it hits to home. Have you ever started cleaning your kitchen, and a short time later found yourself cleaning the bedroom? Of course the kitchen is still a mess, but for some reason you ended up somewhere else. What happend was you chased a rabbit out of the kitchen into the bedroom. How you ask? Let me tell you. You picked up a finger nail clipper or some other object off the kitchen counter or table that you or someone else set there earlier. Now, since you're cleaning the kitchen, and you know this item doesn't belong there, you bring it to its proper home. Of course while you bring that item home, you notice the dirty laundry draped over the chair or at the end of the bed. So, you pick up those items and deal with them. Now if you don't see an item that belongs in the kitchen, there is a chance that you will continue cleaning the bedroom unless you chase a rabbit back into the kitchen or another room. So it goes on and on. And if you think about it, you can see how this can be applied to any area of your life. The main problem is a lack of focus, and a lack of commitment to accomplish what we set out to do. Now, I don't care what it is you want to accomplish in life, what goals you're shooting for or what level of success you desire to reach; without focus and commitment you will be hard pressed to accomplish much of anything in life. So what can I do about it, you ask? You probably already know the answer, but I'm going to say it anyway; make lists, set goals, follow through. As far as setting goals, there is not near enough space to totally deal with that issue here and now. If you are uncertain about how to set goals, there are many books, tapes and programs on the internet that can help. In a future issue of my newsletter, "All-Round Success", I may try and tackle the issue if I can find a way to condense it. As far as making lists and following through, that is a bit simpler. What I do is take an index card each day and write down the things I want or need to get done tomorrow. Then I review the items on my list and dermine which item is the most important to me and put a #1 in front of it. The next most important item gets a #2 in front of it and so on until the whole list is prioitized. When tomorrow comes, I start with item one and stay on that item until it is completed. Then I go on to item number 2 then 3,etc. Now, as will always happen, something will come up. A rabbit might jump up and beg you to chase it; DON'T DO IT!!! Keep a notebook handy, and when that rabbit jumps up, write down which direction it went in, what was so interesting about it, etc. and leave that rabbit alone until you have accomplished those things that have been prioritized on your list. You might even add, chasing rabbits to the bottom of your list, or the number one priority for the next day. If you're cleaning the kitchen, stay in the kitchen until you're done. If you must bring something into another room tell yourself, I will not chase any rabbits in here, and get back to the kitchen. If you're studying someting or reading an article on a website and a rabbit jumps up, just write it down and keep going with what you're doing. If you really desire to become successful in life, you must learn to prioritize, follow through and focus, focus, focus. Wishing you success in every area of your life. |