The Power of Focus

You become effective by being selective. It’s human nature to get distracted. We’re like gyroscopes, spinning around at frantic pace but not getting anywhere. Without a clear purpose you keep changing relationships, jobs, directions, etc., hoping each change will settle the confusion of fill the emptiness in your heart. You think, ‘this time it will be different’, but it doesn’t solve your real problem; lack of focus.

The power of focusing can be seen in light. With a magnifying glass, the rays of the sun can set paper ablaze. But when light is focused even more as a laser beam, it can cut through steel. Nothing is as potent as a focused life. The men and women who make the greatest difference in life are the most focused. So if you want your life to have impact, focus it!

·         Stop dabbling.

·         Stop trying to do it all.

·         Do less.

·         Turn away from even good activities and do only that which matters most.

·         Never confuse activity with productivity.

 Poet William Mathews wrote “one well-cultivated talent, deepened and enlarged is worth a hundred shallow faculties. The first law of success in this day when so many things are clamoring for attention is concentration to bend our energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor to the left. ‘Does focus come naturally or easily? No, it’s a discipline that must be practiced every day

Focus does three things for you

1.       It keeps you on target

 We find ourselves pulled in a dozen different directions, spending much of our time and energy on things we don’t really care about. Author Don Marquis put it this way: ‘ours is a world where people don’t know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it.’ the Bible says: in Proverbs: ‘let your eyes look straight ahead...do not swerve to the right or the left.

2.       It increases your energy.

Attempting everything, like attempting nothing, will suck the life out of you. Focus gives you energy. Admiral Richard Byrd, the Polar explorer, said ‘Few men come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used.’ One of the reasons those wells go untapped is lack of focus. The mind doesn’t reach toward achievement until it has clear objectives

3.       It lifts you.

 It’s been said that ‘the world stands aside to let anyone pass, who knows where he or she is going. ‘In a sea of mediocrity, just knowing what you want to do and making an effort to pursue it, distinguishes you from almost everybody else. Henry David Thoreau asked, ‘Do you ever hear of a man who had striven all his life faithfully and singly toward an object and in no measure obtained it? If a man constantly aspires, is he not elevated? ‘Just by striving to become better than you are you; become elevated even if you don’t accomplish what you desire, and even if others don’t step aside for you. By trusting God and aiming higher, you move to higher level.

When it comes to focus keep in mind that:

·         Focused people always look for a better way.

What got you where you are won’t necessarily get you where you need to be. A family who moved into a new neighborhood got a late start one morning. As a result their six year old missed her school bus. Though it would make him late for work her father agreed to take her to school if she gave him directions. After 20 minutes of going in circles they finally arrived at the school, which turned out to be only a few blocks away from where they lived. Steaming her dad asked why she drove him all over the palace when the school was so close to home. ‘We went the way the school bus does,’ she said. ‘That is the only way I know’. People who lack focus know only one way and that’s all there is.

·         Focused people concentrate a littler harder and a little longer.

Hall of fame baseball player Hank Aaron says, ‘what separates a superstar from the average ball player is that he concentrates just a bit linger. ‘Focused thinking is the ability to remove distractions and mental clutter so that you can concentrate with clarity.

·         Focused people make commitments, not excuses.

 A sign on the desk of an officer at the pentagon, read: the secrecy of my job does not permit me to know what I’m doing’ this sounds cute, but it’s not really cute when it’s true. When you don’t know what you’re doing, you become frustrated and end up failing. That is why it is important that you pray and get divine directions for your life.

·         Focused people don’t live in the past

Too many of us yearn for the pat and get stuck in it. Instead we should learn from the past and let go of it. Elbert Hubbard wrote, ‘a retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is a token of greatness. Successful forget. They’re running a race. They can’t afford to look behind. Their eye is on the finish line. They’re too big to let little things disturb them. If anyone does them wrong, they consider the source and keep cool. It’s only the small people who cherish revenge. Be a good forgetter... success demands it.

·         Focused people don’t think about the difficulties, but the rewards.

 If you dwell on the difficulties too ling you’ll stat to develop self pit and instead of self discipline. As a result, you‘ll accomplish less and less. By focusing on results you’ll stay encouraged.

·         Focused people choose their friends carefully.

Here five types of people you’ll encounter.

        I.            Refreshers; who will strengthen your faith and energize you

      II.            Refiners; who sharpen you and clarify your vision

    III.            Reflectors; who mirror your energy neither adding to nor subtracting from it

    IV.            Reducers; who try to diminish your goals and efforts to their comfort level

      V.            Rejecters; who don’t understand you or what God called you to do.

Remain focused and you’ll stay grounded; the praise of others is less likely to go to your head and the negative impact of your critics will be minimized.