“One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.”-Tony Robbins

To maintain a focused approach with regards to any goal or dream you wish to attain is a simple, yet often forgettable concept.

In order to be great at something, you must put forth the effort, a tremendous amount of effort, in fact.  You must not be distracted by shiny objects or detours along the way.  You want to save up for down payment on a home? Money must be regularly saved, and if instead you choose to purchase a pair of “must-have” shoes of the moment, the goal of saving enough money to begin the process of home ownership will never be realized. Is it an impossible dream? No. Are there other things in life that present themselves as just as important? Yes. But who makes the decision to become distracted or remained squarely focused? You do, we all do.

I have been thinking about this concept a lot recently. After all, there are only 24 hours in a day and each of us is only one person.  The reality is we can’t have it all, at least not all at once. So instead of trying to accomplish everything, why not prioritize and remained focused on the top three or fewer items on your list? If you eliminate those wishes from your list that you could live without, that would be nice, but you wouldn’t regret not pursuing, you narrow your focus so that more energy is going in one direction. And the power of all cylinders going in the same direction is a very powerful force.

Think about it this way, if your car is being pulled out of a ditch – trying to get it to move forward – yet the car is in reverse poised to go in the opposite direction, all the energy created is being cancelled out.  Your life is very much the same way. In order to be successful in achieving a dream, you must not spread your energy in multiple directions.

An accomplished pianist, plays repeatedly. An Olympic swimmer trains constantly to transform their body into an endurance temple.  A parent’s attention is on the proper rearing of their children. If this energy is dissipated and placed in other aspects of life in a significant capacity, success in the area mentioned above cannot occur.

“Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives.”
-Tony Robbins

The focus that is necessary to attain large life goals is also something to keep in mind when attacking smaller tasks. Trying to create a wardrobe that is specific to your lifestyle and body type is something that also requires focus in order to be done successfully.  Once you know what items look best on you and which to avoid at all costs no matter what magazines may be saying, that focus will serve you well as it will allow you to look gorgeous, feel confident and self-assured. Multi-tasking is another example. Have you ever caught yourself doing more than two or three things at once and in the end nothing was done well? Focusing on one task at a time is a surefire way to complete a task so that it doesn’t have to be done again, and you are happy with the results.

So now is the decision-making part. What is it you want to focus on? What is it that you want to achieve: at the end of this month, this year, or in ten years? And what can you take off your plate so that you will be able to reach it using your maximum energy?

If you are concentrated, if you are indeed focused, great things await.

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”-Alexander Graham Bell