By Jack Perry
When you see someone running ninety miles an hour in a million different directions, at first you might think, “Wow, he’s working hard,” or, “She really has it together.” But if you take time to consider this person’s habits, you’ll find that he or she actually lacks focus. If you don’t have a focus, your view is blurred, your work is messy, and you limit your success.
Subconsciously, some people don’t focus because when they do, they increase their accountability in specific areas. And the ultimate accountability means you’ll be judged by yourself. In sales, if you focus on the number of contacts per day and per week as a stated goal, you will have to answer to yourself….face the numbers. That’s personal accountability.
Think about a laser beam. It has a sharp focus that can cut through the toughest of metals. And when you think about laser eye surgery, the doctor focuses specifically on your eyesight in order to allow you to see more clearly. In both these situations, the narrow focus produces better results.
So how can you sharpen your focus and achieve more? Use the following tips for focusing on specific areas in your life.
Focus Your Time
If you focus, you waste less time. Can you remember those brainy kids in elementary school who focused on their school work? Those students never wasted time before a test. They knew how to focus on the task at hand, just as the most successful sales and marketing people do today. Those people don’t have some elusive secret to success; they have focused on their own personal improvement by acquiring knowledge, skills, and resources.
You have significantly more clarity when you focus. Do you ever wonder why sales are always higher in the last week in the quarter? Because you’ve run out of time to waste and are now focused solely on your immediate goal…..the numbers.
Focus Your Values
If you are really focused on being happy, you should make the time to sit down and think about your values. Values are a series of words that represent what is most important to you: community, education, spirituality, family. Make a list of your values on a sheet of paper. Then take your values to the next level by writing a sentence about each word. Your list might say, “I seek education because it gives me more choices in life.” Or, “I spend quality time with my family every day because they are most important value to me.” When you choose to focus on your personal values, you are now making decisions with a defined purpose, which gives you the opportunity to live life on your terms.
Focus Your Goals
Every goal needs focus. You might say you want to be healthy, but you should be very specific with your focus on this goal. Say how much you choose to weigh or what your cholesterol level will be. These specific goals really peel back the generalities and narrow the focus. In your professional life, just saying, “I want to be successful in sales,” is not enough. You must define success and focus on the activities that will allow you to achieve it. So you might say, “I will make ten cold-calls each day.” Or, “I will present one new idea to each client every month.” When you choose to focus on your goals, you bring more energy, ideas, and resources to accomplish them.
Focus Your Priorities
Life is filled with hundreds of distractions that can cause you to lose focus, from the television distracting your exercise routine, to e-mail distracting you from your work. To get past these distractions, you need to learn to say no.
Especially when you’re on the job, you need to focus on all of the things you do best and either hire someone or delegate everything else. You might need to pay that person fifteen to twenty dollars an hour, but your ability to focus on what’s most important without those distractions might be worth a hundred or thousands of dollars an hour to you.
Most salespeople fill each hour with things that aren’t priorities. If they had the courage to delegate these tasks they would be happier, have more freedom, and would accomplish more in life. They will have a sharper focus.
Focus Your Energy
People often maintain a list of things they want to start doing. What they need is a list of the things they need to stop doing. Focus is a clear, defined choice. If you choose to go in the candy store, you’re going to buy candy. And if you choose to keep your e-mail open all day, you’re going to check every incoming message. These type choices can erode your ability to successfully focus on what is important to you.
Focus your energy on what’s most important right now. As Jim Rohm said, “When you work, work. And when you play, play. Don’t get the two mixed up.”
Focus Your Challenges
Focus is the core knowledge or the center point. When you’re apprehensive about something, you need to get to the core of those feelings. You can ask someone why they feel reticent about investing for their retirement. Then when they answer, ask why they feel that way. Again, when they answer, peel back another layer and ask more questions. Keep asking why until you get to the core. Then you’ll be able to focus on the root problem that this person has with investing. If you truly want a clear picture of something that holds you back, immediately go into the narrow focus mode….the laser focus.
Focus Your Business
The more focused your business, the more successful it will become. Consider the idea of a mission statement. Many business leaders have been coached in creating their mission statement and every business book says you need to have one, but most business executives don’t use their mission statement effectively.
In the business world, you also need to focus on clients. You should have signature clients that when they want something, your response is “Yes sir,” “No sir,” and, “How high?” You not only identify these signature clients, but you have also told them that you’re focusing on them as a signature client. You let them know that you give them first priority on your time, energy, and resources. In turn, you ask them to give you allotted amounts of time and opportunities to share your solutions with them. During the relationship, your focus will pay off because they will choose to do more business with you.
A Sharper Focus on the Future
Spreading yourself too thin by taking on too much responsibility is an exhausting and counterproductive way to live. But a sharp focus on what’s important right now can alleviate some of this unnecessary stress. When you focus on these seven areas of your life, you will accomplish more, produce better results, and save yourself more free time to enjoy.
Focus from The Respect Factor® Series
THE RESPECT FACTOR® is a trademark of Jack Perry in the United States and other countries. Used with permission. ©2009 Jack Perry. All rights reserved
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