August 19th, 2013
“How you do one thing…Is how you’ll do everything”
This message is a terrific reminder for us to take the time and put 100% into everything we do. From the smallest task to the our biggest and most important responsibilities, we need to give our all. This has a lot to do with what we focus on. If we focus on excellence, we often get it. Champions in the martial arts, in sports and great leaders in the military, business and in politics tend to have the ability to stay focused on their primary goals and objectives for longer periods of time than most people. This can usually be boiled down to desire, will-power, and good old fashioned time and persistence. Average people are easily distracted and tend to lack focus.
THIS ISN’T YOU. Highly successful people are focused achievers and are able to keep their eye on doing what needs to be done without allowing anything to interfere. The Delta Force, Navy Seals, Army Rangers, and Green Beret are considered to be modern day warriors. They must keep themselves in top shape year round and ready to enter into battle at any time. They must be ready mentally, physically, emotionally, and yes spiritually as in indomitable spirit. This type of training and preparation requires enormous effort, sacrifice and long periods of staying FOCUSED. It’s not much different than the type of focus and training required in the martial arts at the very highest level. The soldiers that protect our freedom must stay very focused during training and especially during active duty. Their lives may depend on it and the success of their mission as well. So too, as highly trained martial artists, we must stay focused on being mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually sharp. Staying focused requires regular training and conditioning.
Learning to stay focused for longer periods of time can be practiced and developed in many ways. You can start by adding 5-10 minutes on any activities that require focus. Extend your cardio sessions by an extra 5-10 minutes, increase your daily reading by 5-10 minutes, etc… Remember, by the inch it’s a cinch but by the yard it is mighty hard. Little by little, you’ll find that you can sustain your focus and concentration for longer periods of time. Another exercise is to catch yourself whenever you lose your focus and analyze what makes you lose your focus. As soon as you catch yourself, get back on track and get focused on the task at hand. What distracts you and knocks you off track? Once you identify what distracts you, eliminate or minimize the distractions from your life. Become more aware of times you are able to stay focused and identify why. A simple equation I like to use is…
Desire + Will-Power + Time x Focus = Success
Soon you’ll be in the Habit of Staying Focused. It’s just a matter of creating empowering habits and that’s the topic of our next peak performance email entitled “Habits We Train Are Habits We Gain”.