Focus & Achievement – the six critical steps

So you want to make stuff happen, you want to succeed, but you are not sure how. The critical ingredient for creating faster achievement is focus. That is, what you choose to focus on and how you choose to act in order to make things happen.

So what drives the creation of a powerful sense of focus? There are six critical actions necessary to create a powerful focus on achievement. These are:

1. Commitment
2. Planning tools
3. Energy management
4. Focus in action 1 – Routines
5. Focus in action 2 – Distraction management
6. Focus in action 3 – Progress management

1. Commitment

Nothing happens without commitment. And I am not talking about commitment with a small ‘c’. Making a commitment to your future success means being unwilling to settle for less. It means putting a ‘line in the sand’, which when you cross it, means you are fully committed to doing whatever it takes to succeed. It means deciding that success is so important to you, it becomes your number one priority and that you are prepared to organise your life to honour your commitment to yourself.

This kind of commitment creates a real sense of urgency and willingness to make the most of whatever time you have to support your success.

So have you ‘crossed the line’ yet? What would help you to do so?

2. Planning Tools

Everyone needs some kind of map to navigate the terrain between where they are now and where they want to be. This means having some kind of success planning system, a way of managing your achievement that works for you. Now it doesn’t really matter how much structure you bring to this process. Some people like a lot of structure before they are ready to act while others only need a loose map. The key however, is using a system that works for you as a basis for being clear about what is most important, and where you most need to focus your energies to make it happen.

If you would like my full planning system join my newsletter list, download it and use it as you see fit. If you would like a one-page plan go to the ‘How To’ section of this site.

3. Energy Management

Your energy is the currency of achievement. Without energy, nothing much happens and when it does it is much harder than it needs to be.  Here are some key questions:

1. When is your energy at it’s highest during the day, and across a week?
2. What do you do in your life that helps you build a high level of energy? (food exercise, sleep, relaxation etc.)
3. What would happen if you tried to achieve things when your energy was at its best?
4. What would happen if you were able to build consistently high levels of energy?

4. Focus In Action 1 – Routines

One of the ways that elite athletes develop deep levels of focus, in the moment of action, is through creating a pre-performance routine. That is, a series of steps that they go through that takes them into deeper and deeper levels of focus on what it is that they want to achieve. Okay, so how does this relate to you?

Take a few minutes to recall a time when you were focused around your work, a time when time just drifted by because you were so involved in what you were doing. That is, you were completely focused and ‘lost’ in your work.

Now what was it that allowed you to enter that deep level of focus? The answers are the ingredients for your pre-work routine for helping you to focus quickly.

5. Focus In Action 2  – Distraction Management

There are an infinite number of distractions – inside us and around us – that can take us away from our focus and good intentions. If you know when distractions are likely to occur then you have some choices about how to manage them.

What is most likely to take you away from working on achievement in a focused way? List all of them. What can you do to either remove yourself from the source of the distraction, or remove the distractions from your life?

6. Focus In Action 3  – Progress Management

Here is a simple truth. You are more likely to remain focused and persist with achievement if you are noting your progress along the way and the ways in which you are succeeding and moving loser to your goals and dreams. If instead, you notice how you are struggling, how far you have to go and even how you are not succeeding, you are not only likely to destroy your focus, but also your confidence. Pretty soon you will find it difficult to do anything.

So how do you notice your progress? Record your success and achievements along the way – no matter how small. And keep them in front of you as a reminder of just how much progress you are making.

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