Focus on What Matters Most

• April 8, 2019

Whatever You Focus on Expands

Just as a photographer focuses on taking the shot of their subject, leaders need to focus on.  Seeing things as a photographer sometimes has its advantages to a leader. You need to look from every direction to see what’s working and what’s not. Solving problems, challenges, and difficulties allow you to visualize better for what you are looking for. Imagine what your sense of accomplishment will feel like when you are able to focus and get done what you need to complete. You can actually create habits to help you focus without distractions to get things done.

“Life is like a camera…focus on what’s important, capture the good times, develop from negatives, and if things don’t work out, take another shot.” – Unknown Author

Focus means paying attention. Essentially, if you want to develop focus, develop the skill of paying attention to a particular thought, task, or goal for a specified amount of time – without allowing distractions to break your concentration. Don’t expect it to take place overnight. Be patient and pay attention each time you are about to do and say things that pull you back to your old habits and patterns.

There are so many ways where your attention gets distracted. If you want to try this out, start working on something and your phone will ring, you want to look at your emails, and then again you have someone who wants your attention to ask you something or …You get the idea. So it is very easy to focus on something you don’t need to really focus in on. Your mind wonders and your attention drifts off somewhere else.

Is Your Leadership as Focused as You’ll like it to be? 

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.” — Steve Jobs

Everyone has a different meaning for the word “Focus”. The word focus means the concentration of attention or energy on something. Focus means paying attention. So if you want to develop focus, develop the skill of paying attention to a particular thought, task, or goal for a specified amount of time – without allowing distractions to break your concentration. The more you focus your attention, the more you get accomplished.

It’s easy to focus when you have a clear goal. How do you maintain your focus when you don’t have a well-defined goal, or when your mind is confused with many thoughts? Choosing what matters is incredibly hard because no one can do it for you. Staying focused on the task, clarifying the goals, articulating the vision, and encouraging others to stay the course are characteristics of determined leaders.

Prioritizing tasks is the First Step toward Working Easier

“If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.” -Jack Dixon

The smallest things can make the biggest difference. Take a few minutes to think about how focused you are as a leader. No matter what you do your thoughts, ideas and opinions distract you from focusing on what you need to do is key to getting things done. How you manage to focus on what matters most needs you to constantly stop and re-focus to work on what’s in front of you. Focusing on where you’ve been slowing your progress.

Keeping the Focus on What Matters Most

“My key to dealing with stress is simple: just stay cool and stay focused.” -Ashton Eaton

Are your best efforts where you should place your focus? Often that focus isn’t the best direction for the company. How distracted do you get while working on a project or task? What do you do to get back on track?

“Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.”

– Denis Waitley

Sometimes when you focus on negative situations they can paralyze you by making you stuck. Where You Look Is Where You Go. It is very easy to lose sight of what you need to do as so much information overload comes at you every second of every day. How you keep things straight and knowing what to focus on takes skills and training.

Where You Put Your Efforts

“Focus is a matter of deciding what things you’re not going to do.” – John Carmack

Moving yourself or your organization forward requires you to focus on what you want to accomplish and where you want to go. If you continue the way you are going, most likely everything and anything will distract you. Phones rings, having to look at emails, having others asking you questions or just wanting to chat, and so on are just a few examples of distractions you need to close off.

“How can I focus on positive stuff when all I have in my life is negative stuff?” By making a choice to create a new habit and find something positive to focus on. Where you focus is your choice. What will you focus on today? When you focus on things do you notice the detail or are you oblivious to the specifics around you?

Shift Your Priorities

If you’re stuck in a rut you are unable to go anywhere. By shifting your priorities you get to think better in order to uncover valuable insights to help move you and your organization forward. You then can see other things that are more important to focus on. You are blinded by one thing that is not what matters most. The problem, challenge or difficulty may not go away, yet it does not need to be the centerpiece you focus on.

“The one thing you can always control is how you REACT to the uncontrollable.” -Dr. Alan Goldberg

Have you figured out what matters to you and your business?

In the end, Focus on What Matters Most for greater productivity and the results you work towards. You choose where to put your focus. Be aware of what you are doing to accomplish your goals.