Success is All About Focus!

Successful people always seem to be able to do the right things...and the right time! 

Many times it seems like they have fantastic luck and that opportunity has been handed to them! 

It is my observation and experience that luck is not handed to anyone (except in extreme cases) and that the general majority of successful people...made their luck...

This begs the question..."How do I get lucky?"

People are lucky in love...because they gave love first...and were prepared to accept it when given...

People are lucky in business...because they gave their best to business...and were prepared to new opportunities when they arose...

I could belabor this point...but I do not see a need to...you get it!

To that end...successful people do their best to prioritze what they do...

Successful people look to have 3 major activities in their lives...

1 - Activities centered around their current commitments
2 - Activities centered around accepting new responsibilities
3 - Activities centered around preparation for the next step

This is pretty systematic!

It requires dedication and discipline...

BUT WAIT!

Let me not be unrealistic...there is a 4th activity...better stated...a "non-activity" critical to one's success...and this is a routine with a sub group that I call the HIGHLY Successful!

In a word...

REST!


The World's Demands...

It would be great if the only things that were handed to us would fall exclusively in one of those 3/4 activity categories...

But they don't!

There are many other demands...

I call everything outside of those 3/4 categories..."Noise"

It is noise that distracts us...

It is noise that fogs our clarity...

Our lives are full of noise..

And it is a fact that a lot of noise...is not good for our success!

But noise and information overload and demanding jobs and demanding families are a "fact of life"...

What are we to do?

We can't just put the activities of success into the 3/4 categories and refuse to do the rest...

In actuality a successful person does not start with everything falling into place...

In fact...they may NEVER have everything fall into place...

But what they do is to work diligently to do more things that fall into those categories each and every subsequent day...

It doesn't take acting on many of those "properly categorized" to turn one's luck around!

That leads us to the next question:  "How do they do what they do?"


The Hardest Person to say "NO" to...

We need to be needed...in fact there is one person that you really need...you!

Despite the fact that the prior statement is "tongue in cheek"...we like to confirm that we are needed...

We need to be needed...and we do not hear that we are needed enough...so we self-confirm our being needed...

We confirm that through our "selfless activities...and sacrifices!

so we take on other tasks!

No big deal!

We believe that we know what we are capable of doing...

AND YET...

We have a tendency to over-commit!

It isn't that we take on tasks that we are incapable of performing...

We take on lots of stuff that make us feel good about what we are doing...

Sometimes we intentionally take on things to justify procrastination!

Heck...the reasons for what we do are many are there are people who do them!

The objective of a successful person is to reduce the number of those commitments on an ongoing basis!

To do that...we have to learn to say "NO!" to ourselves...

We have to stop thinking we HAVE to do that!

We need to ask..."Do we NEED to do that?"

HOW?

By putting our "To Do" list up against those 3/4 criteria!

We need to systematically and without fail ask:

Is what I am doing...


...centered around my current commitments...or...

...centered around accepting a new responsibility...or...

...centered around preparation for my next step...or...

...centered around much needed rest?

I can hear the answers now...

NO...
NO...
NO...
NO...

And you say...I just have to do it!

RIGHT!

Then you need to ask...

"WHY?"

Listen to your excuse for not saying "NO" and develop a plan to make that excuse invalid in the future...

It's a fact...You need to do what you need to do...

But rather than loading your list with an every growing number of misaligned activities...establish a life-process that takes those things off of your list and keeps them and "their cousins" off...


If you want SUCCESS go and get it!

It is this simple...

It does not require any special incantations...or seminar fees!

I take that back...there is a "magic" word that you need to say often..."NO!"

and...

You can send me $500 for this wonderful blog...and if you do not share it in 2 minutes your dog is going to get sick nd throw up on your carpeting...

...just joking!

Just do it...and stop complaining!

I bet what you are complaining about are not the things you love doing!

Put this simple exercise into play...and I would almost bet (if I were a betting person)...that you'll see a significant difference!

Enough Said!

Pura Vida!