Read This If You Need To Focus
When I was a kid, I was lucky enough to have a dad who could teach me some core, basic life lessons.
I learned to quick-touch a soccer ball between my feet, dribble a basketball, and swing a bat.
But Chris, these are all sports moves, not life lessons.
You're right, and this is what I thought for a long time, too.
I remember swinging the bat, looking to the imaginary outfield, waiting to feel the connection with the ball.
Whiff.
I would hit nothing but air.
Then another pitch would come and I would look again, into the imaginary bleachers of imaginary screaming fans, brace for a huge impact, and . . .
Whiff.
Nothing.
Then my dad would deliver the lesson.
"Keep your eye on the ball."
What? Eye on the ball? How will that have anything to do with my success?
It didn't matter. He was my dad and knew everything.
The next pitch was coming and I stared at the ball.
Nothing mattered but that small, white ball.
WHACK.
It was gone.
It happened so fast that I barely caught a glimpse of the ball hurling over the neighbor's fence.
My dad smiled. That was an easy one.
Here's the core, transferrable lesson that I didn't realize I was learning:
When you're shooting for the stars, it's easy to get caught up in the glamour of the crowd or the magnificence of the feat. It's easy to forget the difficult steps of what you will actually need to take to get there.
You can look at the bleachers when you step up to the plate, but when it's time to swing, you had better keep your focus on the task at hand.
If you don't, you'll "whiff" every time.
And what's worse? You'll never learn to hit a slow, underhand pitch!
It's that first step that will get you the muscle memory and focus needed to hit a fastball later in life.
2 Minute Action
Take 1 minute and think about your long term goal "the bleachers." You can even write this goal down right now.
Then take the next minute and create your short term goal, "hitting the ball."
Keep in mind here that the trick is to think long term and act short term.
Have You Said This To Yourself And Does This Work For You?
Maybe this will work for me. New diet. New exercise routine. New language learning program. Maybe this time, this new way of doing it will work for me. Maybe.
But can you guess where I’m going with this?
Maybe this time you need to do the work to make it work. Maybe this time, it’s more than just trying something new.You know you need to eat your fruits and veggies and not too much. You know you need to work out everyday. You know that if you want to learn a new language or instrument, you just need to practice.
Stop thinking that a new, shiny thing will motivate you to do the work just because it’s new.
This happens across people and it happens across industries like mine.It’s a normal human problem.It’s all in your head. And the long-term, sustainable change is all up to you.
2 Minute Action
Jot down a quick list of the things you think you need to do/have before you get started. Pause.Look at it again.Start crossing stuff off. Because those are excuses.
The Secret Foundation Of Long-Term Success
“I know you’re getting a lot of emails about Black Friday, but this one is different . . . “Do you know how many emails I got yesterday?
Do you know how many of them started with a sentence like this?
A lot.People judge books by their cover, Instagram feed, or email subject line.Most people who even read the news are strictly headline readers.It doesn’t matter whether you have users, clients, patients, or employees—it’s your job to stand out.
It’s your job to build trust.
All of these relationships culminate into the foundation for our long-term successes.Trust becomes your reputation and brand.
2 Minute Action
Remember/recall something specific about someone’s in your life, today.When is their birthday? How is their mother doing? Doesn’t their son have a big hockey game this weekend?Being specific is a thousand times more powerful than being general.