Have there been times that you wanted to stay focused and you got distracted?
This is one of the most common challenges that people deal with. Lack of focus is the reason that people don’t get the results they want.
The impacts are that they start things and they don’t finish them. They go from one idea to another idea. Because they don’t finish, they start losing confidence, feel worried and concerned, and become exhausted. All of these lead to a feeling of being out of control.
So, what are the strategies that you could use to stay focused?
- Know what you want
As obvious as it might sound, it is important to know what it is that you want. Be clear and specific about your goals.
You might have heard that you need to collect the dots before you can connect them.
- Believe that you can have it
There is a saying by Henry Ford: If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.
So, if you don’t believe that it can be done, you are going to sabotage yourself. Why? Because subconsciously it is important for you to be right!
- Take action
Again, this might be stating the obvious. But I have seen a lot of people who think more about what they want to do than taking any action. They allow their fears to stop them from what they want because they are afraid of making a mistake.
One of the signs of great leaders is not that they do not make mistakes. It is that they handle the consequences and move on.
Plato says, “To risk nothing, is to risk everything.”
- Keep the end goal in mind
When obstacles show up, remind yourself what your end goal is and why you want to have it. By doing so, you keep your focus.
You might have heard that planes never fly in a straight line. In order for them to get from their departure point to their destination, they use a gyroscope which allows them to adjust their route and stay on their path.
You are going to get distracted. By focusing on your end goal, you become your own gyroscope and you can stay on your path and achieve your goal.
- Be Committed
We all have heard about commitment. One of the best descriptions that I heard comes from Neale Donald Walsch. In his book, When Everything Changes, Change Everything, he describes it through the following story:
One day a guru was teaching his students, when a student said: “Master. You have been teaching us for months and none of us seem to be getting any closer to enlightenment. What does it take?”
The guru smiled and said: “You must take a sieve to the ocean and fill it with water.”
The students did not understand. They grumbled: “This is not a real guru. Everyone knows you cannot fill a sieve with water. It runs right out. That’s the problem with what he teaches, too. It sounds good, but it runs right out.” So his students deserted him.
All but one. A young woman said: “Master, I know the problem is not in your teaching, but in my understanding. Help me to understand.”
Filled with compassion, the guru replied: “Come with me.”
He took her to a store and bought a sieve. Then he took her to the shore. “Here,” he instructed, “fill this sieve with water.”
Eager to learn, she went to the water’s edge and dipped the sieve into the water. But when she brought it to him, all the water had run out. He only smiled. “Fill the sieve with water,” he said quietly, and so she tried again, knowing that he would not ask her to do something she could not do. But it was no use. She ran back to him as fast as she could with the sieve, but the water ran out.
“Fill the sieve with water,” he said simply, and she tried once more, this time dipping the sieve and turning and running back to him so fast that she lost her breath. Still, no water remained in the sieve. “To hell with this!” she screamed then. “I’m done with this! I’m done with this whole life of being a spiritual student!” She threw the sieve fiercely into the air and stomped away.
“Wait!” the guru called. “Look.”
The young woman turned just in time to see the sieve riding the ocean waves… then sinking beneath the surface and disappearing. The guru approached the student. “You cannot just dip in here and dip in there. This is not about dipping and running. You have to throw yourself in. You have to be totally immersed.”
And the student understood.
How is your commitment? Is your sieve filled with water?
Focus is the key! Like Albert Einstein said:
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
Here is to making trading success your habit™,
