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Imagine what proper focus will do for you
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Written by Henrik Flensborg
User Rating: / 2
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Sunday, 25 January 2004
Hi,
Today's topic is about focus.
When you look back at times in your life where you
performed well below both your expectations and your
abilities wasn't one of the reasons lack of focus?
Isn't it true that you sometimes get caught up in what
*seems* important at the time instead of staying focused
and completing the job you planned to do.
John Assaraf used to teach a business-planning seminar to
real estate agents and he collected some very interesting
statistics about focus and income.
Those who spent 20% of their time with potential customers
earned an average of $35-50K a year.
Those who spent 40% of their time with potential customers
earned 50-114% more.
Those who spent 60% of their time with potential customers
earned 400-614% more.
And those who spent 80% of their time with potential
customers earned 900-1328% more.
So those who spent 4 times as much time with their clients
earned 10-14 times as much.
So what accounts for this huge difference? - could it be
focus?
Sure it is - and there's a hidden benefit as well from
spending more time with what you are supposed to do
You become better at it.
I don't know about you, but if there are days I let myself
get distracted I perform very very poorly at the things I'm
supposed to do that day.
Doing too many things all at once just doesn't produce the
desired quality in any of them.
If you find yourself getting distracted there are a
handful of things you can do:
- Clean your desk. A messy and cluttered workspace takes
mental energy away from you and you'll loose focus every
time your subconscious reminds you about the clutter.
- Clean your living room. How can you focus on truly
*being* with your family if your mind constantly
interrupts you with reminders to tidy up the house.
- Plan your day in advance - and stick to the plan.
- Keep your email program closed when you're not in your
"answer emails" timeslot. Turning down the volume or
disabling automatic fetching of emails will also work.
There's nothing more interrupting than Outlook going
"pliiiing" every 10 minutes.
- Disconnect the phone or let the answering machine take
care of incoming calls.
- Close the door to your office. People walking past your
office or even using your office as a second watercooler
area is distracting.
- Make house rules when working from home. The kids can't
ask dad for an ice-cream and your wife is not allowed to
ask you to do the laundry - when you are working.
- Play music. It will keep outside noise from getting to
you, and when you select your music carefully it can even
support your desired state of mind.
- Make commitments to other people. If you intend to run
every Saturday morning at 8 am, then find someone to do it
with.
Are there other places or situations in your own life
where you easily get distracted?
Imagine yourself having a completely focused life - how is
it different from what you are experiencing now?
And how much more do you expect to get done when you
become more focused about the things that are really
important to you, your business and your life?
What is the single thing that limits your productivity the
most or prevent you the most from being truly present with
you loved ones? - think of three different ways to get rid
of it, pick the one most likely to be successful and
integrate it into your life.
To your wealth and growth
~Henrik Flensborg
P.S. Speaking of John Assarraf. The statistic at the
beginning was taken from one of the bonuses John offers
with his 'Optimum Performance Report'.
You can go to http://growth-focus.com/assaraf if you want
and pick up your own copy now.
And there's more information from John Assaraf about focus
in an hour-long interview he did with Randy Gilbert - just
click "Listen to interviews"
http://growth-focus.com/insidesuccess is Randy's own site
where you can listen to the current show, which is with Bob
Burg.
Growth Focus is published by
Henrik Flensborg
Branddamsvej 46
DK-2860 Soeborg
Denmark
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