Chapter 42 Focus.
I am sure you have tried burning a piece of paper, with sunlight focused intensely onto a spot through a magnifying glass. It works, until you start wavering your hand. The same goes for our lives, if we waver towards our goals we will never go far. Nowadays, with the power of focus and laser technology, beams of light are cutting through metals and are even performing surgery inside human bodies! This is stunning to me, even at my age. The formidable power of water or light, when concentrated in a fine straight line is incredible. Under normal circumstances, with other things as they are, a strong concentration of zeal, ability and persistence is enough to lead you to sizeable accomplishments. When your attention and efforts are directed on one goal, you can imagine how powerful you will be. And if all of your mind power was focused, you would be invincible!
People who have contributed to society and left their golden footprints have been men of one unique idea, overwhelming passion and a single aim. Great achievers in the world showed great focusing capacities, namely: Edison, Honda, Disney, Ray Kroc, Sam Walton, Thomas Watson, Henry Ford, Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates; the list goes on. None of the great champions (in chess, golf, tennis, ballet, ice-skating and various sports and contests) could have reached their pinnacles without this capacity. Edison's concentration was intense enough to grind him through a thousand attempts and failures, before the light bulb finally emerged! He also brought us a string of other inventions. Obviously, he focused all of his mind, body and soul on a project until it was successfully completed.
Soichiro Honda of the Honda Company admitted: „I got myself completely absorbed in my job as apprentice inventor. I let no onedisturb my concentration. Andre Gide also commented rightly: „To make an idea succeed, you have to concentrate on that idea alone. The distinguished J. D. Rockefeller remarked: „Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be ones aim. 'I've always believed that if you stick to a thought and carefully avoid distraction along the way, you can fulfil a dream..., said the successful Estee Lauder, „I kept my eye on the target, whatever that target was...Ive always believed that success comes from not letting your eyes stray from that target. Anyone who wants to achieve a dream must stay strong, focused and steady.
When you are focused you make greater progress, but when you are going round in circles you may go sideways or backwards, sapping precious time, energy and resources. I am sure many of the unsuccessful in the world are going in different directions and trying to do too many things at once. They end up doing none of them well. They become jacks of all trades and masters of none. There are always people who think it is clever to kill many birds with one stone, and to test the limits of their capacities. The truth is, we do have physical limitations. Concentration brings gain, but dissipation brings losses. As Emerson asserted, „Concentration is the secret of strength in politics, in war, in trade, ... in all management of human affairs.
Please remember, that your focus will be strongest in the pursuit of things you love most. That is why I always advocate the building of careers around hobbies and talents. Experts conclude that there is joy in being engrossed in things we love doing. Life is productive when work is play and joy. The famous psychologist, Sigmund Freud gave his recipe for happiness as: „Work and love. Lest we forget, concentration is also a part of our large armoury of skills in meditation, self-hypnosis, visualisation, affirmation, positive thinking, problemsolving, creativity, memory-training, cultivation of psychic energy and so on! Many areas of our endeavour require some form of concentration or tunnel vision. Excellent focus therefore, contributes not only to achievements, but to happiness and general well-being too.
Did you know that your focus on things can also change your moods? You can get depressed quickly, just by focusing on grudge, failure or injustice in your past! If you re-direct your attention on past successes and fun times, and anticipate more good things to come, you will feel contented and energetic immediately. Whatever you focus on will shape your feelings and attitude, and will gradually and eventually become your reality! Just focus on what you want, then good physiology, environment, and rewarding experience will follow, isnt that wonderful? So let us be careful, and avoid hasty assumptions and negativism; let us see clearly and positively, and choose intelligently what we dwell on.
Determination and persistence are very important partners to focus. The rich and famous, in looking back have admitted that if they had thrown in the towel at the tough moments, they would have missed out on success. P. T. Barnum advised rightly: „Dont disperse your forces. Once occupied with a thing, stick to it until you succeed,...More than once, a fortune slippedthrough someones hands because he undertook too much at the same time. The Roman orator Cicero said, „Careful attention to one thing often proves superior to genius and art.
On your next assignment, try full concentration, avoid interruptions and put in all your mind, heart and soul. You will be surprised how good and coherent the result turns out to be! Make it your life-long objective to master your attention and focus. Ignore distraction and concentrate long enough to achieve your goals. My concluding advice is: Aim high, aim straight and progress intently without wavering or faltering!
"Firmness of purpose is one of the most necessary sinews of character, and one of the best instruments of success. Without it genius wastes its efforts in a maze of inconsistencies." - Lord P. Chesterfield.
"The great thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving." - O. W. Holmes.
"All that you dream of, all that you yearn for and long to be, will be within your reach if you have the power to affirm sufficiently strong, if you can focus your faculties with sufficient intentness on a single purpose." - O. S. Marden.
"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand, the sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus." - A. G. Bell.
"With peak concentration comes peak confidence: Watch Greg Norman set himself for a drive and the concentration is so intense it dazzles." - Mark H. McCormack, on the golf champion.