Focus: The Essence of Success
A few years ago, a friend of mine had dinner with Earl Nightingale and his wife Dianna. My friend, who has two teenage daughters, asked Earl what kind of advice he would give the young women to help them select their life’s work.
Without hesitation, Earl asked the first girl what she would do if she woke up on Monday morning, it was raining, and she had enough money in the bank that she didn’t have to go into work. My friend’s daughter laughed and said, “Well, I’d probably go shopping.”Without cracking a smile, Earl looked at her and said, “Have you ever considered becoming a buyer for a large department store? With that kind of job you could go shopping all day every day and get paid for it!”Earl then asked the next girl what she would do. She replied that she would most likely go horse riding. Earl then pointed out that where they lived, there are a number of Arabian horse farms, and perhaps she might enjoy work as a trainer. Then she could do all the horseback riding she wanted.
It is surprising to note the incredible number of people who have difficulty in determining what they want to do to occupy the time they have to spend on this earth. It’s true that there are so many interesting and challenging things a person can spend their time doing.
But for the most part, it is simply a lack of focus… an inability or an unwillingness to look at one particular thing, then focus all your efforts on finding ways to do it better than anyone else. With a clear focus any normal person can accomplish more and out-achieve even the brightest and most intelligent person who has a limited vision or an ill-defined path to run on. Indeed, focus is the essence of success.
Share :
