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Focus is truly one of the secrets of wealth par excellence.
Just how good is your focus? Are you able to concentrate on something and see it through? Are you able to put in a TRULY solid day’s work, focusing on one thing only?
Zero distractions.
How about a solid month’s work?
How about a solid DECADE’s work?
Or is your focus scattered? Do you find yourself randomly looking at stuff on the internet? Do you keep checking your inbox, your Google Analytics, or your various messengers every few minutes? Do you end up chatting on the phone or DMs instead of working? Do you find yourself drifting over and over again into non-essential or non-productive activities?
Being self-employed is viewed as one of the important strategies for getting rich – but it puts you in a position where you need to create your own motivation and schedule. There is no boss or coach looking over your shoulder making sure that you work – and while that seems nice, it can also cause a huge challenge: Nobody’s going to kick your butt.
And if you don’t know how to kick your own butt (don’t visualize that), then that’s a problem.
You need to be able to maintain your own vigilance – and if you thought that being self-employed meant an easier ride… you’re going to be in for a rude awakening.
True focus is NOT one of those things that you can learn once and then forget. It never stops. Ability to focus is a skill that can be improved and developed as a habit – but staying focused requires that vigilance be maintained “forever”.
If you are going to get rich, focus is one of the master keys.
Here are 9 Tips To Improve Your Focus:
1. Unless Essential, Check Your Email / Messages Only Once Or Twice A Day.
Allocate a short time period to dealing with email – perhaps 15 minutes, once per day – and deal with the most important items first. Then close it and leave it closed. It’s done.
2. Close The Tabs For ALL Social Media And Leave them Closed.
Social media is a huge time vampire and wastes YEARS of many people’s lives. It’s an addiction – a real one – and millions of people cannot resist checking for messages, likes and other dopamine rewards that are deliberately used by the social media giants to keep you hooked in (and earn more ad revenue at your expense!)
If you are really struggling with this (tons of people are) then check out the book Dopamine Detox: A Short Guide to Remove Distractions and Get Your Brain to Do Hard Things.
3. Unless It Is Absolutely Vital, Turn Off The Ringer On Your Phone When You Are Working.
Unless you are expecting an important call, put the thing out of sight so that you don’t see notifications either!
4. If Possible, Work Late Into The Evening And At Night When Others Are Asleep
There will be minimal distractions. I know, computer screens, blue light blah blah. Get an orange filter if needed. I often get my best work done between 10pm and 2am.
5. Learn To Keep Conversations Short And Cut To The Chase
Learn diplomatic ways to cut it short. Keep the subject to the essentials and don’t let it meander. When someone starts to “shoot the breeze” – don’t be afraid to cut them off and say politely that you have much to do and have to go.
I got a masterclass in this from my CPA (Accountant). When it came up to tax time he was so slammed with work that he literally did not have a moment to spare. He would ALWAYS pick up the phone on the first ring and instantly say “Accounting offices”. This forced the person at the other end to cut right to what they had to say. His answers were clipped, succinct, wasted MINIMAL seconds and then at the end he would say “OkayBye” CLICK without a microsecond of wasted time in between. That’s a pro right there.
6. Every Moment Is Irreplaceable. Treat it as though it is – because it is!
You only get one chance at any given moment. Use it as well as you possibly can. People waste seconds because they think they are unimportant. But every minute, every hour, every year is made up of these seconds. People will cheerfully waste an hour thinking “so what, there is tomorrow”. They forget that this moment is irreplaceable. You will not get it back. Once you have wasted it, not all the tears in the world can bring it back.
7. Focus On One Task At A Time
There is a huge difference between multi-tasking and scattered focus. There are certain kinds of work that require total focus. Multi-tasking has become fashionable but studies have shown that you might not be able to perform your best unless you are 100% focused on one thing at a time.
8. Experiment With Earplugs
This is something I have done extensively and with great results. I have found that even low levels of background sound or noise pollution can have a very detrimental effect on focus. So I often wear earplugs while working at the computer and have found that it can greatly improve my concentration. Obviously, please only use earplugs when it is safe to do so.
9. When You Work, Do Nothing Except Work!
An hour’s work means 3600 seconds of work. Not 55 minutes. Not 45 minutes. Not 59 and a half minutes. 60 point zero minutes.
When was the last time you worked an entire hour with ZERO seconds wasted?
Got you! 😉
The only acceptable answer is “The last hour that finished before this one.” How many of you can say that?
Summary:
Don’t allow yourself to get sidetracked in life. Most people spend most of their time on things that are not actually connected to their goals. The real secret of success is putting all your time into things that are going to actually move the needle. That is Elon Musk’s real secret. There is no real “secret sauce” other than LASER FOCUS.
If you have absolute, total focus – the amount you can achieve is absolutely astonishing. Start focusing 100% RIGHT NOW and note the fantastic changes that it brings.
How much actual progress did you make this week? I compiled an 11,000 line database of synth modules with tons of data; learned how to use a macro software; Made about £3000 on ebay; received delivery of 50 new articles; tested 300 facebook quote posts.
Being unstoppable is a choice and it is in your mind.
Turn the phone off. Close the Facebook tab. Close the email tab. NOW. And get to work.
