Focus Your Way to Better Results

October 14th, 2007

We can’t do really big things every day. If we’re really serious about walking the talk…, we have to focus on the small stuff. Let the jouney begin. Eric Harvey and Alexander Lucia

Does it feel to you like you are going at perpetual high speed? We have co-created a culture that supports that – so it is up to us to minimize the inevitable damage that goes with that kind of life style: failed relationships, burnout, illness, decreased productivity.

I am reflecting on the book The Power of Full Engagement, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz (See below). The next sequence of blogs will address some key points in the book and the thoughts they inspired in me. Here is the first one:

Focus your way to better results. Are you finding it hard to focus on one thing without getting distracted by many more? Do you start out to do something and stop on the way to do one more, and then one more, etc. and eventually forget what you set out to do in the first place? You are not alone. Try this – a Focus Awareness Chart.

A friend and mentor, Teri-E Belf, founder of Success Unlimited Network, introduced me to the awareness chart tool. Here is how I use it:

1. Make a commitment to increase your awareness of the power of focus. The more you use this power, the more you will have increased sense of ease, satisfaction, and productivity. The principle at work is that when you are aware of your behavior, you are more likely to change your behavior, if that is what you want to do.

2. Get a small calendar that gives you space to write a score of 1 (low) to 10 (high) plus some comments if appropriate. Keep this calendar by your bedside. Before retiring for the evening, take 10 seconds to reflect on your day. Think about your level of awareness of focusing during that day and give yourself a score of from 1 to 10. There is no judgment – just awareness of what it was.

3. Optional - If anything in particular happened that day that impacted your score, jot down those notes.

4. At the end of the week, see if there are any trends and impact from your increased awareness of focus.

You will be amazed at how much you’ll increase your power of focus. A positive change in behavior is sure to follow. Keep this process up until you have developed a solid habit. A minimum of one month.

Read my blog below on Focus – Key to Organizational Success 9/27/05

Entry Filed under: Insights on OC