An Experts' Approach to Deciding What to Focus On

Performance coaches advise, "You must focus." and eliminate distractions. Instead, "Choose one thing to focus on and succeed at."  Indeed, the more successful people from all walks of life—artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, and scientists—there are, the more likely it is that focus is a key factor in their success.

However, there is a flaw in this advice as well. How do you decide which of the many options in front of you to focus on? How do you know where to focus your attention and energy? How do you figure out what the one thing you should devote yourself to is?

       · The best response is to begin paying attention. This usually entails taking a measurement of something. Keep track of your marketing and promotion activities if you're an entrepreneur.

       · Senior executives are compensated for making difficult decisions. Much is dependent on the results of those decisions, and CEOs are graded based on their total success rate, which is fair. Obviously, risk cannot be eliminated from strategic decision-making.

       · However, we believe that top management companies can dramatically enhance their chances of success by making one simple change: increasing their toolkit of decision support systems and learning which tools are most effective for certain situations.

If you're trying to gain muscle, you keep track of your workouts. Keep track of your practice sessions if you're learning an instrument. Even if you do measure things, you will eventually have to decide what to concentrate on. Everyone wants to know when the best moment is to simplify and focus on one subject, but no one knows when that time is.

That is why success is so difficult. Baking a cake isn't the same as being an entrepreneur. There is no such thing as a recipe. There isn't even a map. Your greatest choice at this point is to decide. It's impossible to attempt everything. You don't need any more knowledge at some point; you just need to plan.

Final Thoughts

Attempting a lot of different things and determining what to focus on isn’t an easy task. However, you can do so by simplifying it. Just like when exercising, you can get rid of the fat if you know what is necessary and what isn't. In addition, Blaise Pascal says in his provincial letter that, "If I had more time, I would have sent you a shorter letter."

This simply means that learning the foundations is often the most difficult and time-consuming path of all, but that doesn't mean it's easy.