The Power of Focus Summary
The Power of Focus Summary
The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen of Chicken Soup for the Soul fame with renowned American performance coach Les Hewitt seeks to explain and develop successful habits in readers through encouraging the behavioral technique that they call Unusual Clarity. The chapters break down performance skills into step-by-step instructions which are supplemented by inspiring stories and examples, and conclude with sets of Action Steps designed to drive the reader towards their goals.
The primary arguments of the authors are thus:
- Your habits will determine your quality of life and future, and you must therefore systematically revise your daily behaviors in order to get to your desired lifestyle, by identifying and eliminating bad habits as well cultivating good ones.
- Focusing on your natural talents will focus your energy positively towards the things you enjoy and excel at, allowing you to reap the rewards of success without sapping your time and happiness. To do this, you have to prioritize the tasks in your life. Either:
– Dump it
– Delegate it
– Defer it
– Or do it.
(As a sidenote, remember that the telephone can be your worst enemy. Make time more productive by turning your phone off.)
- Goals are of critical importance. Reaching small goals on a regular basis will eventually lead you to the life you wish to be living. Your goals must:
– Be yours. Your goals should not be subject to anyone else’s opinion or judgment.
– Be meaningful. You should not be frivolent when creating the foundation of your
new life.
– Be specific and measurable. Vague goals are infinitely harder to reach, and thus
lead to dangerous procrastination.
– Be flexible. Flexibility will keep you from feeling suffocated, and allow you to take
advantage of unforeseen opportunities when they come across your path.
– Be challenging and exciting. You don’t want to be bored by your own goals.
– Be morally sound. Without goals that line up with your personal belief system, you
will trap yourself into becoming someone you do not want to be. In contrast, when your goals require actions that align with positive core values, decision-making becomes easy, as internal conflict is eliminated.
– Be well-balanced and realistic. This increases the likelihood that you can actually achieve them in a reasonable amount of time.
– Include contribution. Goals should not be entirely selfish.
– Be supported. If you cannot rationalize your desires to yourself, they might be
fundamentally flawed.
The authors recommend the acronym B-ALERT to become more goal-oriented.
– B stands for Blueprint, your nightly prioritized agenda outline for the following day’s tasks.
– A stands for Action, specifically the focused application of energy to achieve the best
results for each task of each day.
– L stands for learning. Your knowledge base surrounding your field separates you from your competitors.
– E: Is for Exercise, which increases energy levels, relieves stress, improves sleep patterns, and generally sets the stage for your body and mind for peak performance.
– R: Is for Relaxing, which also lowers stress and improves energy, while giving your brain an opportunity to re-boot.
– T: Is for Thinking, which encourages productive changes in lifestyle. If you take the time to reflect on each day, acknowledging success and challenges alike, you will put yourself in a better position to make efficient adjustments.
- Assess your relationships. Remove negative relationships, and use the energy and time that was wasted on them to feed positive relationships. In order to evaluate the people in your life, ask yourself three big questions:
a. Do I like them?
b. Do I trust them?
c. Do I respect them?
If the answer is “no”, then they might not be worth your efforts. On the other hand, surrounding yourself with worthwhile individuals and mentors can drastically improve your life. Make yourself worth investing in by respecting these three rules:
a. Always tell the truth, and people will trust you.
b. Always do what you say you will, and people will respect you. c. Make others feel special, and people will like you.
- You must confront your fears before you can make progress towards your goals. Conquering your fears will also give you renewed energy and increased confidence to tackle further intimidating challenges.
- Realize that life is comprised of choices. You do not “have” to do anything, and you are responsible for your own situation. Your life is a result of all the previous choices, both good and bad, that you have made throughout your past. Make every day a conscious choice, and lead yourself to a place where you are happy with each choice you make.
- Recognize that true integrity is based on keeping your promises, and commit to the idea that there is no such things as a trivial agreement.
The authors state that if you incorporate these ideas into your daily life, and work through the Action Steps that conclude each chapter, you will greatly improve your productivity and well-being. Additionally, they recommend reading inspiring biographies and autobiographies to reminder yourself that the biggest rewards are found outside life’s comfort zones, and that small steps can reshape your life.
