The Power of Focus, Part 1
Across the United States, stores like Home
Depot and Lowe's, which primarily sell home
improvement products directly to homeowners,
have grown by leaps and bounds over the past
several years. You can buy everything from
lumber to paint to plumbing and bathroom
fixtures, and if you are a do-it-yourselfer (I'm
not entirely sure that's a word; if not, I
suppose that I just made it up), you can save a
significant amount of money.
I do a limited amount of shopping at those
places, because I do not possess the skills
required to undertake any large home renovation
projects. I *could* undertake them, but I would
likely end up having to call an expert to fix my
faux pas, which would completely eliminate my
anticipated savings.
I am not a handyman. There, I've admitted
it... I know the old saying that "the first step
towards getting help is admitting you have a
problem", but at this stage in my life this is
not something for which I am seeking help, so I
don't see it as a problem. I realize that I will
not have a mastery of every skill that there is
in the world, and I'm quite okay with that
notion.
There is truth in the cliché "jack of all
trades, master of none". We each have a limited
amount of energy, focus, and time. If we spend
our time and expend our energy trying to gain a
level of competence in every skill we identify,
we may gain some level of skill, but the odds
are that we will never rise to the level of
mastery in any of them.
In order for you to rise to the level of
mastery, you must limit the scope of things to
which you apply yourself, and dedicate your
attention to the ones in which you want to see
the greatest level of improvement, proficiency
or achievement. Another way of saying this is to
re-iterate a tag-line I heard in the dialogue of
a puppet show.
My sister Anita and brother-in-law Mike are
missionaries to children in The Netherlands.
Before they went overseas I had the chance to
sit in on one of their services. Among the tools
they use to connect with the children are a
number of puppets, one of which is a sensei, or
a guru of sorts, whose consistent mantra was
"Anita, you must focus!"
While the line was a good laugh for the kids,
it bears consideration for each of us. If you
want to excel or grow or achieve in a certain
area of your life...you...must...focus.
Over the next couple of issues of this
newsletter, I plan to share some examples of the
power of focus in action. Some of the examples
will be mine, and some will be yours. For
information on how to submit those examples,
please see the instructions below.
Seen the power of focus in action?
Have you personally experienced the power and
benefits of focus in a particular area of your
life? Have you witnessed it in others? The best
way to have this principle reaffirmed is to
learn about instances where it has been carried
out. Tell us about your example, so we can share
it with others who are involved with The Pure
Excellence Initiative.
(All personal and contact information will
remain confidential.)
Share an example of the Power of Focus!
Got a question on excellence you'd like to
see discussed?
If there is a particular aspect about or
subtopic of excellence that you've been
wondering about, you can submit it for
discussion. The process for doing this is quite
simple. Simply click on the link below to submit
your question/sub-topic for discussion.
Submit a question for the Pure Excellence
Initiative
|
May 2, 2007
Jim Key
Founder & Director,
Pure Excellence Initiative
Recommended Reading:
Driven From Within
by Michael Jordan
Do you know someone who is interested in
pursuing personal excellence? Sharing the
Pure Excellence Initiative is as easy as
forwarding this email to them.
|
