Stay Young & Focused

KIDS KNOW HOW… living in a small resort town affords me some unexpected pleasures periodically. Every summer there is a fairly well known Kid's Triathlon and children come from near and far to compete. Recently I viewed the winner of the eight-year-olds group "running his heart out" as he neared the finish line. There was a picture of him doing so in the weekly newspaper shortly thereafter. The intensity and the focus on his small little face was incredibly inspiring. Inspiring for a variety of reasons…most of all for me because it was obvious that he had only one focus in mind… to win the race in the fastest time possible. Children have an amazing ability to focus. Nothing deters them. They make up their minds to do something and let nothing get in the way.

The Power of Focus is not just for children. Salespeople need to be focused. A critical factor of success is FOCUS. Somehow that message seems to get lost for a lot of Salespeople. It disappears somewhere between the eight-year-old stage and the adult stage. Why is that? Why is it that "the purpose of the exercise… the winning of the race" gets overlooked so often during the day? Why does the finish line become so blurry sometimes?

Here is your ACTION STEP… life can get complicated. Life can get complex. Emotions can creep in. The fact still remains though that in order to get what you want, you need to keep your eye on the main target. Here's some ideas on FOCUS…

STAYING FOCUSED

1. Be very clear on the Big Picture. What is the main target to be accomplished in the next 6, 12, 18 months?

2. Have a method in place to remind yourself of that item every day (pictures, visuals, write it out daily, a sign on your bathroom mirror, etc… whatever works for you)

3. Every morning (or even the night before) identify the top 3 items you must do that day no matter what. What three things must be accomplished in the next 24 hours to move you closer to achieving your Big Picture?

4. As you go through your day remember some of the children in your life. How would they deal with the focus you are working so hard at maintaining?

5. Critical Point: get really good at pushing aside all the minutia that crops up during the day. Be selfish about what you intend to accomplish… keep the drama out of it!

6. Bonus Idea: the more you stay focused on your main priorities, the more you will be looking after the most important customers on your list. First things first.

Picture yourself in this visual… think of walking a small dog down a path with lots of distractions. Whenever the little dog "runs off into the bushes" you've got to tug on the leash and get your pet back on track. Same for you. Keep yourself "on a short leash". It doesn't mean that distractions are not going to come up, it just means that you need to be like that little eight-year-old boy running to the finish line in the triathlon. Let nothing stand in the way of your main focus. Get in the habit of following the above 6 steps and two things will happen… you will get a lot more done during the day and most importantly… you will feel much better about the control you have in your life. Keep your eye on the finish line. Stay Focused! NO Excuses.