Focus

All posts tagged Focus

Fire in the Belly

Posted by John R. Stoiber on December 2, 2017
Posted in: Achievement, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Fire in the Belly

Have you ever heard the expression that someone has “Fire in the Belly?”  Well, it likely doesn’t mean their stomach is on fire or they have a bad case of heartburn!

Fire in the Belly means that someone has a unique quality within that drives them to succeed.  If you have Fire in the Belly, those around you will feel your desire… your passion.  Your self-motivation and focus on achievement will be highly pronounced.  And the work you put into your passion will be obvious.

This past weekend, my 9-year old son demonstrated this trait in a way that I could not help but notice.  There is a competition he recently participated in at his school known as cup stacking.  Using 12 specially made cups, cup stacking requires each competitor to go through a series of up-stacking and down-stacking in different formations known as The Cycle.  Of course, The Cycle is timed and the lowest time wins assuming there were no errors in the stacking.

While the competition was over weeks ago, my son continues to challenge himself to better and better cycle times.   He proudly highlights each new personal record as a milestone.  Hour after hour, with some breaks in between, he pushed himself to go faster.  It was amazing to watch the times go down and down.  Nobody challenged him to do it, he just challenged himself.  I must admit that I soon became intrigued by how short the times became, and what he had to do to break his most recent record.  Failure after failure after failure, he was not defeated.  He just kept on learning, practicing, and refining his movements.

While it’s a simple example that we see in everyday life, when it came to cup stacking, my son had the Fire in the Belly I am talking about.  It can happen on many levels, but it’s a key factor in achievement.

People who have Fire in the Belly are not deterred by failure.  They persevere and pursue their goals relentlessly and see each new breakthrough as a mini-success that pushes them even more.  It’s exciting to watch and experience.  Have you ever had Fire in your Belly?

Visualization: A Critical Element of High Achievement

Posted by John R. Stoiber on November 9, 2015
Posted in: Achievement, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Stoiber - Visualize

Do you recall the idiom “a picture is worth a thousand words?”

The idea behind this statement is that an image of a subject conveys its meaning or essence more effectively than a description does.   But it can also suggest a critical element of high achievement in my view – the concept of visualization.   Here’s why.

When people “think” they tend to think in images, not just words.  If you tell the same story in words to a group of people, odds are that most will formulate a different picture in their mind related to the story.  However, if you tell the story in pictures, most will see the story similarly.  And frankly, I would argue, most will remember the story better and have a more emotional reaction to it.

The same is true when you target achievements.  To be clear about your end game (your ultimate goal), and maximize your motivation to achieve it, you need to “see” or visualize what the result looks like.  You need to play out the story of achieving it in your head.   For example, if your goal is to win a competitive bike race, you need to visualize yourself crossing the finish line first.   Perhaps you visualize a long lead and easy win, or instead a sprint at the end of the race to beat your competitors at the line.  Regardless, winning the race should be crystal clear in your mind.

What happens next can be amazing.  With great visualization, you will naturally experience more focus, increased motivation, and ultimately better performance than if you did not start with a clear picture of the end game.  If your visualization is foggy, your results will be foggy also.

Another benefit of visualization and putting yourself in the “image” of great achievements is that it will create the emotional capacity to get started, to work harder, and to persevere when setbacks come.  What you see is what you believe is possible.  You may not always achieve your goal the first time, but having a clear picture in your mind of the desired end game will accelerate your path to get there every time.

Fear Your Plan, Not Your Goals

Posted by John R. Stoiber on August 22, 2015
Posted in: Achievement, Failure Lessons, Fear of Failure, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Blog Photo - Fear Your Plan

All too often I have seen people in situations where they walk away from a goal at the first sign of adversity or challenge.  The goal may have been a big one that was considered by others as lofty or far from reach.  For example, a goal of becoming the best golfer in the world, or a goal of becoming a billionaire.  However, the goal could also have been something that many others have already achieved, such as running a marathon, earning a six-figure salary, or learning a second language.

But why do so many people give up on their goals even when they are within reach?

In most cases, I would argue, it is because of fear. The fear of failure. Some people are just hoping for an excuse to quit.  Others let setbacks or challenges increase their fear to the point where the pain of potential failure outweighs the pain (the hard work) of achieving the goal in the first place.  This is a common tale.  Too common, and unfortunate.

But what exactly are these people afraid of?   Is it the goal itself that scares them?  Is it what other people will say (the naysayers) if they do not achieve it?   The fact is most goals people set are achievable, but yet so many give up.

The problem in my view is not the goals.  Most people do not set “scary” goals.   Instead the focus should be shifted to the PLAN to get there.  If your plan scares you, so will your goal.   But great planning is the antidote of fear.  If you are afraid of failing to achieve any goal you have set, you do not have the right plan.

So how do you put together the right plan?

Find others who have achieved the same thing and use their experience to build or enhance your plan.  Think through what might happen along the way, and be prepared in advance to react when you reach a roadblock.  Find mentors, coaches or others who can increase your focus on the plan you already have in place.   Then work your plan.  Refine it.  Work it again.  The chances of achieving your goals with little fear of failing will increase dramatically.

Take the Downside Out of Play

Posted by John R. Stoiber on November 1, 2014
Posted in: Achievement, Fear of Failure. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Stoiber - Downside

If you want to increase your odds of success, one useful approach is to eliminate the biggest possibilities of failure. That is, take the downside out of play. Early in my career as a product design engineer, we worked hard to eliminate the largest possibilities of product failure in order to improve the potential reliability of new products.  The same is true for achievement.

First, always have options.

Do not bet everything on only one possibility.  For example, if you are looking for a job, do not focus only on a single opportunity.  Pursue many in parallel.  If one does not work out, you can still pursue the remaining options. If you put everything into only one opportunity then your failure point becomes very risky – it’s all or nothing.

Second, think before you start.

Sounds easy right?  Make sure you seek the right advice from other high achievers to avoid the same mistakes they may have made.  Then, think about your goal and work backwards.  Map out potential moves and explore different paths to get there.  Learn how you can adjust your path if you run into a roadblock along the way.  Having only one path increases the odds of overall failure.

Finally, manage the impact of certain mistakes.

You are certain to make some mistakes along the way.  So what?  You are trying to avoid the big one.  For example, if you ever watch a professional golfer evaluate a difficult shot, they almost always consider the implications of different misses and choose the shot that will avoid the big mistake.  You can manage the impact of your own mistakes by considering the possible mistakes you might make and working to minimize the potential of a big one along the way.  Take the downside out of play and you will maximize your potential upside.

 

Failure is Merely Learning How to Win

Posted by John R. Stoiber on February 8, 2014
Posted in: Fear of Failure. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Bullseye

In anything that we pursue in our lives, the “mental game” is a critical part of high achievement.

When was the last time you saw someone beat themselves up openly following a failure or setback?   Sometimes it wasn’t even something that mattered when you put it into perspective.  I have seen it many times – in sports, in work and in relationships.

I recently became the Manager of a youth baseball team, and attended a coaches’ clinic at a local high school.  I was impressed with what I saw from the head coach of the boys baseball team.  Their theme for this year’s season is “Compete Fearlessly.”   This is part of a bigger focus on ensuring that the players get their mind right when it comes to competing.  If they make a mistake, they are conditioned to say “so what” and focus on the next play.

What is amazing about this approach is it allows players to focus only on what they can control, and find a way to eliminate the negative thoughts from their minds about what they cannot control.  They cannot do anything about the last play, so why focus on it?  This is a very powerful approach that can work in all aspects of life.

We can all take a lesson from what this coach was demonstrating with his team.  We can learn from failure, but we can only look forward and use that failure as a means of figuring out how to win.

Avoid Multitasking and Get Focused

Posted by John R. Stoiber on January 18, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

shutterstock_155482178

When was the last time you heard someone talk about how they are always “multitasking?”  It’s like a badge of honor for some people.

Do you consider yourself a “multitasker?”

If you look up the term multitasking on Wikipedia, you will find that this term is actually derived from computer multitasking, where computer instructions are processed at such a high-speed that they effectively appear to be performed at the same time.   In human terms it is really not possible to focus on two things at the same time.

Perhaps we should instead think of multitasking as a lack of ability to focus.

If you think about it, everything we do requires a certain level of focus.   Try this – hold up one finger on both hands simultaneously and see if you can focus on both at the same time.   It cannot be done.   Similarly, you cannot effectively focus on two tasks at the same time and produce positive outcomes.

I think what we really mean when we refer to multitasking is that we are able to shift our focus quickly from one task to another and still achieve great results.   That is very difficult to do.   Each time you make a shift away from a particular task, you create a break point that results in a learning curve (albeit may be a brief one) when you pick the work back up again.   This creates more opportunity for errors, and certainly reduces efficiency.  I would argue that it will ultimately take you more time to complete several tasks handled with multitasking than if you remained focused and completed them in a serial manner.

Focus, and your ability to remain focused, is the key.

I admit that I am not a “multitasker,” but I have learned over the years to create deep focus to accelerate completion of tasks serially, thus creating a sense that I was multitasking.

I have spent many years personally working on the discipline of focus and trying to find ways where I could increase my own performance (in sports, work, time with family, etc.).   You sometimes hear about professional athletes being “in the zone.”   Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are well-known for their ability to focus and achieve top performance for a sustained period of time.

It’s pretty amazing what you can achieve if you are able to create a discipline around your own focus.   I remember when I was in strategy consulting and had to work in many unusual work environments – in construction trailers, coffee shops, noisy cafeterias, airports, etc. – and the level of focus it took to tune out all the external distractions.   I learned a lot about how to control my focus, and that has remained with me to this day.

I suppose if we were really good at multitasking we could text and drive at the same time – and we know that is not a good idea!  Focus is much better.

Next time you find yourself in a mode where you feel like you are jumping from task to task without driving anything to completion, stop and take a breath.   Then, think about the priority of the tasks and commit to driving each one to completion prior to moving to the next one.  Sure you might be interrupted occasionally, but commit to getting back to the task at hand and you’ll be surprised at how much more you can accomplish in the same amount of time – with better results!  Focus more, and you will achieve more.

I would love to hear your stories of times where you really achieved more through deep focus, and what you did to create and maintain that focus.