Focus for Success - 15 - Do the Right Thing, Not Everything Right
Gary Keller in The One Thing* nails it when he says that success is about doing the right thing and not about doing everything right. This may be the cornerstone of the entire book and speaks to the fact that you do not need to be the most disciplined person in the whole world to succeed. You just need to focus on the one thing that is appropriate at that time.
There are several fallacies or myths that will hinder your focus for success. We now know that everything does not matter equally and that multitasking robs you of precious energy in your pursuit of focusing for success. Now we will dispel the fallacy that you must lead a very disciplined life.
It seems that leading a disciplined life and creating positive habits go hand in hand, with habits being the most important part of your focus mindset. And, interestingly enough, you only need enough discipline to get the habits started, which is not that much in the overall scheme of things.
Athletes are great at forming habits to build up their skills so that they can be the best at their chosen sport. You often hear that of daily practices going for hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. These are habits that have been created. Yes, it did take a certain amount of disciple to get the habit started, but the secret to a habit is that one it is started, it is self continuing.
The question is, how long does it take to form a habit. Well, you've probably heard anywhere from 20 to 44 days. But in The One Thing*, Keller cites that researches at the University College of London ran a series of tests and came up with 66 days. To be sure, the number of days can be more or less, often depending on the complexity of the habit to be formed. But, 66 days seems to be the sweet spot that should provide an adequate amount of energy for perpetual generation. Keep in mind that if you are developing a skill and want to get really good at it, more time will be required. But, once the habit is started, continuation and improvement should not be an issue.
Habits can be time-consuming, which is all the more reason to make sure you have selected the one thing, the most important thing, to invest yourself into.
Focus for success means grabbing the gold ring by doing the right thing as opposed to doing everything mediocre. -Guy_Sellars
*The One Thing, 2012, by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan, Bard Press of Austin Texas, Rellek Publishing Partners LTD.
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