BIG IDEA MONDAY: What Should We Think About Today?
If The 80/20 Rule is still at work (and you know it is) Here's What the TOP TWENTY PERCENT ARE FOCUSING ON EVERY DAY!
What should You and I be FOCUSING on Today?
What would you guess MOST INDIVIDUALS are focused on…
And does it really have anything to do with how things work out?
For any photographer, FOCUS is key. And let’s face it ,to some degree we are ALL photographers today. Lose your focus as a leader and your team or organization will soon follow. Take your eye off the ball as a hitter or wide receiver and you’re down and out…no touchdown, you’ve struck out.
And so it is with the marketplace today, FOCUS IS CRITICAL.
So, with that in mind…What’s YOUR FOCUS ON NOW?
Whenever someone walks up and says something like “Hey, did you see what THEY’RE SAYING on the news?” I’ve noticed what follows is rarely something GOOD or POSITIVE or VALUABLE. Their FOCUS is on the worst possible scenario that may (or may not) happen.
I’ve mentioned on several occasions a VALUABLE lesson I picked up from a book I read called CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE EVERYTHING.
I was intrigued by the title and impressed by the overriding message in the book. So much so that I included the message in MY Short Book The Selling Idea.
Here’s the message:
MOST PEOPLE (80%) FOCUS on these 2 things:
1. What’s WORST about what’s going on right now in their life, or work, or “the news” or whatever. Let’s say, the LEAST VALUABLE AREA. What’s the WORST thing you can imagine? Now focus on that for a day or week or weeks and see what happens. Is it any wonder if that is the FOCUS of most individuals that we are a FEARFUL and WORRYING society (see CNN)?
2. What’s HAPPENED or happening or MAY HAPPEN (see #1). In essence, something that is BEYOND YOUR CONTROL. That’s the prevailing VICTIM mentality that says you’re at the mercy of someone or something or outside forces or…more fear and worry that literally PARALIZES individuals from taking action and lulls them into a pattern of “WAITING on THINGS TO CHANGE or SOMEONE ELSE To CHANGE THINGS.” If you were going to CHANGE THE WORLD, would you wait for everyone else to change or just begin with YOU?
Here’s the VALUE of the “CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE EVERYTHING” MESSAGE…
The 2 things that the UNCOMMON minority (top performers, high achievers,
SELLING STARS, 20%, etc.) are FOCUSED ON:
What’s BEST (just the opposite of the majority) about what’s NOW or what you’ve done or seen or achieved or what’s MOST VALUABLE to the marketplace.
What’s BEST with you? By focusing on what’s BEST it provides some measure of encouragement and positive reinforcement that allows you to make decisions on life and work that brings greater COMMITMENT because what you’re doing is making a difference in “this area.”
It also increases the VALUE and the encouragement you bring to those around you. What’s BEST (most valuable) about what you’re doing now?
What’s NEXT for you, your business, your life, your family, your (fill in the blank)…
When you FOCUS ON WHAT’S NEXT, we’ll call this IMPENDING VALUE, it brings an energy and inertia that propels you in that direction. It’s actually a LAW that says a body at rest TENDS or has a tendency toward staying at rest, while a BODY IN MOTION or mind in motion TENDS to remain IN MOTION or be propelled in the direction of the NEW THING THAT IS NEXT.
This is the kind of “entrepreneurial adrenalin” that most individuals have felt who started their own business or began an enterprise or pursued an idea.
And it’s difficult to explain to anyone who HASN’T. It’s an ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERIENCE (how MOST SELLING PERFORMERS treat their business, even when they work for someone else) that brings positive energy that is unmistakable, and can bring an excitement and a passion that transcends the day-to-day STUFF that we all have to deal with.
It is also VISUALLY EVIDENT and creates a PERCEIVED VALUE that others can see in you. They BEAR WITNESS to your greater measure of POSITIVITY!
When we FOCUS on WHAT’S NEXT all the other STUFF seems to become less and less a paralyzing force and must step aside for anyone who is ON THEIR WAY to what’s next and has made a commitment to go there.
Taking charge of your THOUGHTS and your FOCUS is one of the powerful clues that success has left behind for centuries, and a part of the foundation for creating greater VALUE in the marketplace and in your life.
***Excerpted from my SHORT BOOK, The Selling Idea. If you’d like more from The Selling Idea just send me an email and ask for your copy for free! Leader@MichaelYork.com