Practicing Focus with David Lee

CONCENTRATE ALL YOUR THOUGHTS UPON THE WORK AT HAND. THE SUN'S RAYS DO NOT BURN UNTIL BROUGHT TO A FOCUS.
— Alexander Graham Bell: 1847–1922

A mate of mine is successful in business because he is pretty casual in his approach to life and business, doesn’t stress, and gets it all done at the end of the day. A few weeks ago, he called me and asked if I would like to attend a networking lunch he was hosting at a new local venue. I was shopping at the time, but I certainly heard him tell me the name of the venue and the date. He said he would send me an invite.

I have a focused hack for getting stuff done: If it takes less than a minute, begin it. Where across the course of your day today, could you consider where it might take you a minute to begin something that otherwise will always remain undone?

Another hack I use for peace of mind and to avoid overwhelm is to look at my calendar only one day at a time. I have had people show me the calendars on their phones and say, “Look how much I have to get through this week!” I'm sure they have handled the same workload before, but it is a habit many people repeat. Forced overwhelm. Where across the course of your day today, could you consider where it might be that you look to lighten your load by lightening the expression of your to-do list?

When I opened my calendar the other day, I saw the lunch entry and called my mate. I hadn’t received an official invite via email, so he said he’d send it “again.” When the email arrived, the event details were laid out as I had remembered them, but with two glaringly obvious inclusions, which I was made aware of for the first time in this invite.

GUEST SPEAKER: DAVID LEE
Theme: FOCUS

I called him back up, and after a quick chat, understood the brief. Where across the course of your day today, could you consider where it is that you overthink and worry too much about a thing, before considering that nothing is ever as bad as it seems at first?

Another hack I have for peace of mind, and to avoid being overwhelmed, is to consider where I have been worried about something before commencing it, yet have always come out on the other side without any scratches.

My mate wouldn’t have asked me to give a speech (if he had asked me at all) unless he knew I could pull it off. In my world of mnemonics and acronyms, I had one for the word FOCUS, which was already up my sleeve.

Here’s my FOCUS mnemonic:

FAITH: The opposite of fear is FAITH. Faith is Facts Actively Interpreted Through Heuristics. A heuristic is a mental shortcut or rule of thumb that helps people make decisions and solve problems quickly and efficiently. It is often based on past experiences or intuitive judgments rather than analysis.

OPTIMISM: Optimism believes that good things will happen and challenges can be overcome. It doesn’t mean ignoring reality or difficulties. Optimism is a form of confidence.

CONSISTENCY: Consistency is the ability to take repeated, deliberate actions over time in alignment with your goals, values and commitments. It’s not about perfection. It’s about showing up regularly, even when motivation fades.

UNIQUENESS: Uniqueness is the quality of being one-of-a-kind and different from anything else. It is a competitive advantage and an expression of individuality.

SPECIFICITY: Specificity is the quality of being clear, precise and detailed rather than vague. It ensures goals, actions and strategies are well-defined and targeted toward a specific outcome.

While you’re thinking about that, think about this and have a Gr8 day! Inspiration is something we all seek!

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