The impact of Focused, Preparation, and Practice on our success.

Focus does not come naturally to us, yet it is essential for anyone who wants to make the most of his LIFE.

Having plans and goals without focus, preparation, and practice is like being an octopus on roller skates.

You can be sure that there will be plenty of movement, but you won’t know in what direction it will be.

Plans and goals with focus, preparation, and practice direct you and have the potential to take you far in life.

Watch small children playing, and what do you see?

They move quickly from one toy to another and from activity to activity.

They expend tremendous amounts of energy but get little done.

That’s to be expected.

They are exploring their world and learning by doing.

Why focus is necessary.

What you focus on expands. That may seem ironic, but it’s true.
Narrowing your view widens your perspective.
On the other hand, if you try to expand your view, instead of taking more in, it simply wears you out.
If you want to expand your capacity, then focus.

People do not naturally remain focused.
Just as light naturally loses its focus and gets diffused, so does a person’s attention.
It takes a lot of effort, but the payoff is significant.
And anytime you engage in a process that takes time, focus is essential.
Only people capable of remaining focused on their plan and achieving a level of success.

By focusing on results, you will find it easier to stay positive and encouraged.
Anytime you concentrate on the difficulty of the work at hand instead of its results or rewards, you’re likely to become discouraged.
Dwelling on the difficulties too long and you’ll start to develop self-pity instead of self-discipline, and your attention will become scattered instead of focused.
As a result, you will accomplish less and less.
You will come in contact with a lot of people who can impact your efforts as you work on achieving your dreams some in a negative way.
If you remain focused on results, you will stay grounded.
The praise of others is less likely to go to your head, and the negative impact of people such as the reducers and rejecters will be minimized.

If you want to develop your talent, you need to focus.
If you’re going to focus, you need to work on knowing what your true priorities are and then following them.
If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.
Unfortunately, that is what many people seem to do.
They don’t focus their attention, and as a result, they become ineffective.

Focusing on weaknesses instead of strengths is like having a handful of coins a few made of pure gold and the rest of tarnished copper and setting aside the gold coins to spend all your time cleaning and shining the copper ones in the hopes of making them look more valuable.
No matter how long you spend on them, they will never be worth what the gold ones are.
Go with your greatest assets; don’t waste your time.

Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.
Understand the power of preparation and all the things it can do for someone:
Preparation Allows You to Tap into Your Talent.
Preparation Is a Process, Not an Event
Preparation Precedes Opportunity. You can claim to be surprised once; after that, you’re unprepared. If you want to take advantage of opportunities to use your talent, then you must be prepared when the opportunities arise. Once the opportunity presents itself, it’s too late to get ready.
Preparation for Tomorrow Begins with the Right Use of Today. “If you are preparing today, chances are, you will not be repairing tomorrow”.
Preparation Requires Continually Good Perspective.
Good Preparation Leads to Action. Don’t over-prepare and forget to take action.

Preparation does not mean mastery of the facts.

It does not mean knowing all the answers.

It does not necessarily mean achieving consensus.

It means putting yourself in a better position to succeed.

Practice enables development

The tension between where we are and where we ought to be in practice.
People refine old skills and acquire new ones through practice.
How do we grow and develop? The answer is through practice.
You may prepare, and have good goals but it is a practice that leads you to success.
If you desire to improve and develop, then you must practice.
It allows you to break your records and outstrip what you did yesterday.
Practice keeps making you better than you were yesterday.
If you don’t practice, you limit your potential.

Practice Demands Discipline