Focus: Key strategy for creating success at work and in life

Image by House Committee on Education and Labor via Flickr

As attention turns to evaluating President Barack Obama's first 100 days on the job, this is also an excellent time to pause to gauge where we are with the things we're working on. Our projects may not be as high-profile as leading the free world, but they can still be important. And how we're doing on them right now will determine how well we do them in the future.

We've talked often in this space about goal achievement and focus. Today, I want to remind you about why focus is important. In chapter three of Zoom Power: Your Key to Hitting Your Personal, Business and Financial Targets, I illustrate how total focus can make a total difference in our results. One example for me was my journey to becoming a bestselling author. My original approach was to try to spread myself all over the place -- traveling to book signings, buying space in publications, sending out random e-mails, attending conferences. Nothing seemed to work. But then I began to learn about Internet marketing and sat down to create a very focused marketing plan to tell others about my book. And it worked! I become a bestselling author!

The principles from that are something to help you. Remember, it's not necessary to do every single thing. What's often better is to narrow your focus and do the things that directly impact what you are trying to accomplish. If your goal is to become known as an expert on bird migration, then focus on that area. Forget trying to publish papers or do talks on dogs and cats, snakes and spiders. Focus. And you'll find your reputation growing.

The same goes for the tasks on your to-do list. Delegate where you can and X some things off the list all-together. If you've decided this weeks needs to be about marketing your business, then maybe now is not the time to try to work on distribution channels and product development, too. Those things may be important, but they may not be important for this moment.

What often happens when we fail to focus is that we try to do too much and end up not doing anything all that well. Focus on one thing, then move on to the next. You'll get much better results.

So just as the public is evaluating the President to see how well he is doing, evaluate yourself. Are you getting things done or are you just busy doing a bunch of nothing? If it's the latter, lack of focus may be the problem. Focus on doing one thing well and you'll find you're in a much better position.

What has been your best strategy for getting things done?