A fighter sword is always sharp, and they do not sharpen it during a fight.
All preparation and training are done beforehand. They are prepared and ready. They have done what mattered, and this is essential to success.
Doing what matters is so important that it determines if you’ll succeed or spin your wheels and go nowhere. The world has a lot of people who are always busy doing something that is going to take them places, but they have no measurables to prove it.
It always seems like they’re not going anywhere, but they can’t wait to get there. The reason for this is that people mistake activity for work. For example, if you want to lose weight, what matters is that you work out and watch your calories. Reading many nutrition books, spending hours on YouTube picking up diet tips and joining a gym will not make you lose weight. What matters is the training and what you’re eating.
That’s all it is, and so plenty of people don’t get it. They overwhelm themselves with a lot of information without taking the right action.
The five tips below will tell you precisely what you need to do to succeed:
- Three tasks a day
- Doing just enough to be a little uncomfortable
- Do the most challenging task first.
- Activity and work are two different things.
- Know when to take a break.
Three tasks a day
Don’t make a list of 345 things to get done. That’s enough to overwhelm anyone. Start with just three tasks, and it must be three critical tasks. If you’re trying to lose weight, the three tasks might be a 20-minute stamina workout, intermittent fasting for that day and sleeping early so that you get sufficient rest. All you need to do are do these three tasks. That’s it. If you do them repeatedly, you’ll reach your weight loss goal.
Don’t overload yourself with too much work, such as studying blood type diets, seeing if Moon is in alignment with Jupiter so that your chakras will be activated during your yoga session, etc. All silliness aside, focus on just three critical tasks per day.
Doing just enough to be a little uncomfortable.
It would be best if you were challenged to grow. If you’re trying to build a business online, that may mean writing 1,000 words of a blog a day. Once you get used to creating this much content with ease, you may wish to push yourself a little and aim for 1,500 words.
You want to be making gradual progress. Over time, you’ll be amazed at how it all sums up.
Make measurable progress in a reasonable time. The same applies to your fitness. If you can only run for 10 minutes on the treadmill, that’s ok. With each workout, try and increase the duration by 20 seconds. The difference will be a little uncomfortable, but it won’t be so bad that it scares you.
Do the most challenging task first.
It’s human nature to do everything else but the most challenging task. You might decide to rearrange your desk or sort out your folders on your computer when you need to analyze the statistics in your advertising account. The mind tries to escape the complex tasks. Your job is to do them first. Forget everything else and do the most challenging task at once. Focus on that. Once that is complete, it’ll be a weight off your chest, and all the remaining jobs will be completed within no time.
Activity and work are two different things.
As mentioned earlier, you must know the difference. Streamline your life so that you’re only doing what matters. Do not do unnecessary stuff. Eliminate all the trivial jobs that don’t contribute to your progress.
Then you’ll have more time to do what matters.
Know when to take a break
Music is the space between the notes. It will keep you focused and more energetic to complete the critical stuff. Take short breaks every time you feel a little tired. That’s all there is to it.
“Don’t tell me how busy you are. Please show me what you’ve gotten done. Words don’t matter. Results do.” – Larry Winget
The Importance of Focus
Bruce Lee once said, “Concentration is the root of all the higher abilities in man.” To succeed in life, you must have the ability to focus and concentrate. Focused hard work is the key to success. The best way to focus is to remove all distractions. But the focus is slightly more than just eliminating distractions. In our day and age, multitasking is a valuable skill.
In truth, you should avoid multitasking. It distracts you, and over time you’ll lose the ability to stay focused on any one thing for long. You’ll never see a warrior engaged in a sword fight and taking quick peeps at his Facebook wall to see what’s up. 100% focus on the battle in front of you. Aim to do just one task at a time and give it your best. You must know how long you can last while concentrating.
Some people can focus for an entire hour without getting exhausted, while others may get tired after just 20 minutes.
Do what suits you best. If you need a mental break, take it. Spend 5 minutes resting and come back and focus on your task again. Over time, your ‘stamina’ will increase. It’s crucial to develop focus if you want to be mentally strong. The victorious warrior is the average man with laser-like focus.
