Work and Discipline and Focus, Oh My!

Taking ownership of who you are and what you want to become is not an easy task. It takes hard work. A lot of hard work. And it requires discipline. Over and over again you have to pull yourself away from those things that will matter least in your life and push yourself towards that which will help you achieve greatness. You must decide what you want to accomplish, figure out how you will accomplish it and then with unyielding focus get after it.

You will make mistakes. You will get tired. You will sometimes be distracted and lose your way. It requires determination to try again after you fail and endurance to fight the good fight. Push yourself today to try again. Make sure that you are going for the goals that you truly want to achieve and are not just following the paths or goals of least resistance.

It's The Total Performance-Not One Act

I came across this quote during my planning time the other day:

Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.

-Corita Kent

At the end of the circus performance, most people enthusiastically clap and cheer, and may even give it a standing ovation. But have you ever thought about what they are cheering for? It's really not the closing act or an act they saw during the first half. It's the total performance-the combination of everything they have experienced during the event. Some acts were perfect, some were mediocre and some may have even gone wrong.

While one act in our lineup may not go well one day, it's vital to realize that you get another opportunity the next moment to be successful-to try again. And if we make the most of each moment, win or lose we will most likely give ourselves a standing ovation when the day is over.

Sentaku to Shuchu

While reading the online article, Defiantly, Panasonic Pushes A Vast Catalog, I came across an interesting phrase: Sentaku to Shuchu, which means "choose and focus." The phrase was used in respect to what major Japanese electronic companies like Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba need to do to stay competitive. Atul Goyal, one of the people interviewed in the article states, These companies need to think: what are their strengths, what are their weaknesses, and focus on their core strengths. Sounds like good advice for organizations OR individuals struggling with too much to do.

For the electronic companies, the advice is that they need to choose the products on which they can best produce and compete, and then focus on making them successful. The article regularly cites Apple, which in the electronics world, is everyone's icon of "Sentaku to Shuchu."

What about you? As you look at your potential task list today and the "acts" that could be part of your lineup, how will you choose which ones will get completed? Will you just create a "vast catalog" of mediocre acts? Or will you choose ones that will accomplish your highest values and goals? And what will you do to create an atmosphere where you can focus on creating the best outcomes possible with these acts?

Execution

You can do all the planning, preparation, goal setting, strategic meetings and mission statement writing you want but at the end of the day it comes down to execution and getting something done. The Random House Dictionary defines the word "execute" as: "to carry out" or "to perform or do."

It seems a lot of the time that it isn’t the planning and preparation that gets in the way but all the distractions that keep us from being able to "do" our plan. Amelia Earhart said, The most effective way to do it, is to do it. Wow, that seems pretty simple. "Just do it." What a great slogan Nike!