Friday, November 21, 2014

Focus: Long & Short of It

Parkour runners claim to 'focus on the present'. Exponents of this dangerous but exciting sport, incorporate techniques of jumping, scaling, leaping, acrobatics, and climbing to achieve their goals of reaching a location in their space. It is as much about the journey, as it is the the destination for these 'free runners'.

Focus is imminent and critical to athletic or business success. By being specific in your goals, you set your goals with clarity, precision and purpose. By being frivolous with your goals and approaches, your results may elude you. By training mostly on trails, you may risk compromising your hard-spent efforts on disappointing results on a road-race. 

Saying 'I want to qualify for the Boston Marathon' and 'I want to run a sub-4 hour marathon' may be far apart, unless both are aligned as similar or exact goals. Intermediate goals, and achievements stoke our motivation and sense of purpose. Certainly, one has to be realistic with one's goals and not set a over-arching goals which may require more time, and dedicated effort. If we set ourselves up for failure, we may be distraught, disappointed, and become doubtful about ourself.

Focus is about keeping your eyes (and sense-ability) on the 'prize'. You can focus on one thing at a time. Multi-tasking create distractions, and may deviate you from your goals. Plan for a few things, set specific goals, and a reasonable timeline and success may be within our distant reach. Never distant yourself too far from your goals and potential achievements.

Well-intentioned people who offer advice may sabotage you on your goals, if they, too, have specific goals themselves. A trail-runner may not be the best source of advice if you intend to run a fast, flat, road race. They are more useful in your goals of running an off-road race, or a trail-based ultra-marathon.

Leadership Lessons: Set long- and short-term goals. Commit to a plan of action. Back these goals up with alternatives, if you miss a few of them. There are no failures, only results and outcomes. Look farther as well as nearer - re-focus and set your sights on your dreams and goals.

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