Your Success Depends On How Long You Can Focus On One Thing For A Long Time

When was the last time you focused on a single activity for sixty minutes straight?

Success in any endeavor depends on a singular focus in the same direction. I’ve been working on the same project - day in and day out - for over a year. And only now am I starting to gain serious traction.

The best entrepreneurs in the world can bring a singular focus to projects that take decades. Steve Jobs wanted to put a computer in your pocket. Jeff Bezos wanted to use the internet to sell books. Elon Musk is going to Mars.

What are you going to do?

When You Multi-Task, You Give Everyone Else An Advantage.

Almost everyone suffers from multi-tasking. There are so many things vying for your attention - emails, messages, group chats, social media notifications, work meetings - that you stop trying to carve out time for deep work and just skim the surface to save time. And you’re paying a terrible price for it.

Here’s Charlie Munger talking about this at the 2015 Daily Journal Annual Meeting:

“When I want to read something I can tune everything else out… I think people who multi-task pay a huge price. They think they are extra productive, and I think when you multi-task so much you don’t have time to think deeply about anything. You are giving the world an advantage you shouldn’t. Practically everybody is drifting into that mistake. Concentrate hard on something that’s important. I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I did because I have a long attention span.”

The price of freedom is control of your attention.

The longer you can focus, the deeper you can go. And no matter what field you’re in, it’s better to go deep and narrow than wide and shallow. It’s about following your innate curiosity wherever it leads, without getting distracted along the way. That’s where you’ll find success.

To Focus Longer, Train Your Mind.

Being present is a superpower. If you can live your life moment by moment, without your mind wandering to the future or reliving the past, you’ll be happier and more focused.

Here’s Naval Ravikant talking about this in The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant:

“Right now as we’re talking, I’d rather dedicate myself to being completely lost in the conversation and to being 100 percent focused on this as opposed to thinking about ‘Oh, when I brushed my teeth, did I do it the right way?’ The ability to singularly focus is related to the ability to lose yourself and be present, happy, and (ironically) more effective.”

Meditation is a tool that can help sharpen your focus. When you meditate, you do nothing more than watch your mind as it wanders and bring it back to the present moment. To the next breath. Over and over again.

Gradually, this becomes a habit. As your mind spends more time in the present and less time distracted by thoughts popping into your head, you’ll be able to focus longer and finish what you start.

Choose A Single Overarching Goal, Then Say No To Everything Else.

Life is about choices. Pick one or two things that are hard enough and exciting enough to dedicate yourself to for a decade, and then put on tunnel vision.

If you start down that path, you will find that the world opens up to you in incredible ways. Derek Sivers talks about this in his book, How To Live:

“The English word ‘decide’ comes from Latin ‘to cut off.’ Choose one and cut off other options… When you commit to one outcome, you’re united and sharply focused. When you sacrifice your alternate selves, your remaining self has amazing power. Ignore other aspects of your life. Let go of every unnecessary obligation. Each one seems small, but together, they’ll drain your soul. Focus your attention on the few things you’re committed to, and nothing else.”

Pick an overarching goal, and then stay focused. As Munger says: “A majority of life’s errors are caused by forgetting what one is really trying to do.”

Don’t forget what you want, and don’t get drawn into other people’s priorities that you don’t care about.

To Be Great, You Have To Be A Little Crazy.

Balance isn’t the goal. You can’t be too crazy or too emotional because that will destroy you. But you have to be a bit obsessive - a little bonkers to go after things only you can imagine and only you can see.

Here’s Derek Sivers again from How To Live:

“Think of the legendary achievers: the geniuses, brilliant artists, record-breaking athletes, or self-made billionaires. Do you think those people were well-balanced? Of course not. They focused all their energy only on one thing. That’s why they were great. Pursue your mission at the expense of everything else.”

I know I can be obsessive. But I’ve focused that obsession in one direction: writing and producing film and TV.

Take what makes you a little crazy and focus it on a productive skill. And then don’t stop.

Thanks for reading.

If You Want More Ideas Like This, Follow Me On Twitter And Subscribe To My Newsletter:

—

ARTICLE SOURCES

Jorgenson, Eric. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness. Magrathea Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Derek Sivers. How to Live. Hit Media. Kindle Edition.