I'm doing what I think I was put on this earth to do. And I'm really grateful to have something that I'm passionate about and that I think is profoundly important.
Marian Wright Edelman
One way I knew my nephew, KB, was born with Entretude was because he instinctively knew how to focus on his future. He committed, in writing, that one day he would be a successful composer, performer and producer. He then shared that vision with anyone who would listen and everyone who could advance his career. Writing down, reading and sharing his goals kept him focused every day. It kept him energized to achieve his goals and it gave him allies and opportunities that he would have missed had he not been so focused.
When KB signed his recording contract and began writing and performing hit after hit, there were many distractions, many ways to get offtrack and be consumed by his own success. By clearly and publicly committing to his goal to be a successful composer, performer and producer he was better able to keep his eyes on the prize, even in the face of adversity and failure—and both happened.
When his fourth album failed to chart, he was dropped from his record label and written off as a “once was” by most of the music industry. But because he knew his strengths and skills, had defined his own success, committed to it and was focused on it, he knew that his brief popularity as a performer was not the beginning and the end of his career. It just signaled that is was time for a change in strategy.
Writing Your Focus Statement
You can do the same thing by using what you are good at, what you do well and the way you want to work to write your focus statement. It could be: I will create opportunities for personal and professional success in all parts of my life using (what you are good at) to (what you do well) in (work the way I work best).
Here are a couple of examples:
· I will create opportunities for personal and professional success in all parts of my life using my creativity, curiosity and insight to become a freelance writer.
· I will create opportunities for personal and professional success in all parts of my life using my ability to synthesize ideas, information and concepts to articulate these ideas and insights to groups and individuals in my own motivational training business.
Craft your statement in a way that works best for you. Make sure it clearly states your goal and the strengths and skills you will use to reach that goal as well as the environment in which you will accomplish the goal. Read, remember and think about your Focus Statement every day. It’s your first thought when an opportunity comes to you. It is your first thought when you see a chance to create a new opportunity. Only the opportunities that match what you are good at, what you do well and the way you want to work (strengths, skills and style) are true opportunities for you. Everything else is a distraction. When you’ve truly articulated your goals in your Focus Statement, when you’re committed to it and you use it every day, then you will soon realize that the deal of a lifetime actually does come once a day, because now you’ll recognize each and every opportunity that is right for you.
Comments