Less is More in 2017

Getting on a 50-Year Success Journey

“The champion is an average athlete with laser like focus”

—Bruce Lee

They have all started. Nearly everywhere you turn, someone is talking about goals, goals and more goals. It is as if goals are the silver bullet to success. I beg to differ though. You see, before you get some goals, you need to have some “go”. Where are you going generally?

A man who sets out to be a “millionaire” in my opinion misses the essence of life if that goal is the end in itself. My point is that being a millionaire as a goal gives you myriads of options to get there. Which one shall you take? One option? Perhaps two or three? Is there a guarantee that you will get there?

A simple study of any millionaire around you will tell you that that “goal” was not the motivation of their life. Perhaps at the back of their minds, they wanted to be financially free and wealthy. However, how each of them got there, in my opinion was totally different and unique one from another…yet paradoxically they got there the same way.

Each of these people focused on something. Singularity of purpose. Look at Oprah. It is the same story. Look at Steve Jobs, or Elon Musk, or Donald Trump or even Bill Gates. Being a millionaire was the side effect of what they pursued passionately. It seldom was the goal. I challenge you to name one millionaire who has sustained their financial status over years that set out to just be a millionaire.

So the people who are singing about goals and resolutions in January will give you lessons upon lessons on how many goals you need to set. Believe me, it is better than no activity. However, it becomes an arduous task to chase after goals if you do not know and are not passionate about what difference you want to make in life and where you are going. It is hard work chasing goal after goal after goal in cycles of 24 hours.

 

However, it is very liberating as it is extremely effective to zero in on one thing only and maximize your time around it. No, not just for 2017, but also for 2018, 2019 and 20120, all the way up to 2067. One thing. Focused day in and out on it. That give you much more result than trying to reach out to everything. I have said elsewhere that it is better to read just one book and implement 75% of what you have learnt than read 24 books and implement nothing. Less is more!

Again, it is Bruce Lee who said the following:

[beautifulquote align=”full” cite=”Bruce Lee”]“I am not afraid of the person who practices 10,000 kicks once. I am however scared of the person who practices one kick 10,000 times!”[/beautifulquote]

I know this advice is not easy to implement even for me. For example, there are several things that I could pursue in 2017. Here is a glimpse of them:

1. Writing & Blogging
2. Ghost Writing
3. Creating a Publishing House
4. Coaching
5. Speaking
6. Building a Social Media Platform
7. Getting employed

All these things are close to my heart and are major possibilities. The question is: How do I make sure that none of them falls through the cracks?

For example, I could focus on Speaking alone and on a daily basis, decide to hone my speaking skills and build an empire out of it. Years from now, I could rightly be known as a Key note speaker. This means that I have to cull my time on all the other activities. It sounds impossible to do and indeed it is the reason why we stay stuck for ages, never making any breakthrough: we never zero in on one thing; we want to do them all in 24 hours.

Well, to hack it, we need to realize that this focus I am talking about is over a long period of time. This is the most liberating aspect of it. This means that you might opt for chronic slow but sure implementation rather than an acute out and out game plan. Whatever the case, we need to make sure that by 3 years after reading this post, we are FOCUSED.

Follow

One

Course

Until

Successful

To get there, the following procedures would be of great help.

1. Learn to be disciplined: Plan, do track review each week.
2. Learn to prioritize: Choose one that you would love to be identified with 50 years from now and prioritize it over the rest. Allocate more time to it.
3. Learn to say “No”: And do not feel sorry saying no.
4. Learn to be Urgent: You are acute on time keeping and you are giving 100% presence when you show up. This applies to all activities.

There is a saying, “Do not put all your eggs in one basket”. Well, what if you did and focused all your energies on that one basket?