So last year was the first time I heard about the book, One Word That Will Change Your Life, by Jon Gordon,‎ Jimmy Page, and‎ Dan Britton. It sounded interesting to me, but truth be told I never got around to reading it or choosing a word. This year I still haven’t read the book yet, the sample is on my kindle, but I picked a word. My word, which I mentioned before is JUMP. You can read about it here How Jumping at Opportunities Can Change EVERYTHING! However, this got me thinking. Words have power and our days are filled with them. But what if we stopped to really ponder some of the words that are out there that are so often used by entrepreneurs and really see how they fit into our success.

So that is what lead me to a theme of sorts for many our Fridays focus blogs this year. I will choose a word, or you can suggest a word and let’s look at it. Let’s open a dialog about that word and what it means to us.

For today I picked FOCUS. It seemed fitting given that this is Friday’s Focus. And it also seemed fitting given that we are in a new year with many possibilities and ideas and having focus can be daunting.

Merriam-Webster offers many definitions for the word focus but let’s focus (I know I couldn’t resist!) One the following;

• A center of activity, attraction, or attention
• A point of concentration
• Directed attention (emphasis)
• A state or condition permitting clear perception or understanding

I say for this let’s take number 4. For me this is the most pertinent to business. Because without this success is a harder climb. But when you are in a state that permits clear perception and understanding your ability to accomplish goals and drive results is exponential increased.

Many coaches talk this time of year about goal setting and planning. None of them, okay none of the good ones, tell you that you should do everything. They tell you to break things down. To focus. So here are the tips on having focus that I will be working on in the coming weeks.

• Keep the list manageable – I’m not going to go overboard on my to do. Guess what I can’t get everything done that was on hold over the holidays in 2 weeks. This is a marathon and I need to pace myself.
• Determine the absolutes on the list and schedule them
• Break things down – split bigger initiatives into workable chunks and schedule them
• Create an upcoming list for those things that are important but not at the top of the list right now.
• Set aside real thinking time – okay so this sounds corny, but I find that January is full of new ideas and you want to do everything. But you should pause and schedule time to reflect on the ideas and where they fit in your overall plan. And do this all year long.
• Have accountability – this is where having an accountability partner can be very helpful. Someone to help you see when you have lost focus.

Okay so now for the part where you the reader come in. Please take a moment to answer these questions in the comments below or on our FB page. Let’s start a real dialog on these words and how they impact us and how we want them to impact us.

• What does focus mean to you?
• How do you keep your focus?