4 Key Principles to Keep on Track and Sustain Focus Coming up with the idea is the easy part. An entrepreneur needs to carry through on delivering the product or service.
By Meiko Patton Edited by Dan Bova
Our biggest sale — Get unlimited access to Entrepreneur.com at an unbeatable price. Use code SAVE50 at checkout.*
Claim Offer*Offer only available to new subscribers
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
For most entrepreneurs, coming up with a brilliant, executable idea is easy. The hard part is staying focused on it long enough to actually see it through to fruition.
Sound familiar?
That's why the power of focus is so crucial. I like the definition I heard podcaster John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire give, using every letter of the word focus: "Follow one course until success."
So what's one thing that you want to really accomplish this year? I challenge you to focus on it until you complete it. Don't be distracted by the many shiny objects that will inevitably pop up throughout your journey to finish what you've started.
Here are four principles to help keep you on track:
Related: 5 Ways to Sustain a Long-Term Career Focus
1. Focus on your priorities.
Do first things first. Map out your day the night before. If you don't have a clear goal for your day, you will pilfer your time and not accomplish what you set out to do.
Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said, "Lack of direction, not lack of time is the problem. We all have 24 hours in a day." Focus on the benefits of sticking to your set course.
2. Focus on the end results.
If the one goal you set will take the entire year to accomplish, don't get tired half way and give up. Keep reminding yourself why achieving this goal will make your life better.
"Whatever your goal for this year, you can get there -- if you're willing to do the work," Oprah wrote in her magazine.
Related: 11 Ways to Avoid Distractions and Stay Focused
3. Focus on the present.
Zig Ziglar also said, "Yesterday ended last night. Today is a brand new day and it's yours."
Even if you get off track from pursuing your goal, remember that tomorrow is another day.
Don't get stuck on the trivial or mundane -- or yesterday. Jump back on the horse and give things your best shot the next day. Focus on the positive things that you can do in the future, not on what you failed to do yesterday.
4. Focus on strengths.
Everyone has some things he or she is good as well as things he or she is not so good at. Make sure the goal you set is something you can realistically accomplish and preferably something you are good at or can become proficient in over time.
Mozart, Beethoven and other musical geniuses developed their skills through practice and sheer dedication to their craft.
If you want to achieve similar results, you must have laserlike focus.
In the book, The Power of Focus, authors Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt said the #1 reason preventing people from getting what they want is a lack of focus. Conversely, people who focus on what they want, prosper.
Will you prosper this year?
The answer will lie in where you put your focus.
