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Tip 104 – Build Your Foundation
My biggest issue has always been my lack of focus, so one of my New Year’s resolutions is to step back in so many places, particularly my businesses, to assure I have the solid footing and grounding I need. Yoga is a nice proxy for life. As I do yoga and thoughts of the day race through my mind, I begin to stagger and cannot keep my balance… To get complete, future tips of the week by e-mail, click here to subscribe. Also, feel free to join the conversation around this tip by posting a comment below.
Posted by Keith Ferrazzi on January 16, 2008 | Permalink
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Comments
Very profound! This is one of my biggest issues. I tend to get sidetracked with lots of new ideas. I like the idea of solid grounding. Thanks Keith.
Malcolm O. Munro
http://www.careerfitnesscoach.com
Posted by: Malcolm Munro | Jan 16, 2008 11:27:33 AM
You inspired us at the Yale Club several years ago --my life and career changed direction with your thoughts on focus! Thank you, once again, Keith. And I featured Never Eat Alone on my blog to help your words inspire others!
Posted by: Rita Watson | Jan 16, 2008 11:34:52 AM
My business exploded several years ago when I read about this concept in "Think and Grow Rich". Once I read about it there, I noticed that most successful people mention it in their books.
Posted by: Joe | Jan 16, 2008 11:38:36 AM
Oh so true and oh so very timely.
Thanks for the friendly reminder, as my foundation is selling out from under my feet this month, while simultaneously working on several other ventures...
Thanks again and warm regards.
Posted by: Jedi Wright | Jan 16, 2008 11:40:33 AM
In the midst of a career move, this is exactly what I needed to hear today, Kieth. Thanks for the insight.
Posted by: Nash Ream | Jan 16, 2008 11:44:45 AM
Especially right at the beginning of the year, large aspirations can distract us from our goals and strengths. That's where Goal Post and the Life Coach Tool are keeping me focused on important actions. Thanks, Keith!
Posted by: Ben Schafer | Jan 16, 2008 11:56:15 AM
Keith,
We met at the reunion in Boston in September.
Focus yes, but WHAT to focus on is even more important, which is perhaps your real point.
Each day there is, by definition, only one highest priority task before us. I tell my companies if their employees can focus on priority one each day and, once completed, move immediately to the new priority one, there is no way they will not succeed. They will prevail because their competitors either have not set priorities, confuse them, spend time on what is easier or more fun, or respond to putting out fires on urgent, but not the most important issues. That, my friend, is the number one thing I have learned in business.
Posted by: Donald Hall | Jan 16, 2008 12:06:33 PM
Keith,
We met at the reunion in Boston in September.
Focus yes, but WHAT to focus on is even more important, which is perhaps your real point.
Each day there is, by definition, only one highest priority task before us. I tell my companies if their employees can focus on priority one each day and, once completed, move immediately to the new priority one, there is no way they will not succeed. They will prevail because their competitors either have not set priorities, confuse them, spend time on what is easier or more fun, or respond to putting out fires on urgent, but not the most important issues. That, my friend, is the number one thing I have learned in business.
Posted by: Donald Hall | Jan 16, 2008 12:07:03 PM
as someone starting a new business, this is exactly what i need to keep in mind. there is so much i want to do, i often get sidetracked a get half into many things instead of fully into a few. thanks for the reminder to stay focused on the foundation first!
Posted by: dp | Jan 16, 2008 12:32:54 PM
I am also trying to work on focus. Many times I find myself becoming really overwhelmed with all of my "to-dos" that rattle around in my head. I find the comparison to Yoga most insightful and plan on using this to get my self back on track when I'm feeling frazzled. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Wendy Faust | Jan 16, 2008 12:38:47 PM
Being a small business owner/entrepreneur, I have to wear many hats. This is where your advice breaks down for me. I do see the importance of focusing when it comes to what kind of clients I cultivate, but other than that . . .
Posted by: Marlena Corcoran | Jan 16, 2008 12:48:42 PM
Thanks a lot for your advice. I am a first year Business student and I have feeling that these tips are extremely useful.
p.s. It is really cool that you met Richard Branson. I am currently reading his autobiography and I can he really relate to him because he also has dyslexia and had to also overcome it(better said to work with it). I am hoping to meet him some day to.
kind regards,
Ben
Posted by: Ben | Jan 16, 2008 1:03:51 PM
Thanks a lot for your advice. I am a first year Business student and I have feeling that these tips are extremely useful.
p.s. It is really cool that you met Richard Branson. I am currently reading his autobiography and I can he really relate to him because he also has dyslexia and had to also overcome it(better said to work with it). I am hoping to meet him some day to.
kind regards,
Ben
Posted by: Ben | Jan 16, 2008 1:04:31 PM
Thanks a lot for your advice. I am a first year Business student and I have feeling that these tips are extremely useful.
p.s. It is really cool that you met Richard Branson. I am currently reading his autobiography and I can he really relate to him because he also has dyslexia and had to also overcome it(better said to work with it). I am hoping to meet him some day to.
kind regards,
Ben
Posted by: Ben | Jan 16, 2008 1:04:58 PM
Sort of like trying to take a great photo without a tripod...faith, family, and finances are the three legs I need for stability, and then I can focus.
Thanks Keith...perfect timing.
Stephen Miller
ShareMyHeart.com
Posted by: Stephen Miller | Jan 16, 2008 1:12:06 PM
Timely advice. This time of year we all tend to plan out the next 12 months and we can easily start the year scattering our efforts. You can set a goal such as 'reading a new business book every week' or 'excercising more often' but to really make the goals worth having - we need to lock them into a committed time and turn that into a scheduled event DAILY. I believe in focus within chunks of my day.
JR Fent
Technical Recruiter
www.anthemrecruiting.com
Posted by: JR Fent | Jan 16, 2008 1:51:20 PM
Lots of thoughts about focus. To me, focus is what you are best at & then you go do it!
I noticed that not many people mentioned fun in their posts, being alive is fun, isn't it?
Or maybe, you & others, are dead & in disguise!
Even treat the mundane as focus. Fun is just fun! Regards, mjt
Posted by: Marilyn J. Tellez, M.A | Jan 16, 2008 3:11:48 PM
I read your book and I'm trying what you described in your book as networking, with my twist so it will work in today's Asian society. Thanks Keith for your tip Keith.
- Richard
Posted by: Richard Choi | Jan 16, 2008 4:17:24 PM
I remember reading from some of 'Dali Lama's' readings that has ALWAYS helped me.........I use it all the time....He said, and I quote, "Focus on the task at hand." I remember this each and every time my mind wanders..........and it's amazing how that that keeps me in focus! (Smile!)
Posted by: lbolin | Jan 16, 2008 4:52:54 PM
It amazes me the people I advise that make such high incomes, but don't have the foundation laid like Branson referenced. One slip and they're in a heap of trouble. Great point Keith! If every business owner took this approach, we'd have such healthy, flourishing businesses instead of the failure rates that exist, because they would grow out of a position of strength instead of risk.
Posted by: Joshua Long | Jan 16, 2008 5:41:55 PM
Yow Keith!! :D
I do something every morning, it's recomanded by Brian Tracy, and I find it very very useful to keep me focused on my goals.
It's WRITING YOUR CURRENT GOALS EVERY MORNING. It's silly but it keeps you 'ON' the whole day.
Also, I think you're a "River" kind of guy. It means that you like to go with the flow and achieve toward your objectives.
The other type is "Goals" people, like me. It's the kind who can do NOTHING :D without a clear goal in mind. (more on this on Earl Nightingale's "The Strangest Secret")
Also, I got focused using "Time Of Your Life" by A.Robbins... that program is a new way to adress the way you operate your life.. and it's not about balance ;) , it's about achievement and LifeMastery...
Good Luck To Ya
Posted by: Hicham | Jan 17, 2008 12:10:53 AM
Keith, I remember as a child being told "One must sometimes stop - to move forward." I didn't realize until my later years what that really meant. Thanks for the timely reminder.
Carl Covington
MA/Design
American Express
Posted by: Carl | Jan 17, 2008 7:28:29 AM
Only Yoga I know is the one where you lay flat on the floor and focus all negative engrey outward breathing slow. Till the mind is calm. Thanks for the tip. Best Regards, Sarah
Posted by: Sarah | Jan 18, 2008 10:50:08 AM
Yes, so right! Focus is my challenge as well and I have been working on keeping my mind attended to complete the ONE thing that I am supposed to be working on, before moving to the next, so that I achieve my goals. It's hard! I want to multi-task as my mind keeps jumping to the other things I want to do. But, I have found that doesn't get things done---just a lot of things left to finish. Thank you for the reminder and for Richard Branson's sage advice.
Posted by: Nadine Rothermel | Jan 19, 2008 7:02:34 AM
Diversity is death... that is a saying that I heard once at a conference a few months ago. lack of Focus is dangerous... It got me to thinking about a professor I knew in Rome. I can't remember her name (which is probably a good thing) but I knew that she taught philosophy in English to a few English speaking students in town. I never had her myself as a teacher, but met her in a coffee bar in one of the universities I attended in Rome.
I was startled to hear how badly she spoke English- I knew she taught in English, and as I tried to strike up a conversation with her, her english just seemed to get worse and worse. Her accent wasn't quite Italian, and it wasn't quite German, nor could you say it was Spanish or French. I couldn't figure this lady out really, even though her blond hair gave her away as something of the Teutonic variety.
I asked her if it would be better that we spoke in Italian, as I figured maybe since she lived in town, her Italian would be better than her English. Just about anything would have been better than her English. So we switched gears into Italian, and I was started to find that her Italian was just as bad as her English. Finally, we switched into some broken Spanish (my Spanish was rusty at this point) and again, I was amazed to find that I spoke better Spanish than she did!
It turns out that she spoke 8 lanuages! And none of them well! I asked where she was from and she said Germany, but that her German wasn't even all that good. I asked her what she spoke well, and she replied that English and Italian were her two best languages. She had apparently moved around a lot as a kid, and picked up a bit of everything as she moved.
I guess we can all be like that at times- Jack of all trades, master of none. But it is an expectation in our culture that we multitask- that we keep as many plates spinning as we possibly can without letting any of them fall. And there are plenty of people who are waiting for our plates to fall! The expectation is that we are supposed to be good at everything we do- be good soccer moms and executives- be good dads and football coaches- be members of the church and work and community- have a thousand friends who we write thousands of Christmas cards to. It can be maddening I tell ya!
But I often think of that professor in Rome- she couldn't really speak any language well, and our conversation turned into a mismash of English, Spanish, and Italian. If we lose our focus, we will certainly be destroyed, simply because we can't keep all those plates spinning at once.
I once had a similar experience- I once took 22 credit hours one semester in college- studying 3 lanuages (Latin, Greek, and Spanish) in addition to all the philosophy credits I was expected to take. I didn't learn any of those languages well, and I would have to say that by the end of the semester it was even hard to get my English straight! (I remember my friend jabbing me with a friendly insult, and all I could do was stare at him, because no coherent English words were going to come out.)
If we lose our focus and diversify our life so much that we spread ourselves thin, all we are going to be able to do is to stare at someone when they need a response. The same is true in our professional occupation as well- McDonald's used to have good hamburgers, until they spread out into salads and chicken and cookies and all the other things that they do. If they focused on being the number one hamburger maker, maybe it wouldn't turn my stomach so bad when someone suggests it as a nice pit stop on a trip.
We can simply keep pulling the lever and hope for a jackpot- the reason slot machines work is because it is hard to take three diverse things and line them up!
So the solution is that we need to streamline our lives a little- understand what is important to us so that we can be a good focused person, and help the people around us. That means saying "NO" sometimes- that means drawing and keeping our boundaries with people and with ourselves. It means cutting out the fat and not sticking too many "irons in the fire."
There are five areas of our life that we need to maintain- Spiritual, Intellectual, Physical, Professional, and Social. Those are the five necessary components to being a happy person, and yet we have to prioritize even those areas. Setting short term easily attainable goals in each of these areas, and cutting out the fat when necessary will make us a well rounded person. Even then, there are times in which one of these will take president over the others. We have to make sure that we are maintaining a balance in all of our lives.
Think of it like food- when I get a plate of food I might have a piece of meat, a potato, and a vegitable. Rarely do I try and eat all three at once- I like to enjoy the individual flavor of each- to mix them takes away from the flavor of each part of the meal. In the end we have to know where to quit and when to say yes.
If we stop trying to spin 10 plates, it may be easier to spin 5- now we just have to decide which plates to stop from spinning.
Joshua Wagner
Posted by: Joshua Wagner | Jan 21, 2008 3:45:39 PM
Hi Keith! I read your book and loved it! Just the title itself says so much. Starting the year with a profound focus can always ensure a kick in the right direction. Having a plan and setting your goals are a great way to start the year... Good luck!
Posted by: Karla Yee | Feb 5, 2008 5:42:34 PM
