—My wife found this article the other day and I thought it was great. Enjoy!—

Learning to focus on ONE THING is quite possibly one of the best things you can do to invest in yourself. This is probably one of THE MOST overlooked areas of self improvement.

You would think focusing on one thing is easy to do, but it’s actually pretty hard.
To illustrate my point of how hard it is for people to focus, let’s focus on one of the things that a majority of people would like to accomplish:

Make substantial income.
The ways to make substantial income are endless. Here are just a few examples.

Opening your own business
Selling merchandise on Ebay
Flipping houses
Buying apartments to create passive cash flow
Investing in the stock market
Network marketing
FOREX
Writing a bestseller book
Becoming a famous actor/actress
Getting a high paying job

We are constantly bombarded by ways in which to make substantial income whether through word of mouth, TV, radio, Internet, or by looking at other people who have made substantial income.

To illustrate: the typical John Smith hears the rave on how real estate is the way to go. He buys the books, goes to the seminars, tries a few deals out that doesn’t do too well, and then tosses his hands up in the air and decides real estate is not for him and it’s not the way to go.

Now he hears the market is hot, so he calls up his broker for stock tips, reads Buffet’s books, subscribes to magazines. After buying and selling a few stocks, he realizes it’s not for him.

Now he hears people becoming millionaires on Ebay so he decides to do that. Contacts a few wholesalers, sets up a store, sells some items, but the business doesn’t really take off. Same result. Why is John Smith experiencing the same results of not creating substantial income over and over again?

It all comes back to lack of focus.

Let’s look back at some of the people who have learned how to harness the power of focus. Warren Buffet, when you hear his name, you think investing. Donald Trump, real estate. Thomas Edison, inventions. Tom Cruise, acting. Jay Leno, comedy.

The pattern here is that all these people have chosen to focus on one subject and to keep at it.

Google prided itself on being THE search engine. It now has ventures in pay per click advertising, video search, Google Earth, Froogle, etc. By establishing itself first in one venture, it was able to launch several other ventures without having to go through the monumental effort of establishing itself again.

Some people might say Donald Trump makes substantial income via book writing and TV shows too. But that’s AFTER the fact that he made it big by focusing on real estate.

You will find that if you focus on one single subject and excel at it, many other doors will begin to open for you.

That last sentence is very important so I will reiterate it again.

You will find that if you focus on one single subject and excel at it, many other doors will begin to open for you.

Let me give you an example that will hopefully illustrate the power of focusing on one subject.

Focusing on one subject is analogous to building your own staircase.

The longer you keep focus on a subject, the more stairs you can build.

Let’s say you keep focusing on a subject by reading about it, asking people about it, practicing it, whatever it is, so long as you’re focused on that one subject. You will soon have focused enough on learning that subject that you effectively built your first stair.

Now you get to stand on that stair and look around.

You’ll probably see things you’ve never seen before when you were at ground level.

You’ll probably see things from a different perspective than when you saw them on ground level.

Now that you’re on higher ground, you’ll have access to things you never had before because they were previously out of reach.

Other people may be able to give you a helping hand on their respectively built staircases, since you are now within reach because of your newfound height.

Keep focusing again on the same subject, and now you’re be able to build another stair and another stair, probably more faster than before as now you have access to resources to help you build faster that you previously did not have. As you climb higher and higher with each step you build, you will find more and more opportunities at your disposal.

Now let’s say you don’t focus and skip from subject to subject. It’s the same as you building half a step and destroying it. Then building another step halfway and then destroying it.

You’re always going to stay at ground level. You’re always going to stay at ground level. No, that’s not a typo.

By focusing on one subject, you will start to capitalize on all the experience and knowledge you gain from it. And once you master that subject, you will have built stairs that will take you to heights that you’ve never been before and opportunities that would have never been available to you at ground level.

Let’s use another example to illustrate.

John Smith loves to play tennis. He’s not good, but he loves to play. So he practices, day and night. Gets lessons. Reads books. Watches professional players. Asks for help. Plays pickup games. Enters tournaments.

Now he’s at a pretty good level. He can now teach neighborhood kids for money. He can enter tournaments and win prizes. He can play professionally. He can write a book. He can organize teams at the local park, and be an instructor there. He can publish beginner videos. The possibilities are endless. All because he decided to focus on one subject and to master it.

That’s the power of focus.

However, in order to fully utilize the power of focus you must choose a subject that you love to immerse yourself in. If you abhor Shakespeare, no matter how hard you try to focus, you’re not going to focus and master it.

For most people, choosing that subject is the hardest part. Once the right subject is chosen, mastering it follows easily. If you don’t choose the right subject, mastering it will prove to be difficult. That’s why it’s so important to find what you love to do. If you haven’t already read my essay on how to find what you love, please do so here.

So let’s say you found the subject you want to focus on.

I guarantee your mind will start to stray.

It’s easy to stray with all the distractions we have today. Internet, TV, magazines, cell phones, etc. What we don’t realize is that these distractions can lead off on tangents that will steal our focusing power. We may have chosen tennis to be our subject of focus, but we see the World Cup playing on TV and decide to switch to soccer. No. We must stay focused on the subject at hand.

Above my computer on my desk, I have a quote printed out in big bold letters that reads “STAY FOCUSED ON THE SUBJECT AT HAND”. I then have another quote printed under it that I think sums up the gist of this article.

“Do not scatter your powers. Engage in one kind of business only, and stick to it faithfully until you succeed, or until your experience shows that you should abandon it. A constant hammering on one nail will generally drive it home at last, so that it can be clinched. When a man’s undivided attention is centered on one object, his mind will constantly be suggesting improvements of value, which would escape him if his brain was occupied by a dozen different subjects at once.” – Barnum & Bailey.

Choose the subject you wish to focus upon wisely and then focus upon it, and only it. Do not stray and you will find a myriad of opportunities that will come about due to your constant focus.

[Stay focused] [Stay focused] [Stay focused] [Stay focused] [Stay focused] [Stay focused]

If you are ever tempted to stray, remember the staircase you are building.
Invest in yourself and make it happen.
By: Brian Kim – July 19, 2006

Can you really work from home and be as successful as you’d like to be? Are there any Home Based Businesses out there that can produce results? Are the promises and the advertisements stating the dream lifestyle and amazing income fluff or are there success stories? I guess the real questions is: Can the average person have the same results?

Now before I answer that question, let me dish out some statistics. It is fact that 80% of all businesses fail before their 3rd year in business, most millionaires have gone bankrupt or failed in different business ventures several times before experiencing success, the average income in most MLM structured home based businesses is less than $5k a year.

So can average people have all out massive success in a home based business? No! Average people can’t have much success in anything and I will tell you why, but first let me share with you the unwritten meaning of success. It means to excel, reach goals, stand out, accomplish dreams, create a fortune, experience results and all in all reach your desired outcome. How then, if you are average, meaning like everyone else, can you ever have more success than those who are also average. You must be different. You can’t be average and excel in a home based business or in any business for that matter. You must first learn to stop thinking like an average thinker, and to start thinking like a bug thinker, or an Entrepreneur.

The reason I say this is because there are thousands of people starting a Home Based Business everyday! Every single day! Now what is going to separate you from them? What are you going to do differently that will ensure your success? Here it is:

1. Direct Sales! Don’t waste your time or money on an MLM.
2. Find a Home Based Business with a system to follow and follow it to the “T”. System = success.
3. Find a mentor who is having success and get started with them.
4. Do what your mentor tells you to do and call them frequently.
5. Treat your home based business like a business, not a hobby. If you ever want to succeed then you must take more pride in your business than you do your job. Doing the bare minimum will not cut it!
6. You must be creative. No one will do it for you. Think of new ideas, “be your business” and do something original.
7. Play full out!! I cannot emphasize this enough. Mediocre and average effort will bring mediocre and average results. Play full out for all out massive success.

So many people just don’t realize that they can actually make more money, have more time, and spend more time with their family by starting a home based business. Average thinking people who have failed have clogged forums with negativity have distorted the true potential of a Home Based Business. While they have been doing so, so many people have been building fortunes and living dreams.

Direct Sales is one of the most lucrative industries in the world. People are literally making their prior annual salary in one single month. Why? Because they are not average. They are Entrepreneur…and there is a huge difference.

One of the simplest aspects of becoming successful in any endeavor is a two word phrase, “Never Quit!” I can still remember back to the glory days of High School sports and one phrase still rings crystal clear in my mind. It came from my coach during the first few weeks of practice and it went something like this, “What part of never quit don’t you understand? The never or the quit! If you want to quit, you don’t deserve to be on this team!” What an effect that has had on me in everything I have pursued. It is as simple as it sounds! The “Quitter” never wins.

I believe the underlying reason so many people quit at so many things is because it is easy. When the road gets a little rough, the wind picks up a little, the waves toss you to and fro, just throw up your hands and quit. Than you don’t have to think about it anymore. It’s over. Move on! You have all probably heard the common phrase, “Great things come with great sacrifice!” That is a principle. Never expect to get something for nothing, but expect the something. Never expect to get the free ride, but expect the ride. Life is all about the journey, and success is achieved by going through that journey. Success is truly not yours unless you create it yourself. Never expect others to make it happen for you.

If you have ever studied an ant or tortured ants like I did as a boy, then you know this simple principle of “Never Quit!” What does an ant do when you place your foot right in front of its path? Does it stop short of your foot, sigh a little then turn around and go home? No! That ant will go around, under, over or through, if necessary, and if you really tick it off, it will bite you and make you move! That is determination and that is the never quit mentality that successful people possess.

So what separates those who succeed from those who do not? What is the big difference there? Let me illustrate a few examples. One couple, when starting a Home Based Business with a large initial investment, ran into issues with finding the funding. Instead of quitting right then and there, when things looked hopeless, they found a way. They came up with the funds. They simply make a decision to never quit and they are now making more every month than they initially invested. Another couple, with zero computer experience, was having issues with advertising their business properly on the internet. Instead of letting frustration set in from the fear of the unknown, they figured it out. They were solution focused and plowed right through their obstacle and now have more inquiries than they can handle.

When it call comes down to it, the reason people become successful is because they start to finish. They don’t start to quit! The only way to fail is to quit! Quit, and you deserve to fail. Never quit, and you deserve all the wealth, prosperity and abundance that is truly yours.

What are 10 two letter words that make up one of the most powerful lessons one can learn in this lifetime? It goes along with the saying, “If you want something done right, do it yourself!” The 10 two letter words are: If it is to be, it is up to me! What a simple but profound concept one can learn from such simple words.

If it is to be, it is up to me.

If it is to be….if what is to be? That is the great part, you can fill in the blank here. If _____ is to be then you have chosen for it to be and will then bring it into existence. The blank, the “it” is the part of this statement which allows you to become a creator. It allows you to bring into existence, or in your life, that which has not been there before. This is where you dreams become realities and your goals become achievable. If becoming a millionaire is to be, it is up to me. If having the best Christmas ever is to be, it is up to me. If success is to be, it is up to me!

I always speak of a 97% and a 3%. The 97% of the worlds population believe in a different saying than this one. Even though most may agree with this 10 two letter word phrase, they don’t really believe it or apply it. The 97% really believe in a phrase that goes something like this: If it is to be, who is going to give it to me…or….If it is to be, the government will provide it for me….or….If it is to be, it is free! I could go on and on.

Now the other 3% know the true meaning to this phrase and apply it. If there is anything that happens in their lives, it is because they made it happen. They thought it up, they set some goals, and they took consistent action in making sure that it happened. Do they quit when the road gets a little rough? No! Do they listen to the nay-sayers and the wanna-be’s? No! Are they deterred by the masses opinions or the bandwagoners? No!

There is a simple theme common among most people who have achieved great success. One of the best times to achieve the greatest success, is in the midst of trial and hardship and when everyone else says not to do it, most likely, that is when you should do it. We know where most people in this world stand financially. So what most people say, is not what should be followed. Leaders know this and apply it well.

I suppose, for purposes of this last paragraph, I will change it to a 9 two letter word phrase with one three letter word. “If it is to be, it is up to YOU!”

“All the so-called ‘secrets of success’ will not work unless you do.” This is a quote by an unknown author that hit the nail head on. So many people desire success yet they wait for it to slap them in the face. We’ve all heard of the old saying, “Nobody ever drowned in their own sweat!” We aren’t saved by our faith alone, but by our “Works” also. Basically, if you want something done, you’d better get your butt up and do it. The Lord worked for 6 days and then he rested on the seventh. There is much to learn from all this. Basically success, fortunes and dreams aren’t created by themselves. They are created by work.

Hard work always pays off

Now, there are different kinds of work. Hard work is not defined by how much you sweat or how many ditches you can dig. Work is defined by your productivity. “You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.” ~Jim Rohn

For me to make $1000 by working 10 hour days for a week straight is work alright, but is it productive work? If I were your employer, I would say yes! If I were the employee, I would say no! You see, there is something that ants understand very well. They understand the power of a small word called “leverage!” Can a single ant feed an entire colony? Do a few ants collect the food while the rest hang out with the queen? No! So, think about who you’d like to be in this scenario. Do you want to be the worker ant or the queen? The worker has only leveraged his own efforts. True success comes when you can figure out how to leverage your time with the efforts of others and at the same time, adding value for everyone involved.

There are only 24 hours in a day. We all get those same 24 hours right? So, whether you get rich or whether you get broke is a measure of what you have done with your 24 hours. Success, the same as failure, doesn’t happen overnight or in one swift decision. It happens by one small act or failure to act, duplicated over and over, for a period of time! Work requires action rather than sweat. Work requires productivity rather than the ability to just stay busy. Work requires will and ambition rather than complaining and remorse. If success didn’t involve work, I think almost everyone would be doing it! Then again, there are those who still would not do it because thinking can be work.

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. Understand that the first philosophy of the ant is: Hard work always pays off. In the words of an previous mentor of mine, “The field is white, all ready to harvest, so just forget yourself and go to work!”

The title of this article pretty much sums the entire thing up! Expectations will kill your business and your momentum. What do I mean by expectations? When I say expectations, I am speaking of all the little thoughts you have in your mind of what might be expected of you. If you are a leader in your industry, you might be expected to perform better than all of your competition. If you hang around wealthy people you assume that you are expected to be wealthy as well.

Always trying to live up to someone’s expectations will kill your motivation, it will kill your self-confidence, and it will kill your income, because you will always feel you are not good enough, or that you don’t measure up. Now, if you are always having those feelings, what happens to your self-esteem? What happens to your motivation? It all plummets and you’re left feeling like you don’t measure up to anyone around you.

Now, I have seen this turn into, for use of an analogy, a snowball effect. Once you feel you don’t measure up to all the expectations everyone has put onto you, at least you think they have, where does it stop? Pretty soon you feel you don’t fit in with anyone and become a little disoriented and lost. It can even go to the point where you will start telling little white lies to cover your lack of measuring up to this fiction of an expectation. It will be so subtle that you won’t even realize it is happening. Believe me, I speak from personal experience. I have been there and only realized it when someone spoke these same words to me.

My advice: Care less about expectation! Who cares what others think about you and what you are doing. Who cares about what others are expecting you to do. Just do what you want to do regardless of the circumstances. Everything is your choice! To have someone’s expectation floating over your head 24/7 will drive you mad. This is a another side of being a victim of outside circumstance. Rather than physical things effecting how you operate, this is all mental. The same concept applies though, how you operate should not be effected by anything outside of your own mind. And expectation is not you or what you want to be, it was portrayed onto you.

In a way you must be a little bit of a rebel to live this principle. It is about being the leader. It is about creating your own expectations of yourself, and being true to that. Don’t worry about others, their views of you or their results in life. That doesn’t matter when it comes to you. The only thing that matters is what matters to you!

So, stop settling for and striving for what others would like to see you do. Just start living and do what you want to do!