Do you know what you need? What’s necessary for you right now?
I was on a call the other day with another coach. He said he needed a certain number of clients—or a specific amount of money—to come into his business from coaching in the next two weeks. If he couldn’t make that happen, he was going to have to look for a full-time job.
It was very clear what this man needed. It was necessary for him to bring in a particular amount of money, and he wants to do that with coaching clients.
How would that happen? He had to focus on accomplishing that goal and that goal alone.
Focus on What You Need
Most of us don’t know what we need, or we think we need so many things we that we find it difficult to focus on one.
If your attention becomes scattered between priorities, you won’t put enough energy into any of them. As a result, you’ll find it difficult to succeed.
I can’t say that I have this focus issue handled in my life. I struggle with it constantly.
I have so many projects going on at one time. For instance, right now I have three blogs that require posts weekly. I have a book I’m promoting because it was just published. I have a class I’m running, I need to keep up with my Nonfiction Writers’ University, and I’m preparing for a big event in November. Plus, I have the needs of my coaching clients and proposal-editing clients to address as well.
With all this stuff going on, and it becomes almost impossible for me to give any one project my entire focus. And so…none of them become as successful as I’d like.
I’m learning…and cutting things out. And when I can’t, I focus on one project in a block of time.
I know that lack of clarity leads to lack of focus. You must gain clarity about what you need to do most.
Success happens more frequently if you can say, “This is what I’m going to focus on.” Like my coaching colleague, who said, “I have two weeks to do this. All I focus on for two weeks is getting in enough clients to sustain me.”
To gain clarity, figure out what you need. Make a list of one to three necessities. Now you are clear about where to focus your attention.
Prioritize Your Needs
Clarity leads to prioritization. When you know your primary necessities, you can prioritize your attention. You can focus on your priorities.
But pick one priority. After all, priority is meant to be a singular, not a plural, word. What’s you one primary need?
If you need three clients more than a cup of coffee, a new relationship, a new car, or a vacation, you know where to place your attention.
Determine Your Next Action
Now you are ready to take action. What can you do to meet your need?
How are you going to get those three clients? Will you call prospective clients, reach out to connections on LinkedIn, send out an email to your list, or conduct a webinar?
Pick the top one or two activities you think will have the greatest payoff. Focus on completing them. Make them the priority of your focus.
Let’s try another example. You need to lose 20 pounds for health reasons. Break this down: How will you do that—change your eating habits, exercise, cut out fat or sugar? Once you’ve decided, focus on that activity and only that one.
What You Focus On Expands
Think about it. If you need a new car and want to buy a new blue Toyota, you see blue Toyotas everywhere. Why? Because you’re focused on how to get a blue Toyota.
And what you focus on expands.
The more you train your attention on something, the more likely you are to bring it into your life.
Focus on new clients, a trim body, a new home—focus on whatever you need and take action to get it. The action part is important! But your focus on what you need helps you find the energy and desire to take action.
Before you know it, you’ll have met your need.
Take Action
In my new book Creative Visualization for Writers, I write about visualization, focus, creative thought, and the Law of Attraction, and affirmations. But the book also is filled with exercises that help you determine your next action—what you will do.
Once you have clarity about what you need and where you will focus your attention, you must decide what to do next.
A teacher of Kabbalah once told me, “Action is where the action is.” Indeed, without action, nothing moves. That’s how you’re going to create something.
But when you focus your mind on what you need, you take action. Your clarity and focus propel you forward in the physical world.
Do you find that having clarity and focus—as well as taking action—help you meet your needs?
