The Power of Focus

Watching the Olympics the past two weeks, I have been struck by a recurrent theme from the winning athletes: their power of focus. As he swam his way to eight gold metals, Michael Phelps received much speculation from announcers. What were the reasons for his success? Was it the space-engineered suit that he wore? Was it the five hours per day that he spent in the pool preparing for the Olympics? Was it the "fast" water in the pool at the Water Cube? His coach and Michael himself both said that his success was due to his focus. He did whatever it took to maintain it. Prior to his events, he listened to specially-chosen music which helped him focus. He only gave interviews when it fit his schedule. He laid out his schedule and his plan and stuck to it. He said, "The next few days I will eat, sleep, and swim." That is what he did. He maintained his focus.

So did Shawn Johnson in gymnastics. The final American team exercise was on the balance beam. Shawn was one of the last to do her routine. As the others were performing their routines, she turned away, mentally and physically focusing. Two of her teammates did not follow Shawn's example, instead watching the prior routines. The girls doing the routines that they were watching had big problems and fell off the beam. When her teammates got on the beam, they, too, had problems, which contributed to a lower score for the team. Shawn maintained her focus and performed a beautiful routine.

Beach volleyball’s two-time gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor kept their focus, too. They did not let getting behind shake them. They did not worry about facing a tough team. They focused on playing their game, one play at a time. When asked how you win, one announcer had said, "By focusing on one play at a time." The winners all focused on playing their game and doing their best, one race, one routine, and one play at a time.

They did not spend time worrying about what the competition was doing. Some of the losers in track and field did a great deal of glancing to the side or even to the back to check out their competition. Announcers pointed out that doing so was not productive and helped them lose the race. Instead of focusing on doing their best, these athletes were focusing on everyone else, especially someone who might be doing better than they were.

I see business people do this all the time. They get "caught up" in what their competition is doing and are constantly checking out the competition's advertising, pricing, and selection. Rather than laying out a plan for their businesses, they react to their competition. They worry about losing business to their competition. They get upset when customers go to their competition. They agonize over pricing their product, service, or information in relation to their competition.

While knowing your competition is important, giving your competition too much attention is not. Just as Kerri and Misty studied tapes of their competition before they played, you want to know your competition and incorporate that knowledge into your marketing plan. Then, one day at a time, focus on implementing your plan.

The power of focus is dramatic and profitable. Are you using it?