The Power of Being Focused
I’ve had my CDL for the last twelve years, I got it when I worked for Pepsi Cola. During my time at Pepsi I would have to say I was an OK driver, there were a few minor incidents:
This is the kind of truck I drove
We had pumps for diesel in the yard, one morning I was filling the truck up and listening to music. I got a little too wrapped up in the music because I pulled away from the pumps but forget to take the pump out of the diesel tank of the truck, let’s just say there was a little mess.
One afternoon after delivering to a grocery store I drove away and decided to multi-task by also texting. I was reading a message when I pulled out right in front of someone, they slammed right into the side of the truck. It was a side bay truck, so there were parts of car bumper and cans of Mountain Dew everywhere.
One afternoon I had some time to kill before I was allowed back into the warehouse, luckily for me my parents lived five minutes from the warehouse. So I drove the truck to their house, I had to back the truck close to the curb. As I was backing up I heard someone down the street yell (not at me) but I looked, before I knew it I was backing the truck into their car. I think my parents were wondering if 18 was too old to spank.
You’re smart so I’m sure you notice a theme in all these stories: even when it was just a few seconds, the accidents happened when I lost focus. Whether you’re chasing your dreams, working at a job or operating a business, you can’t afford to lose focus.
You have to be honest about your focus
Sometimes we tell ourselves we’re completely focused on a goal or task when the truth is we’re not truly committed. For example: you want to open your dream business this year, that’s you’re main focus this year. However, you’re always going out to eat, you spend money buying the newest iPhone instead of saving or investing that money into your dream business. Are you really focused on your goal?
Focus means that you’re willing to make a short-term sacrifices for your future and your legacy. Yes, you might have to put going out to eat on hold, but only for a little while. When you do open that business and it’s thriving, do you think you’ll still be thinking about how you couldn’t eat out? NO! You’ll be the happiest person around, you’re living your dreams and it took complete focus to get there.
When you stray from your focus, get back on track
So lets just say you’ve been looking at things and you realize your focus has been off, you have the ability to get back on track and learn valuable lessons. If you have been spending money that you should be saving, then stop! If you have been slacking off with your business and distracted by other things, then re-focus.
Second chances are a beautiful thing, you have another chance to make things right and get back on the right path. The key when you lose focus is to learn from your distraction, this will help avoid the same pitfall later down the line. Once you get back on track, don’t let introspection hold you back from moving forward, if you lost focus and regained it, that’s all that matters.
Remember why you’re focusing
Are you pursuing your dreams? Are you trying to get a job you love? Are you opening a business you’ve dreamed of since you were a little kid? You have to remember why you need focus in the first place, what it is that you’re working on accomplishing. When it seems to hard or things seem to be falling apart all around, remember why, let that be your motivation and let that be the tool you use to get focused.
It’s easy to lose sight of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, but praise the Lord for second chances when we’ve lost our focus!
What are you focusing on? How’s serious are you about your focus?
