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It has been said that in these modern times, the wealth of information has resulted in poverty of attention. Technology has made it increasingly difficult to focus. There are just too many stimuli competing for our attention. Attention has become a commodity, and in the business world, companies are using all sorts of techniques and tricks to capture our attention.

Without focus, we are like sleepwalking through our lives. Instead of focusing on our needs and wants, we ended up being brainwashed by other people and business corporations. We just end up living our daily routine out of habits that could have been programmed by others. At the end of the day, we feel exhausted, drained out, and unfulfilled.

The ability to focus like a muscle can be developed. Daniel Goldman in his book “Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence” writes about three different types of focus namely inner focus, empathy, and outer focus.

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1 Inner Focus

Inner focus refers to the attention that we paid to ourselves. Our values and beliefs determine our identities, affect our decision-making process, and will greatly impact our lifestyle. As Christians, we should focus on the values taught by the Bible.

By focusing on ourselves, our self-awareness becomes more developed, and we become more mindful of our decisions and actions. We are more in tune with our own needs and wants. We become better at managing our self-talk, transforming it from an inner critic to an inner coach. Imagine what we all can achieve if we regularly cheer ourselves instead of criticizing ourselves. We are able to face life with a healthy self-image brimming with optimism and positivity.

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2 Empathy

No man is an island and so we cannot just focus on ourselves. Therefore we need to also focus on others, especially those that we come into contact with on a daily basis. These could include our colleagues, friends, family members and church members. Therefore, we need to have empathy for others as our actions will also impact others. We need to be more aware of the impact that our actions have on others.

With empathy, we are more equipped to deal with others including different people. In the business environment, leaders with empathy make better managers and leaders and are able to accomplish more through others.
Japan is a good example of a society where its citizens had developed a heightened sense of focus on others. Since Japan is densely populated, the Japanese are acutely aware of how their behavior will affect others. Just take a look at a scene at the train station. Despite the hustle and bustle of the train station, the Japanese make sure that their behavior do not inconvenience others.

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3. Outer Focus

Outer focus is our ability to see the big picture. We become more aware of how society works, the norms and values of different communities, and what the ground rules are. With outer focus, we gain knowledge of how a system works be it in a large corporation or in the social context of our friends and family.

I have been a government officer for the past 30 years. My rich experience enabled me to gain valuable insights on how to get things done in government organizations despite all the bureaucracy surrounding these institutions.

Conclusion

So stop sleepwalking through life. You and I can leverage the power of focus to lead more successful and meaningful lives. In my next article, I will discuss techniques that we can use to develop focus.

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Do check out my previous posts.

Spreading positivity one post at a time.
Charles

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