“Having conceived of his purpose, a person should mentally mark out a straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right nor left.” – As A Man Thinketh

It’s called FOCUS, and it’s probably the one single reason that most of us don’t accomplish more. We lay out some great goals, maybe even writing them down like the experts encourage. We enthusiastically start taking action. We can feel the power and the energy. We know that this time we’re on the right track, this time is going to be different than all those other times.

Then it happens!

Life gets in the way!

Maybe it’s a personal or family illness; or things get turned upside down at work. Maybe an unexpected financial crisis occurs. Whatever the interruption, it consumes us and before we know it, our once bright and shining goal that was out there in front of us is now just a tarnished and painful memory of what we could do if such and such hadn’t happened.

Life gets in the way of everybody, but the more successful have a way of keeping their focus in spite of life. One of my all-time favorite quotes on the power of focus is from James Allen’s The Mastery of Destiny.

“All successful people are people of purpose. They hold fast to an idea, a project, a plan, and will not let it go; they cherish it, brood upon it, tend and develop it; and when assailed by difficulties, they refuse to be beguiled into surrender; indeed, the intensity of the purpose increases with the growing magnitude of the obstacles encountered.”

And that last sentence is the true secret:

“Indeed, the intensity of the purpose increases with the growing magnitude of the obstacles encountered.”

And that’s worth thinking about.