Darren Hardy, editor of Success Magazine, tells the story of how a client offered Sir Richard Branson $250,000 and then $500,000 to give a one-hour talk but was turned down because at that point he had only 3 priorities, and speaking for a fee was not one of them.
When Hardy told a friend about this, the friend pointed out that it is relatively easy for Sir Richard to turn down the money because he already has plenty, but that the rest of us would find it difficult to resist that temptation even if we had decided to focus on other things. Hardy's response:
“That’s why you are not achieving like Richard Branson. Hey, he started out with nothing like the rest of us. He’s gotten to where he is BECAUSE of this dedication to focus. It doesn’t have to be the temptation of a half million dollars; it could be saying “no” to a new TV program that will suck several dozen hours out of your life and creative potential; saying “no” to a meaningless and unproductive meeting, saying “no” to invitations, projects, emails, phone calls and visitors that aren’t ON PURPOSE to the accomplishment of your high priority goals."
Good point.
Where's your focus right now? What temptations are nibbling away at it? Is it time to say 'no' to a few things?
(There are lots of useful tips for staying on course, in my book "Focus: Use the power of targeted thinking to get more done. You can order it from Amazon or your other favorite online or offline bookseller. There's more information at www.focusquick.com.)
