The successful man is the average man, focused.
Author Unknown
In 1952, a woman by the name of Florence Chadwick was the first female to attempt to swim the twenty-six treacherous miles between Catalina Island and the California coastline. As she began this historical journey, she was surrounded by small boats navigated by people who watched for sharks and were ready to help her if she became injured or overwhelmed by exhaustion.
For hours Florence steadily swam, but after about fifteen hours, a fog set in that hindered her visibility and dampened her spirits. Florence began to have serious doubts about whether she could make it. She told her mother, who was in one of the boats, that she didn’t think she could make it. She swam for another hour but eventually gave up. As they pulled her out of the water, Florence found out that she had stopped swimming just one mile away from her destination, the California shoreline. Florence later explained that she quit because there was too much fog for her to see the coastline. She couldn’t see her goal.
As sad as that is, this story has a happy ending. Florence got back in the water two months later, determined to try once again. And this time the results were much different. Though the same thick fog set in, Florence didn’t give up the second time around. She swam from Catalina Island to the shore of California in a straight path for twenty-six miles. When asked what was the difference this time around, she explained that while she swam, she kept an image of the shoreline in her mind. She never lost sight of the shore because she focused on that image of the coast in her mind, and this way, she reached her goal.25
Whether your goal is winning a gold medal for a sport you love or to lose twenty pounds, you will need to keep the goal in front of you, especially during those foggy times when you are tired and your journey seems long.
Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you.
Proverbs 4:25 (AMPC)
Like a well-crafted meal, an “on-purpose” life has many key ingredients: determination, time management, scheduling and planning, following through, and wisdom, just to name a few. All of these elements are important, but perhaps the ingredient that brings them all together is focus.
Focus is directed attention. It is having a goal, aiming for a target, and not being easily distracted. Focus is the determination to stay on target and not allow other things to distract you.
I read that golf great Ben Hogan had tremendous focus. The story is told that Hogan was standing over a crucial putt in a golf tournament when suddenly a loud train whistle blared in the distance.
Hogan didn’t flinch. He sank the putt. Later, when Hogan was asked if the train whistle bothered him, he replied, “What whistle?”26
Ben Hogan had talent, but that may not have been his greatest asset. There are many talented people who do very little in life. We don’t have to be especially talented or mentally brilliant in order to accomplish great things, but as the quote I shared at the beginning of this chapter says, “The successful man is the average man, focused!”
All too often, people who accomplish very little in life assume they are just not as talented or brilliant as other people, but if they studied and emulated the habits of those who do great things, they would observe that the ability to stay on target (focus) was the main discipline that made them great. Just a little bit of research into history reveals the fact that ordinary people do extraordinary things if they apply the proper guidelines to their lives.
Zig Ziglar said, “I don’t care how much power, brilliance or energy you have, if you don’t harness it and focus it on a specific target, and hold it there, you’re never going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants.”27
If we cannot stay focused, should we merely blame distractions? Ben Hogan didn’t, and neither should we. He had developed an ability to live with fixed purpose.
Perhaps more than ever, we live in a society full of distractions. We cannot keep the whistles from blowing! In this digital age there is always a new screen to look at, a new tab to click, a new e-mail to read, and a new social network to update. These modern realities aren’t bad things, but they can be distracting things. It is easy to get so preoccupied with little things that we forget the big picture. As beneficial as social media has become, it is also one of the biggest distractions in many people’s lives. We should use it at our discretion and not let it control us!
Technology isn’t the only distraction in our lives. Hectic schedules, unhealthy comparisons, financial pressures, the opinions of others, and so many things can cause us to lose sight of what’s important. But if we are going to accomplish the goals we have and enjoy our life in Christ, it is important that we learn the art of being focused.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can each find our path to focus. Dave can sit and read and never lose his focus with all kinds of commotion going on around him. He has tinnitus in both ears, which is ringing, or a high-pitched noise. He says it doesn’t bother him at all because he doesn’t focus on it. Our family often says, “Dad lives in his own little world.” Actually, he has trained himself to focus on what he wants to focus on rather than all the distractions around him.
Not everyone can stay focused as easily as Dave can, but we can find our own path. We may need to take measures to be in quiet places or leave the technology in another room, but the Holy Spirit will guide us if we’ll pay attention to Him.
Patience is a big part of successfully reaching every goal that is reached. Very few things happen as fast as we would like them to or as we expected that they would. When you take the first step toward reaching any goal, make up your mind that you are going to finish no matter how long it takes.
Make up your mind that you are going to finish no matter how long it takes.
Having the right mind-set from the beginning is a key ingredient in reaching your goal. Keep in mind what you want to accomplish and avoid focusing on how long and difficult the journey is. When tempted to lose focus and get distracted, ask yourself how you are going to feel at the end of the day if you allow yourself to wander from thing to thing, instead of staying on target. Remember that personal satisfaction and fulfillment are some of the best feelings in the world. It simply makes us feel good to know that we managed ourselves well.
Even when you do get distracted for a period of time, keep going back to your original plan for the day. Don’t allow yourself to feel guilty; guilt is a waste of time. Patiently begin again where you left off and keep it up until you reach your goal.
Steve Jobs said: “Focusing is about saying no.”28 We can all develop an ability to say no to many things in order to focus on one thing. When the apostle Paul said that his one aspiration was to let go of what was behind and press toward the things ahead, he meant, in part at least, that he knew what to say no to. He said no to guilt and to thoughts that kept him trapped in the past. He focused on the goal of winning the prize that God was offering Him in Christ (see Philippians 3:13–14).
Some of our spiritual goals are never completely reached in this lifetime, but we still patiently press toward them. I would love to never do anything wrong, and to love everyone perfectly, but I have not arrived and won’t until I get to Heaven. But I am constrained by my love for God to keep pressing toward the goal.
I have often said the one thing I have done that has been the most helpful for me in reaching my goals is that I have not given up. It takes no special talent to give up, but it does take focus and determination to refuse to give up. Not giving up is especially difficult in the foundation-laying phase. Strong foundations are vital to the success of the remainder of what we hope to build in life.
When we plant a seed in the ground, we have given up our seed and see nothing for a long time that indicates that our sacrifice was worth it. But eventually something comes out of the ground, and it grows into a thing of beauty and amazement. It grows into something that many others can enjoy.
Instead of giving up when you don’t see anything in the natural, remember how Florence Chadwick swam through the fog toward the shore. Make up your mind to keep swimming while keeping the coastline (your goal) in mind.
I have had a great many goals in my life. The idea of actually reaching most of them seemed quite impossible at the outset, but many of them are a reality in my life now. I am quite ordinary, but I “keep on keeping on” and have no plans to quit. Don’t let being ordinary stop or hinder you from trying to do something great. Remember that most of the men and women we read about in the Bible, those we call heroes of faith, were very ordinary. They were fishermen, tax collectors, ex-prostitutes, shepherds, maidens, and even a woman who had been demon-possessed! No one is exempt from being used by God. All it takes to succeed is faith in God and determination!
Don’t let being ordinary stop or hinder you from trying to do something great.
You will find your way if you keep going forward. We learn as we go. For example, I had to learn that I could not do everything I was excited about, but once I knew what to focus on, I was on my way to success.
Holding on to our dreams is difficult in the foundation-laying years, but if we are patient during that season, the building will last. Don’t be discouraged if you have planted seed and you don’t see a harvest yet. Just keep trusting God and doing good (Psalm 37:3) and soon you will see the evidence of your harvest.
If we want to have good fruit, we must be patient enough to develop strong roots. I wasted a lot of time trying to build a ministry without first building myself spiritually. We need time to become rooted and grounded in Christ as we are instructed to do (see Colossians 2:7). Jesus must be the foundation of everything else in our lives. I think it is safe to say that the majority of people who fail in life, or who drift through life never really accomplishing anything, do so because they fail to put God first at all times. Putting God first means to study His Word, pray, fellowship with Him, learn what His will is, and pursue it with all of your might. Love God first and you will probably end up getting the rest of what you love! Christ must be the foundation of our lives. Taking time to build a strong relationship with Him will ensure that your life will be built on solid ground.
Unless we keep God first at all times, we will not have sufficient energy to accomplish what we intend to do, nor will we do it with peace and joy. There are people who do great things without leaning on God, but they are usually miserable in the process, and they make the people around them miserable, too. We are created by and for God and nothing really works right without Him.
I have discovered in my journey with God that we learn as we step out in faith and try things, not as we sit idly by and do nothing. I have met many people on my journey, and I have learned what to do from some of them and what not to do from others. Does that sound strange? If so, I understand, but let me explain.
Obviously, I do learn good things from people, but I have discovered that I can learn even more by watching the mistakes people make and not repeating them. For example, I have been on the receiving end of having a boss who mistreated his employees, so I learned not to do that. I have been with people who refuse ever to admit they are wrong and their behavior has been so disturbing that I learned not to do that. I have been with people who are prideful and talk of nothing but themselves and their ministries, and I decided not to do that. I could go on, but I hope you are seeing my point.
Pay attention to the things that people do that hurt you and make a conscious decision not to do them to others.
One other mistake I have seen others make that I never want to repeat happens when promising people with great opportunities in front of them give up. They gave up because the way was difficult, the journey slow, or they became weary, and some of them fell into sin and never recovered. It is a sad thing to watch and something I never want to do. Don’t make the mistake of letting your mistakes cause you to give up!
Don’t make the mistake of letting your mistakes cause you to give up!
You can recover from mistakes because God is forgiving and merciful, but you cannot recover if you quit. Believe me when I say that we all make mistakes, and plenty of them. God knew that we would mess up, and that is precisely why He sent Jesus to forgive us and the Holy Spirit to help us. But the Holy Spirit will never help you give up, because God has a plan and a purpose for your life. So no matter where you are on the track of life, keep running your race. Keep the finish line in mind and stay focused on it.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.
I Corinthians 9:24 (AMPC)
• In order to seize the day, make goals and go after them with all your heart.
• Ordinary people can do extraordinary things if they apply the proper guidelines to their lives.
• If we are going to accomplish the goals we have and enjoy our life in Christ, it is important that we learn the art of being focused.
• If you fail, patiently begin again where you left off and keep it up until you reach your goal.
• No one is exempt from being used by God. All it takes to succeed is faith in God and determination.
• We learn as we go, not as we sit idly by and do nothing.