Facet 2 Focus
Imagine if former sprinter and world record holder Usain Bolt ran with his head turned to the side, comparing himself to others, always watching the person in the next lane. What do you think would happen? Well, I don't think he would be known as the greatest sprinter of all time, that's for sure. I think he would be known as the man who lost focus, fell over, seriously injured himself and cursed himself for his mistakes for the rest of his life!
In the same way, so many of us get confused and distracted looking to the left and the right, in front and behind, watching what everyone else is doing, losing focus or jumping onto the ‘next big thing' instead of staying in our lane. We then sit, with our head in our hands wondering why we don't seem to be moving forward. We get stuck in inaction.
How often have you found yourself going off on a tangent, only to come back a few days, weeks or months later, head hanging, kicking yourself for not thinking things through; asking yourself, ‘What the hell was I thinking?' We all have to fight the desire to chase the shiny objects that pop up in our periphery.
The most successful global businesses — Google, Apple, Pixar, Amazon — have at their heart a very basic tenet. They see that in order to succeed, they need to improve against their own benchmarks, not necessarily those of their competitors.
Now I'm not saying don't pay attention to your competition at all, but in a world that demands more of you than ever, doesn't it ...
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