Do you know the power you have within yourself to focus? I like to think of focus as a by-product of passion. When you are passionate about something, wild horses couldn’t keep you away from achieving your goal. You suddenly have tunnel vision and you easily ignore distractions. You develop a sense of intense focus.
The book The Davinci Method describes Leonardo Da Vinci’s innate ability to tap into his power of focus. Monteau Bondello recalls watching Leonardo Da Vinci paint the Last Supper, “When he was working, he would rise before dawn, climb the scaffolding and paint from sunrise to sunset; the brush never leaving his hand. More often than not, he would forget to eat and drink.”
Being able to tap into this level of focus gives us almost super human abilities to complete whatever the task may be. I remember the first time I ran Atlanta’s Peachtree Road Race, a 10K, held every year on the 4th of July. It was almost 100 degrees and we all ran over six miles up and down the hills of downtown Atlanta. I remember feeling like I was about to die, and then somehow, I reached down in the pit of my soul and tapped into focus. It felt like a reserve can of energy. All I could think about was taking the next step, and then the next. I didn’t take my eyes off the road. I cleared every thought out of my mind except for the desire to finish the race.
The whole experience reminded me of the old Popeye cartoons where he felt defeated, but then gulped down a can of spinach and suddenly he had his strength back. To my own surprise, I finished the race that day. I still have the t-shirt hanging in my office as a reminder of what we can all achieve when we focus.
My goal now is to learn how to tap into this power of focus daily. Think what we all could accomplish if we did this!
I found this powerful video clip a few years ago on the internet. It is from a conference for a group of sales reps in the television industry. It illustrates the power of focus in a way that you will never forget. You can feel the passion ooze from Tom wood as he shares this story of climbing Mount Fuji.
Now, whenever anyone tries to get between my goal and me, my favorite thing to say is, “Excuse me, I’m climbing the mountain!” Of course, this will make sense after you watch this video. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I have.
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