Being able to focus your thoughts and energies in one direction in order to earn the gold medal, the promotion at work, or any other type of reward is never an easy thing and I would argue that it's not something you're born with. Focus is like anything else in life. You have to work at it. It's no different than you going to the gym to work on your six pack, bulging pecks, or beautiful biceps. Everyone understands that it takes lots of hard work and years of dedication to develop the physic of the greek gods. Why then is it so difficult for people to understand that it takes the same level of effort to develop your ability to focus?

For those of you that believe that focus is something you're born with and you've never had the ability to focus... just consider this...during obedience training, dogs are taught to develop their focus. At first a dog can hold a command for only a short period of time and then they are rewarded greatly for it. Given enough hard work a dog's ability to hold a sit, stay, or down command for a period of time will increase with an investment of hard work on the part of the owner and the dog. Both are eventually rewarded for their efforts. The dog is given lots of love and attention from it's owner and the owner ends up with an obedient dog that is a pleasure to own.

If a dog can improve its focus than so can you!

There are many ways to improve your focus but it's best to start with some simple steps:

1. You need to have a target - to improve your focus you need to be able to set your sites on a target. The target is up to you. Whether it's a physical, mental, or a spiritual target you've got to have something to focus on.
2. You need to get specific - now that you have your target you need to get very specific about the target. Every target has different rings with the bull's eye in the center. The tigher you focus the better your chances are of hitting the bull's eye. The first time I made a major goal as a fighter I set my sites on making the national team so I could fight at the world championships. I achieved this goal only to make it to the world championships in England where I received a shellacking from my opponent. I wonder what would have happened if I set my sites on being a world champion at my first world championships?? The results could only have gone up with a more specific focus!
3. You need a pen and paper - our minds are powerful tools, but with all the distractions we have these days our minds are overloaded with information. Once you have your sites set on a specific target write it down. Make hand written duplicates.
4. Reflect on your target - Keep that piece of paper with your specific target close by so you can refer to it frequently. The more you read, write, or think about your target the more you are focusing on it. In the end...this will push you towards the bull's eye.
5. You need to remove all distractions - learning to become focused means you have to first learn how to remove distractions. In this day and age it's definitely a challenge. Here's how you can start getting good at removing distractions especially for this exercise. Turn off your cell phone, chat windows, music, television or anything else that may pull your focus away from this article. Take this first step and apply it to anything else you need to focus on in your life. You may actually find it liberating to not be available all the time.
6. Take aim and fire - the last and most important step is to take action. No matter what it is you're setting your sites on if you don't take action you'll never achieve anything. If you want to improve your ability to focus you need to take action steps towards achieving this goal.

One great example of these simple steps in action was an interview I saw with the famous comedian Jim Carrey. He said he wrote himself a cheque for $20 million dollars (target)...dated it (getting specific) and than he said he put it in his wallet and would look at it everytime he opened his wallet (referring to the target). At the end of the interview he mentioned that you can't just set your sites on a goal and then make yourself a balony sandwich and sit on the couch watching TV (remove distrations). Jim said you have to work hard for it every step of the way. Within a week of the cheque he wrote to himself, Jim Carrey earned $20 million dollars for one of his movies.

The best way to improve your focus is to take baby steps. Follow the simple steps listed above and you'll be on your way to a stronger broader focus that will get you what you want when you want it.

John McMahon