Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focused on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps they need to take to get them closer to the fulfillment of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents to them. They are constantly proactive in the pursuit of their chosen objectives.
The most important 45 minutes of the day
An important part of any focusing regimen is to set aside time at the end of the day — just before going to sleep — to acknowledge your successes, review your goals, focus on your successful future, and make specific plans for what you want to accomplish the next day.
Here are a few exercises that will keep you focused and moving forward at the end of the day.
The evening review
Sit with your eyes closed, breathe deeply, and give yourself one of the following directions:
- Show me where I could have been more effective today.
- Show me where I could have been more conscious today.
- Show me where I could have been a better (fill in your profession) today.
- Show me where I could have been more loving today.
- Show me where I could have been more assertive today.
- Show me where I could have been more (fill in any characteristic) today.
As you sit calmly in a state of quiet receptivity, you’ll see that a number of events from the day will come to mind. Just observe them without any kind of judgment or self-criticism. When no more events come to mind, take each incident and replay it in your mind the way you would have preferred to have done it had you been more conscious and intentional at the time. This creates a subconscious image that will help form the desired behavior the next time a similar situation occurs.
The daily success focus journal
Another powerful tool to keep yourself focused on the positive and your eye on the prize is the Daily Success Focus Journal. If you do this exercise every day for a month, you will increase your self-confidence as well as improve your performance in all areas of your life.
At the end of every day, simply identify five things that you accomplished during the day. These can be in any area of your life–work, school, family, spirituality, finances, health, personal development, or community service.
Create a blank version of the form with four columns. Once you’ve identified a success, write it down in the first box under “Success.” Next, consider why that accomplishment is important to you and write that reason down in the second box under the heading “Reason.” Then, identify how you can make further progress in this same area listed under “Further Progress.” Last, write down a specific action step that will lead to this progress and jot that down in the fourth box under “Next Action.”
Once you have completed the form, transfer all of the action items in the “Next Action” column into your calendar or planner. Schedule a specific time to do each item so that you actually get them done. Get them onto your calendar or to-do list.
Create your ideal day
Another powerful tool to keep you focused on creating your life exactly as you want it to be is to take a few minutes after you have planned your next day’s schedule and visualize the entire day going exactly as you want it. Visualize everyone being there when you call them, every meeting starting and ending on time, all of your priorities being handled, all of your errands being completed with ease, making every sale, and so on. See yourself performing at your best in every situation you will encounter during the next day. This will give your subconscious all night to work on creating ways to make it all happen just as you have visualized it.
Get into the habit now of visualizing your ideal next day the night before. It will make a huge difference in your life.
* Source: The Success Principles by Jack Canfield