My writer friend Sherryl and I have been talking lately about our goals: how we did in 2008, what we hope to accomplish in 2009, and she even sent me a 1-year/2.5-year/5-year plan. We took a goals seminar class last year, and she was pleased to see how many things she could cross off the 2008 list as done! We talked about juggling other things (like family, teaching writing classes, health issues, the marketing that seems to be necessary now) while still getting our writing done. How could we focus enough on our writing?
Well, last week someone sent me an article called “Zoom Focus” by Jon Gordon. I loved his Einstein quote at the top of the page: “Vision without execution is hallucination.” That is a good thing to remember as we look back at 2008 and ahead to 2009 and begin thinking about our goals. Visions and goals are important–I would say critical–but without the elbow grease applied, we’re just hallucinating! Jon says that in his work with businesses and organizations, he’s found the key to success is to Zoom Focus.
“Zoom Focus helps you turn ideas and goals into reality and results. Zoom Focus helps you focus on your priorities, execute, and create success. Zoom Focus helps you take daily steps towards your big picture vision.”
Jon has four practical “Zoom Focus” suggestions for making the dream a reality, and the tips are good. I zeroed in on the last one, as it seems to have special application for writers: “Focus on Daily Improvement – I see it in sports all the time. Teams focus too much on winning the championship and forget to Zoom Focus each day in practice. They are outcome focused not process focused. The key is to focus on improving each day and take the necessary action steps. If you incrementally improve each day, each week, each month, each quarter by the end of the year you’ll see remarkable results and growth. When you Zoom Focus on the process the outcome takes care of itself.”Are YOU focusing on improving your writing each day–or each time you sit down to write? Are you focused on the writing process rather than the sale? Are you studying and reading the kind of books, stories and articles you hope to publish? Are you enjoying your writing? Can you tune out the marketing voice in your head and just focus on your craft? If you steadily improve–even in tiny increments–I agree that you’ll see remarkable results and growth in your writing.
Can you Zoom Focus today? Do you have a favorite focusing technique you could share?
