The Number ONE Ingredient for a Successful Career is: FOCUS!

Have you ever seen a cat watching a bird or eyeing a fish? It never takes its eyes off of its target. The cat is truly in complete focus. That’s what you need in order to obtain a successful career.

Without complete focus, you will not be able to reach your desired outcome in your required time frame.

Your desired outcome has to make sense to you, and it also needs to be important. You may try focusing on it a little bit here and there, but chances are good that you will not complete it when you want to with this method.

I once met a guy who was building his dream house. It looked to me like it was 75 percent complete, with many sections unfinished. When I asked how long he had worked on his house, he told me twenty years. I could not believe it. He told me he only added on to it when he had the spare time. He said it would probably take him another ten years to finish. I told him that if it were me, I would try completing it as soon as possible so I would have time to enjoy it longer.

In contrast, a friend of mine completed his house and moved in within three months. He was at it seven days a week. Which person would you prefer to be?

You need to choose a vocation and give it your complete attention if you wish to find and work at something you love. Would you prefer to begin your dream career in thirty years’ time or in three months’ time?

You may ask, What is the best way to stay focused? You must devote all your energy and time to the one project—one day at a time. You must make it a priority in your life. You must plan small action steps so you know what you will be doing next. You also need to complete a task every single day without fail, so you build momentum.

Napoleon Hill, the famous author of Think and Grow Rich, spent nearly twenty years researching the material in his book. He interviewed more than 500 successful people before he completed his project. He worked on it every single day, and it still took him twenty years!! If he had not, he never would have finished the book at all, and the world would have missed out on incredible strategies to become successful and wealthy. He would never have been able to enjoy the results it brought to him while he was still alive.

You see, you never know how long something will take to complete until you complete it. That is why it is necessary to complete at least some small tasks—if not more—every day. It has been said Thomas Edison took years and 10,000 experiments to invent the light bulb. He worked on it every day until he achieved his desired result.

Can you imagine if he had just done it in his spare time or when he was not tired? He probably would never have achieved it in his lifetime. Anyone who has achieved anything has done so by doing at a least a little bit every day toward their goal. Your career is no exception.

Every mountain is climbed one step at a time, one day at a time. You would not climb a mountain in your spare time. Treat your career with the same mindset.

It only takes a moment to take one step closer to your goal. Once you have decided to begin searching for your dream career, do something straightaway—even something small.

Maybe spend thirty minutes researching alternative occupations for the tasks you enjoy and then plan what you will do the next day and the next. Before you know it, you will have a smile on your face and you’ll look forward to going to work every single day. So go to it. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS.