Extreme Focus

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life — think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.

While flawless, 100% focus on a single idea is close to impossible for a modern human being, there’s a lot you can gain from focusing as much as you can on just one goal. In fact, I consider it so important that I wrote an entire book about it titled The Ultimate Focus Strategy.

There are two primary benefits of making a single idea your life.

The first one is that limiting your focus to a single thing requires a great deal of self-discipline, which subsequently makes it an excellent exercise in cultivating self-control. I’ve acquired a lot of self-discipline (and finally achieved my goal of building a successful business) thanks to limiting my focus to one business model. Sticking to one thing has taught me the value of patience, dedication, and made me realize how powerful small (and consistent) improvements can be over the long term.

The second benefit of extreme focus is that by centering your life around the one most important endeavor, you’ll be more likely to reach it than if you were to spread your attention thin.

You have higher chances of implementing new nutritional habits and losing 20 pounds (or 10 kilos) in the next six months than trying to lose weight while also implementing a new workout routine, building a side business, fighting against your fear of public speaking, saving money for an emergency fund, and learning a foreign language.

If self-discipline is a resource that you can deplete (scientists are still trying to figure it out), it makes sense to spend it judiciously, starting with your most important goal.