I like to think of the word FOCUS as Follow One Course Until Successful.
My favorite two words of that acronym are these: until successful. Focus, represented by the index finger, is essential in developing your Midas Touch, and the focus must be about bringing out the best in you.
Focus is also power measured over time. For example, it is easy for me to stay on my diet from breakfast to lunch. But to say focused for years on the diet is the true power of focus. I have gone on diets, lost weight, gained it back, and had to lose the weight again. That is the lack of focus over time.
The same thing happens in the world of money. People get rich, and then lose it all. Lottery winners and sports stars are prime examples of the loss of focus over time. Many professional athletes spend years practicing hard to make the big money in professional sports, but are broke five years after retiring. They focused on sports, but not on their financial intelligence.
In the first chapter of this book on the power of the thumb, I wrote about a few of my many failures. If not for the power of focus, I would have quit. In other words, most entrepreneurs fail because they lack the strength of character, represented by the thumb, and the power of focus, the ability to stay on course until successful.
Focus also means staying successful beyond the goal. This means hanging on to the money after you make it, or keeping the weight off after you lose it.
As pilots, we had to stay focused on our target, even though the enemy was doing their best to shoot us down. Focus gave us the power to stay calm, think clearly, and act decisively. We never let go of our focus until the aircraft and crew were safe and sound back on board the aircraft carrier. It takes the same focus in business. Just because the business makes money does not mean the business is safe.
Success eludes millions of people simply because they lack the power of focus. When people are in a focused state, the words, “I can´t,” “I´ll try”, “ I´ll do it tomorrow,” and “ maybe” get forced out of their vocabularies. In many ways, being focused means “do it now” and “ for as long as it takes.” When the going gets tough, many people lose focus and quit. They look for something easier to do. And worst of all, most people never start because they allow the words “ I´ll try” and “ tomorrow” to dominate their thinking.
Have you noticed that people who lack the power of focus often lack direction too? They wander, going from one thing to another. To make matters worse, in the world of investing, many so-called financial experts recommend people diversity their investment portfolio rather than focus on high- performance assets. This is why many investor portfolios fail to deliver high returns or are wiped out in a market crash. Again, they lack focus.