INTERNET GRANDFATHER®

Concentration

                                        My dictionary tells me that concentration means "the direction of all thought or effort toward one particular task, idea, or subject". Sometimes we use the word "focus" to mean the same thing. Everyone lauds concentration but we must select the task before our concentration can be useful. We all have goals, big goals and small goals, goals of a personal or professional nature, goals as broad as leading a good life and as narrow as remembering to brush our teeth in the morning. The small, narrow goals are usually easily manageable. However, the big goals sometimes seem daunting, too difficult to achieve. What do we need to do to achieve those goals? How do we concentrate in a useful way?

                                                  The secret is breaking down the big goals into small, easily manageable goals. I saw a magazine article that gave the example of starting down the path to becoming a millionaire by saving $2 per day. All big goals are like that. They demand completion of a series of small tasks leading to the big goals. Every project is a series of small projects. Until we break the project down into its small parts the project may seem too hard to complete, too big to imagine completing. Yet, once we've focused on the small parts of the project and completed them successfully, we complete the big project, achieve the big goal, almost without noticing.

                                        I thought about these things recently while I was watching Tiger Woods play golf on television.  He seems to have the ability to concentrate on the task at hand better than anyone else I've ever seen. Tiger Woods almost seems able to will a golf ball to go where he wants it to. Yet, I know that he isn't- he has to work hard to put together everything necessary, the physical, the mental, and yes, the moral, to cause the ball to go where he wants it to. His concentration is a part of what got him where he is. But the question arises: What is it he's concentrating on? Is it broad goals like being the best golfer in the world or becoming wealthy? Is it winning the tournament? I think not. I think his great powers of concentration are directed towards hitting a particular shot at the time he needs to. The big goals have come from reaching each of the small goals necessary to prevail.

                                                  We still have to identify the small tasks and perform them in the right order. But if we do this, no project is insurmountable, no project is too difficult. I'll think and write about how to identify and order the small parts of a big project at a later date. For now, let's recognize that we can achieve our big goals by identifying each of the small tasks leading to the goals and get on with doing them. If we do, we will achieve our goals almost before we realize it.

3-26-07