The other night I woke up with a burning sensation in my left eye. It felt like something major was in there and my eye started watering like crazy. I spent 30 minutes flushing out my eye to no avail.

I was starting to think I would be heading off to emergency. My eyes seem to attract problems for some strange reason. I was also thinking there go my business plans for the next few days.

From past lessons I knew that rubbing is very bad. Scratched corneas take a while to heal and are quite painful.

I decided to have another go at finding what was in there. A small flashlight in one hand and trying to grab my eyelid (not trivial as you know) with the other I finally found the culprit… a tiny piece of dirt. The only problem was, I needed a third hand to remove it.

In the end I memorized the location of the particle and put the flashlight down. A small moist piece of kleenex and a few blind attempts and I immediately knew I had gotten it. Instant relief.

Losing Focus From Your Goals

This little incident reminded me that the smallest things can cause you to lose sight of your dream, vision and goals. A little irritant and we are off totally focused on solving that problem instead of doing the things necessary to move us forward on the big things.

This happens all the time in business.

Solving the little things is immediately satisfying. Instant relief from the irritation.

Working on your goals and vision is longer-term and the pay off is further out.

I am reading Grant Cardone's "The 10x Rule" right now. He recommends:

  • Setting your goals 10x bigger than you think you need them. This keeps you motivated and even underachieving is satisfying.
  • Massive effort (10x what is normal or what you think is reasonable). This will help blast you through the distractions and difficulties ahead.

It is also important to build fun and rewards into the entire process of achieving your goals and vision.

Doing these things will keep you motivated and focused along the way and help ensure the those goals are not just wishes.

What are some of the pesky little things holding you back and how are you staying focused?