"If you chase two rabbits both will escape." In eight words this Chinese proverb captures the essence of focus. In business and in life, there is a natural tendency to think, "more is better," but I have to tell you that most of the time the opposite is true. To accomplish "more" we need to focus on "less." It’s really that simple: focusing on your priorities can be key to your success in business and in life.
At Successories in 1997, I learned about the power of focus the hard way. I didn’t focus – and I paid the price. Golf was the hot sport because Tiger Woods had just come on the scene. We decided to purchase a small catalog company called British Links, a leader in golf art and golf gifts. The logic was simple: (1) we understood the specialty catalog business and (2) we understood the wall décor/framing business. Successories had become one of the largest framers in the country and half of the British Links’ sales were from framed wall décor. Therefore, we could leverage our expertise and economies of scale to make it work. It looked absolutely great on paper! (There’s a book in there somewhere…927 Reasons Why Things Look Great On Paper, But Won’t Work. I know lots of friends who could help me write it.)
I won’t bore you with the details of why this venture flopped, but within three years we sold the golf company for next to nothing. However, the most devastating part of the deal was not the money we lost from the sale of British Links, but the momentum we had lost growing Successories, our core business.
In hindsight, I was an idiot! It was like Ray Kroc after opening twenty McDonald’s locations saying…it’s time to get into the pizza business. He didn’t, of course. He kept his eye on hamburgers and fries and made McDonalds the largest restaurant chain in the world. Many other businesses – like Starbucks and FedEx – also focused their way to success.
But remember this: Focus is not a "business only" thing. Each person has only twenty-four hours per day, and how we spend those hours shows what’s important in our lives. The question we must ask ourselves is…Are we focusing on what really matters?"
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Thanks for this powerful and timely reminder. I already watch very little TV, and having once been quite a sports fan, it amazes me how long it’s been since I watched a complete sports event. Even so, my mind “is prone to wander!” A close friend recently suggested that I try using intense 45 minute segments in my day to focus on what is really important. Already, I feel sharper, more energized, and I have more important accomplishments to show for each day.
I’m fiancially struggling with my personal and business life in this exact area. Thanks for sharing. It’s what I needed to read this morning.
In 1970 I was in the kindergarten Susie E. Tolbert Elementary in Jax, Fl. I had 32 angles and Ms Lula Courtney in class. The children had never been to the beach. I loaded everybody on the school bus. I sat in the back trying to be unseen. Maria Baker, “Mr D theres a bad word on the back of my seat. She had focused on that bad word.” I looked out the window. I knew I didn’t want to know the bad word. Maria,”Mr D there is a bad word on the back of my seat.” I looked out the window again. “Sure enough Ms Courtney,” Oh hush Maria! That just spells cat! ” Oh no, cat is spelled cat, this is p- – - -.” Well I’m 74 and I remember that day like it was yesterday. Ms Courtney has gone to the Lord. I wish I could hear from Maria.