Like most men, I enjoy a good action film (yes, I know it’s stereotypical, but I also love coloring). The best action films can be watched over and over and my go to is 300. Daxos and the Arcadians show up to help King Leonidas and the Spartans take on the mighty and ubiquitous forces of King Xerxes. Upon arrival, Daxos and his men are shocked to find that King Leonidas has only 300 men to fight against the mighty forces of King Xerxes. However, King Leonidas is able to provide some perspective to Daxos with a series of penetrating questions. He says to one of Daxos’ men, “what is your profession?” The man responds, “I’m a potter.” He asks another of Daxos’ men what his profession is. That man responded, “I’m a sculpter.” Yet another responded that he was a blacksmith. King Leonidas turns to his 300 men and says, “Spartans, what is your profession?!” They all respond in unison with a loud masculine chant that is accompanied by several upward spear thrusts. Then King Leonidas turns back to Daxos and says, “You see old friend, I brought more soldiers than you did.”
There is an old saying that goes, “jack of all trades but master of none.” Daxos was under the impression that having a lot of men that were part-time soldiers would be better than having a few men who were professional warriors. Many of us go through life with a similar mentality. We spend our days and weeks with a split focus and wonder why life never comes into focus. Think about what you did last week. What assignment did you work towards everyday? Which of your gifts, talents or mandates did you spend time honing? What drew your attention away from your God-given assignment? John Maxwell wrote in his book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, “If you focus your attention on the activities that rank in the top 20 percent in terms of importance, you will have an 80 percent return on your effort.”
In “Act Like Men,” James MacDonald recalled something his mentor once told him, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you, and you won’t know when you get there.” Focus is defined as a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity. What is your central focus in life? Is it being a mother? Is it being an author? Is it to build and maintain an organization? Is it to help bring a new culture and perspective to an existing organization? We are all born with a different purpose, which is shaped by our past and influenced by our beliefs. That makes you unique. Your uniqueness can only be fully appreciated when it is directed with a clear focus in a particular segment of society. Just like a person with bad vision will make mistakes until they obtain lenses that correct their focus, we too are bound to make mistakes when we go through life without clear focus.
Here are 3 tips to make sure that you stay focused.
1 Know your purpose
You have to consult your maker to know what your purpose on earth is supposed to be. Once you know that, you should do something to advance that purpose EVERY day. Never let a day go by where you aren’t advancing or at least planning on how to advance your purpose in life.
2 Set reminders
Nowadays, most of us have smart phones. We have schedulers built into our emails. With the technology we have access to, there is no excuse for not being more organized with our time. Set reminders for the things you want to accomplish. This keeps you from having to remember everything and thereby frees you up to engage in other important tasks immediately.
3 Get an accountability partner
You and I were never designed to live life in a vacuum. You cannot succeed alone. You and I need trustworthy people around us who are willing and able to hold us accountable. (Note: an accountability partner has to be someone that will actually hold you to ‘high’ standard.)
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