16 l UAE Digest, June 2009

DILEMMA

Focus on an element of a winning mind

What does winning the game of life mean?Life is a game, and winning is the equiva-lent of success in whatever is of importance to you in this world.

In your talks, you speak about a win-ning mind - can you describe it in one sentence?A winning mind is a very broad topic - it is a mind that is in control of emotions, a mind that is courageous, a mind that looks for the other side of the coin, a mind that is focussed on achieving their goals and desires.

Let’s talk about focus. Tell us more about the importance of having focus in your life.Our lives are filled with events (big and small) that occur on a daily basis, that’s the beauty of life. With so much going on, it requires those with a winning mind to stay on course without being distracted by surrounding influences. If you are not focussed, you tend to lag behind in your commitments, your tasks and also achiev-ing your goals. To be productive in your personal and professional life, you need to be focussed and able to deflect life’s distractions.

How serious is this issue of lack of focus?Think of the signal that streams to your satellite dish. When uninterrupted, it gives you a crystal clear picture on your TV. What happens when there is interfer-ence in the signal, due to say wind or thunderstorms? The signal is interrupted and as a result, the picture on the screen is affected.

The signal is the focus. The picture on the screen is the result.

On the face of it, people don’t realise the price they pay for not being focussed. Especially at a time like this, many have let the economical and environmental factors distract them. This distraction brings about lower productivity in peo-ple’s personal lives. Within organisations, this has resulted in reduced productivity and therefore a reduction in potential earnings.

What about those who want to have a few things on their plate, so to speak, to get ahead?This is a trap faced by most people wanting to win in their game of life. Sometimes it seems like you are getting ahead by having so much on your plate,

“Once the Mind is nourished, people tend to find that their world unlocks to a new level in both their personal and professional lives”. KA

By Kevin Abdulrahman

but focussing on completing one task at a time actually helps you achieve more. It may be boring, it may look dull, but you will achieve more, one task at a time. I see so many young entrepreneurs who are al-ways looking for the next best thing, who are always trying to put deals together, who feel that they need to have their fingers in every single pie that they hear of. What they don’t realise is their energy is dissipated and they cannot achieve the higher result they would have if focussed on a single task at a time.

Imagine you wanted to start a fire on a straw mat using a magnifying glass. Can you start a fire if you keep on mov-ing the magnifying glass? We all know that one must hold the magnifying glass at a certain point over time in order to focus the rays from the sun. As a result,

Kevin Abdulrahman

UAE Digest, June 2009 l 17

a fire is started by staying put and staying focussed. So I usually say, once you start a fire, then you can use that fire to start your other fires.

A well-known icon focussed his skill of picking and buying stocks in undervalued companies and watched them flourish in their due time. As a result, he amassed a great deal of wealth. That man is Warren Buffet, the second richest man in the world. He applied the simple principle of focus.

So how does one manage to do so with-out going off course? In whatever aspect of life, you must always ask yourself a simple question, “what price will I have to pay?” What is the price that you will have to pay to remain focussed to achieve a given task? Once you have answered that, you then ask yourself what is the price you will have to pay if you are distracted because life got in your way? Once you have both answers, you can weigh up which will cost you more. When I take my clients through this exercise, they usually realise that the price they pay for being distracted is much higher than the price of staying focussed. I also suggest to my clients that they have little rewards attached to completing a task, something to look forward to. This can be getting a cup of your favourite vanilla latte once you have finished your project, catching up with a friend once you have completed your assignments or going on a vacation with your family once you close a specific business deal.

Can one obtain focus overnight?It amazes me how many people are resist-ant to change in their environment or in the actions they have to take. Yet the same people have an expectation of immediate results. You will find that like most things in life, focus becomes easier with practice and time.

We weren’t born running; after learn-ing how to move using our limbs, we learned to crawl, then we learned how to balance after hundreds of hard hitting falls, then we started to walk. After that we learned to run, then got on our bikes and learned to ride and then drive. Some of us have learned to fly and those who took it all their way even learned to get to the moon. The same applies with achiev-ing immense focus in your life, take one

step at a time and most important of all, never give up. Keep doing it, persist and know that it will be hard especially when times are tough and you are under pressure. You will find that in time, mastering focus will show in the fire of your results.

A winning mind knows that every day spent focusing on an end reward moves it one step closer to attaining its goals. No matter how minute the results, by focuss-ing more, you will see yourself achieving more. When you start to achieve, you grow confident, but that is a different

topic altogether… “Have a winning day.”Kevin Abdulrahman is an internation-

al author of the book Winning The Game Of Life. He is also a world-class inspira-tional keynote speaker, a sought after mind nutrition expert, and a mind coach to the elite in every field. Kevin provides cus-tomised trainings to his clients, including individuals, teams, companies and athletes who want to catapult from where they are to where they want to and should be. If you want to go from good to great log on to www.MeetWithKevin.com or email his team on Coaching@MeetWithKevin.com