What happened to Gabby’s focus?

Gabby knows she has to work on her focus. She knows, and we know, that she is an outstanding gymnast. You have to work on your focus consistently until it becomes a natural habit for you.Once she won the Gold, think of the distractions — her family, well-wishers, celebrations,  which haven’t been a part of her daily experience. It would be easy to lose focus.

And what about the rest of us? We may not be in medal races, but there are plenty of distractions that can keep us from being all we can be. Whether it’s a speech, managing your people, or golfing, for best results you need to be in the moment.

Here are a couple of things you can do to sharpen your focus and ability to “be there.”

See if you can listen to a one-minute news story on the radio from beginning to end without wandering off to think about other things.

Similarly, see if you can recite something you know by heart (in your head) that’s about a minute long: The Gettysburg Address, the 23rd Psalm, the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Again, the goal is to see if you can get all the way through it without losing focus.

Keep at it until you are good at it. Focus is really exercising your discipline muscle. And just like any other muscle it will get stronger as you work it.