Focus
Did anyone happen to catch the two hole-in-ones on the 16th hole at the 2022 Waste Management / Phoenix Open? Just making a hole-in-one when golfing by yourself is a tremendous feat. Add three more sets of eyes watching you if you are in a foursome. Now add 20,000 sets of eyes and you will have the number of people that were at the hole watching these golfers.
Put yourself in that scene. Imagine 20,000 people, several of who have been drinking all day, PLUS a national television audience, all focused on YOU. I don’t care if you are a golfer or have never swung a club in life. Think about how difficult that must be to stand there and swing a four-foot stick with a metal head, hit a little dimpled ball into a small little hole on a field of grass with TWENTY THOUSAND people watching just you.
How can they do this?
The answer is one word. “FOCUS!!”
These golfers have the ability to eliminate all the distractions in their world and to focus on the movement that they have done thousands of times.
How would you react if I gave you a speech to read and let you practice it for a couple of weeks and then put you in front of 20,000 people? How nervous would you be standing up there with all those eyes on you, who have nothing else to watch or listen to except you?
Maybe you will never have to face 20,000 people in your life, but there are moments when you are the center of attention. It may be at a board meeting, a PTA meeting, or in an interview with more than one interviewer. Whatever your “tolerance” level is where you are comfortable talking to others, the ability to focus is a tool we all need to have.
There is a great story about the college football coach John McKay who had moved into the NFL. During a practice, he was watching the kicker. The kicker was struggling and was missing field goals that he never missed. The assistant coach walked up to coach McKay and said that he, McKay, made the kicker nervous when he watched him. McKay replied, “I don’t think he’s got much of a future here, because I plan on going to all of the games.”
Here was a professional kicker who had kicked in front of more than 50,000 people every game during his career, but one man, watching him kick in practice could cause him to lose his ability to focus on what he had done, successfully, thousands of times.
Why is it that some people can shine under the eyes of scrutiny while others can be lifted to perform their best? The answer is simple. “FOCUS”. Those who are able to step up when the lights are on have the ability to remove all the distractions and negative thoughts
When I am working one-on-one with my clients, working on their ability to FOCUS is always high on their “Need To” list. Before I began as a motivational speaker and a consultant I used the term FOCUS as a teacher, a coach, and a parent. It is a term that can be used too much if we don’t give it meaning.
To me “FOCUS” means to become entranced by the job that is at hand.
It’s the FOCUS a batter has when they step into the batter’s box. It’s the attention given by a wide receiver when they are crossing the middle of the defense and are about to catch a pass. It’s the routine that a golfer goes through as he addresses the ball during his swing prep. It’s the ability of a corporate CFO to control their breathing and slow their mind as they are about to deliver a keynote speech at a stockholders’ meeting. It’s the stay-at-home parent who is about to stand in front of their school board and dozens of onlookers and television cameras and give a speech that will cause all around them to pause and consider their positions.
In any of these scenarios, whether it be in front of the entire world or just a few people, a lack of FOCUS may be so damning that you will never be trusted in that position again. We never want to be “that person”!
So, how do we work on becoming FOCUSED?
1) TRUST: The most important part of being FOCUSED is to trust yourself. You must know that you can do the task at hand. If you don’t believe in yourself, then who is going to believe in you. We gain trust through consistency. Whatever the task is, we need to believe in our ability to do the task
2) POSITIVE SELF-TALK: If TRUST is #1 then #1b is positive self-talk. Do you tell yourself that you’re going to fail? Do you think you’re not worthy of the success that comes out of being focused? Muhammad Ali once said, “I said I was the greatest, even before I knew I was.” You can be the best at your task, start telling yourself that you are the best, and soon you will be.
3) PRACTICE: Once you know the task is a possibility you need to practice it over and over again. The great orator Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would give his speeches dozens of times to small groups before he stepped on stage. He had measured every word, every pause and every look before he took them on the road. The golfer will have hit that same shot a thousand times before he got on to that tee box. The wide receiver will have run that route dozens of times in practice and in games, but most importantly in their mind, before they actually run the route and make the game-winning catch. You will only practice as many times as you wish to be successful. If you don’t really care, run it through a couple of times before it’s time to accomplish the task. If you really care then run it through a couple of hundred times, out loud and in your head before you step up to the microphone.
4) SIMPLIFY THE TASK: Don’t think about the cameras and how many people you will be speaking in front of. Break the audience down to four to six people in the audience. Spread them around the room and move your eyes from one person to the next. Don’t speak to 500 speak to six. The golfer is just hitting HIS chosen golf ball with HIS club on a hole that he has played several times before and during the tournament. Tee it up and focus on what you have prepared to do. Don’t try to please 20,000 spectators. Relax, trust your technique, and swing through the ball. Just like the kicker who melted in front of John McKay, just kick the damn ball.
5) HAVE FUN: There is a reason why you are in this position. You are special. You have talent. Don’t be afraid of doing what you are the best at. Do what got you to that point in your life. You won’t be a CFO if you didn’t know your stuff. You wouldn’t be on that tee box if you weren’t a ball striker. You wouldn’t be in front of the school board if you were not able to control yourself and give a powerful speech. So have fun. Enjoy yourself.
When I was coaching there were guys who would throw up before every game. Some called it “nerves” I always felt it was their body being so excited to perform that they got rid of anything that was going to slow them down. These players were fearless. They would throw their bodies into piles with reckless abandon. So, they weren’t afraid.
Russell Wilson would evolve into the guy you saw on game day. He would come into the locker room and start his preparation process. Then he would go out and warm up, during this time he was laughing and joking and telling stories with the guys around him, shaking hands with opposing players and coaches who came up to talk to him.
When they got to the throwing drills with the receivers, he would become more focused on the task at hand. When he came back into the locker room after the prewarm-up warm-up he would take a shower and change all of his clothes. It was another step in his preparation.
When he was getting ready to go out before pre-game warm-up, he would be more focused and would be lifting up people around him. When he got back in the locker room, he would do his final talk with the Offensive Coordinator on what he saw and felt from his receivers.
And then he was locked in. He would speak to the team before they left the locker room and then on to the field. He was oblivious to anyone or anything when he was on the sidelines. He would make sure to touch players and coaches and give an inspiring word or slap on the shoulder pads. Then he would go out and play to the best of his ability.
He did this every game. Whether it was a preseason game in Oakland, where he was only going to be in for one series, or the Super Bowl. His routine and focus never wavered. That’s why he won more games in his first ten years than any other QB. Ever.
Use the steps of getting focused and you will never your opportunities when they come to you!
Trust – Positive Self-Talk – Practice – Simplify – Have Fun
Have faith in your ability to do whatever you want!
