For the past three weeks, we’ve been discussing The Secrets of Super-achievers, and so far, we’ve learnt that super-achievers, high-achievers and the successful live firstly, with a sense of purpose and secondly, with a clear vision for their lives” The third secret of super-achievers I want to discuss with is that they are people who are focused in life, or if you will, they are mission-minded” Find anyone who is a super-achiever and you would realize that they are quite focused in life”
People who focus on what they want in life, succeed” Those who don’t, struggle” It is important for you to be mission-minded and to stay focused if you’re to succeed in life” The bible in Proverbs 4:25 & 27 says: “let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you”””Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil”” From the above verses we read, we notice God pleading with us to stay focus, not allowing anything to dissuade us” It is imperative that we make a covenant with our eyes, and let our eyes be fixed, not wandering or roving after anything that presents itself” For then, our focus will be diverted from good and ensnared in evil”
One of the major differences between super-achievers and under-achievers, and between the successful and the unsuccessful is that: super-achievers and the successful focus on what they want, under-achievers and the unsuccessful don’t focus” Your ability to fulfill your vision in life is dependent on how well you focus” If you want to be super-achiever, you must learn the importance of focus and concentration, and refuse to be led astray by interesting, yet fatal distractions” Being focused in life is like holding a magnifying glass in the heat of the day over a pile of dry leaves” If you keep moving the magnifying glass, you will never create the heat necessary to start off the fire” However, the moment you hold the magnifying glass stationary, allowing the heat of the sun to focus on just one small part of the foliage, it will not be long and the leaves will quickly burst into flame”
This analogy points to the fact that a life of focus, mission-mindedness and concentration brings great rewards” Anybody who wants to live a focused life has some hurdles to overcome” The first hurdle to overcome is discipline, and as you know discipline denotes self-control, self-government, self-mastery or will-power” In First Corinthians 9:27, Paul writes: “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified””
Over here, Paul is saying that: “if I fail to discipline myself, I will not be a successful preacher”” Super-achievers are disciplined people” They form the right habits and make the right choices in life” You are where you are today because of the habits you formed in the past and the choices you made in the past” And wherever you will be in the future depends on the habits you form today and the choices you make today” Because super-achievers are disciplined, they wisely form successful habits and make the right choices” For instance, you can’t habitually be spending more than you bring in and hope to get out of debt” That’s an undisciplined lifestyle” According to Jack Canfield; “it is madness to be using your credit cards, and taking out new loans and so on, and yet hope to pay off your debt”” A life of super-achievement calls for discipline” Super-achievers spend far less than they bring in” Under-achievers do exactly the opposite”
The second hurdle anyone who wants to be focused must overcome is the hurdle of distraction” To be distracted means to be diverted to another direction” Remember, we established earlier that those who focus on what they want, succeed” Those who don’t, struggle” Until you set your face like a flint to go after what you want as though your life depends on it, you will not be able to taste the sweet water of success” In your pursuit to fulfill your destiny, certain things might disguise themselves as interesting, when they are actually fatal distractions” By fatal distractions, I mean these things derail you from your purpose” It is important for you to take inventory of your life to identify anything and everything for that matter that distracts you from getting from where you are to where you want to be”
Another hurdle to overcome if you want to be focused enough to become a super-achiever is the hurdle of procrastination” Procrastination has to do with the habit of postponing until a future date” It is also knowing what to do but not doing it” Procrastination is a focus-killer” It is when you know you have to take action but you fail to take the action” Those who procrastinate fail to realize that the risk of inaction far outweighs the risk of action” For some people, converting the business idea they have into reality is the key to their breakthrough, but because of procrastination and the fear of “what if it doesn’t work” makes them sacrifice their ability to be super-achievers at the altar of fear and procrastination”
God wants you to be a super-achiever, but you cannot be what He desire for you unless you focus” I pray for you that God will empower you to overcome every hurdle, bad habit and wrong choices that distract and interrupt you” You belong to the top, and I pray you will be disciplined enough to follow God wholly so He can bring you to where you belong”