Show notes
To turn focus into profit, consider this. Your focus determines the level of profit that you generate. Because the people you meet, the conversations you have, all of that flows from your focus.
So when you focus on those activities, the likelihood of increasing your profit increases dramatically.
David: Hi and welcome back. In today's episode, co-host Kevin Rosenquist and I discuss How to Turn Focus into Profit. Welcome back, Kevin.
Kevin: It's great to be here. Thanks for having me, David. Focus. Focus is something we could all use a little bit more of probably in our day-to-day lives, but is that a rare skill in business today? In the people that you work with?
David: That's a great question. I think for some people it is problematic. I think that's the nicest way to say it. If you lack that focus, then it's going to be a lot more difficult to accomplish the things that you want.
So if it is something that you're already good at, then the question becomes, how do I best harness that? Can I turn focus into profit?
And if it's not something you're good at, then the question becomes, how can I get at least good enough at it that I can function at the level at which I need to function?
Kevin: I feel like my focus has changed over the years, and part of it is definitely technology. Because I've got a phone sitting next to me that might beep. Might be personal, might be business, could be anything.
I could be working on a project and a client on Slack gets in touch with me. Then I get an email. And then there's just so many channels of communication.
I mean, do you find that technology has made it more difficult in some ways for people to focus, and to turn focus into profit? As opposed to maybe 10, 20 years ago?
David: Yeah, and I mean, particularly when you look at things like social media, because social media is designed to disrupt your focus.
Kevin: Right.
David: Everything that comes in, whether it's an email or a post on social media, it's all designed to get your attention. So that's why, particularly in the past 10 to 20 years, focus is so much more of an issue for people.
Because as you said, there are lots of different things to focus on. The algorithms are specifically programmed to make you focus on their priorities rather than your own. That makes it challenging to turn focus into profit.
So if you're aware of that and if you recognize that you have to determine what your focus needs to be in order to accomplish your results, then it becomes more likely that you'll take the necessary actions to do that.
Kevin: Yeah, that's a really good point. I mean, we've all been in situations where you go on social media for a business purpose and all of a sudden you're watching videos of some knuckleheads playing slip and slide softball, which are kickball, which I've gotten watching, are those silly videos. You're just like, before you know it, you're like, oh my God, it's been a half an hour.
I just came on here to check out a client's page real quick.
David: Yeah. And again, they designed the system to do that. They built it in. That's not a mistake. That is the purpose of the design. So when we recognize that only we can determine whether or not we will remain focused, then we take the responsibility on ourselves.
We recognize Okay, it 's designed to do that. So if I recognize that and if I leave that open, and if I have notifications turned on to an app that is specifically designed to derail me from my focus, then yeah. I'm sort of getting what I'm putting out.
Kevin: You're in trouble. You're in trouble.
David: Yeah.
Kevin: Yeah. so the topic today is about how to turn focus into profit. How does a lack of focus directly translate into lost revenue?
David: Well, if you're looking at what your highest value activities are and then you focus on those, you're going to be a lot more likely to accomplish what you're looking to accomplish than if you allow your focus to be distracted by other people's priorities.
I've heard an email inbox referred to as a storage place for other people's priorities, and I think that's very true, and it doesn't just extend to the inbox anymore.
It extends to pretty much everything. Other people's priorities are going to be popping up and binging and making noises. It's a lot like being in a casino environment where it's not designed to allow you to really focus. Let alone turn focus into profit.
It's designed to have you be distracted and get excited and get those dopamine hits that come from replying to somebody's thumbs up or whatever it is that comes through on social media.
So I think if you look at identifying what your highest value priorities are and then focusing on those, it's going to allow you to get more done.
It will allow you to eliminate unnecessary distractions, or at least be aware of them. Because if you're aware of the fact that these things are happening on a day-to-day basis and you don't take the necessary actions, whether it's just adjusting your settings or whatever it is, then you're always going to be at the mercy of other people's ideas, other people's priorities.
Kevin: Absolutely. People might think they're working really hard. Like, oh man, I'm working really super hard, but they're all over the place, right? They're not necessarily getting a lot done. How can you go from that to working with focus, and then to turn focus into profit?
David: Well, identifying at the beginning of the day, what are the top 3, 4, 5 things that I really need to get done today? And then prioritizing them, starting with number one. And then ideally, moving on to number two, once you've completed number one, and then moving on to number three.
That's the ideal scenario.
But also if you just do that and if you keep that list front and center, then when something happens, and I'm not saying if something happens, I'm saying when something happens that derails you from the most important priority you've identified. If you do have to address that immediately, you can then at least go back to where you wanted to be at the start of the day.
Because without that, without knowing, what do I need to have happen today in order, most important priority to least important priority, you're always going to get distracted. You're never going to get to do the things that you actually need to do to turn focus into profit.
Kevin: But I feel like that's where I can get derailed the most is I might make that list. I might say, okay, I'm getting this done, this done, this done, and this done today. And all of a sudden I get an email of someone who needs something or I get distracted.
But just, even if it's business related, it's not stupid videos on Instagram or a friend texting me something funny about fantasy football. I mean, it, can be business related.
Do you find that a lot of people have a hard time refocusing even if they start the day really good and then all of a sudden a couple emails come in, they're like, oh man, I got to address this. Is it hard to refocus?
David: I think it can be if you don't have your priorities outlined up front. Because if you're focusing on the thing that you decided is most important today, and then something new comes in. You have to say to yourself, is this more pressing than the thing that I'm working on now? And if the answer is no, you need to move that thing that came in down farther on the list.
If it is more important, then yeah, you're going to prioritize it. You're going to move it ahead of the thing you're doing now, you're going to get that knocked out, and then you're going to move back to the thing that you decided was going to be a priority when you started your day.
So there's a constant process of sort of re-juggling, reprioritizing the different things that come at you during the course of a day.
And if you want to be able to remain focused, and if you want to turn focus into profit, which is really the ultimate goal here, you have to be aware of where your focus is, who's trying to take it, and who you're going to allow to take it.
Kevin: Yeah. Yeah. Reprioritizing. That's a good way to put it. I mean, you could get into danger though if you keep reprioritizing of, if there's something that's maybe a, lower dollar client or something that might not be as pressing, that it can just keep getting pushed back, pushed back, pushed back, and pretty soon you've completely either forgotten about it or disregarded it or whatever. Is that a danger as well?
David: It can be, but that's where the whole word priority by itself. has to mean something to you. If it's a low dollar client and they come in and they're asking for something, you have to ask yourself, is this low dollar client more important than the thing I'm working on now?
And if the answer is no, then you've got to keep working on the thing that you're working on now.
Maybe you can delegate what they sent you to somebody else to have them do it if you've got other people in your organization. So if that needs to get done, it can get done. But prioritization means making the call, deciding, making that decision. Is this more important than that? And if the answer is no, then you can't distract yourself.
You can't divert your focus to something that is less important if you want to accomplish your objectives.
Kevin: We were talking about social media, you made the comment that it's designed to pull your focus away from what you were doing and lure you in. How can a business person, an entrepreneur, truly identify the distractions and do something about it if you want to turn focus into profit?
Because it's, sometimes it's hard to see from your own view, you know?
David: Yeah. Well first of all, you have to ask yourself, do I want social media to be available to me, accessible to me during business hours? And if so,