The Most Important Success Factor for Bill Gates and Warren Buffet

Imagine if you could have the success of Buffett and Gates. Wouldn't that be amazing? 

Well, Gate's mother invited Buffett to dinner with other guests. Then during the meal, She asked all her guests, what they believed was the single most important factor in their success though their life. 

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett had the same answer..........FOCUS

So how can we follow in their footsteps and use focus?

1. Set SMART goals and milestones

You need to decide what your priorities are then you can create smart goals to attain them..

S....Specific 

The universe favours the specific ask and punishes the  vague wish. Make sure you state exactly what you want.

M...Measured

What gets measured gets managed. Make sure there is some indicator of progress that you can refer to.

A....Achievable/Assignable

Make sure it is achievable and not too unrealistic. Otherwise you will never really commit. Also make sure it is assigned and the sub-parts are assigned.

R....Relevant

Make sure it is relevant to your circumstances.

T.....Time Bound

You must set time bound milestones so that you know when the results can be achieved.

2. Follow the Path

Warren buffet ,one of the greatest investors ever, sticks to exactly the types of business he understands and trades on this. He doesn't get sidetracked by other distractions. Plan the trade and  trade the plan.
Make sure that once you have set your goals, you follow them and are not distracted.

3.Learn the rule sof the game 

 Einstein said "you have to learn the rules of the game. and then you have to play better then anyone else"

Picasso said " learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist".

You need to learn the rules and immerse yourself in your subject so that you can truly master it.

Bill Gates has a think week. He does it  twice a year. He basically creates time and space to seclude himself for a week and do nothing but read articles and spend time researching and understanding his current area of focus. 

You should always spend some time to learn the rules of the game and think of the bigger picutre. Whether its an hour a day or an hour a week or more time, you should always make time.

4.Measure and feedback

They say that planes are off course for 97% of the time. They are constantly re-adjusting.

Most people never know when they are off course from their goals but this is vital. Create a measuring and feedback process (eg daily review in a notebook). This will support your focus.

Toggl is a mobile and desktop app which you can use to see how much time you use on various activities. You can then measure the time you spend and change it based on you focus and goals.

Toggl

5. Outsource non essential items

Work out what is the important valuable work you do and outsource the rest. Your time is valuable.

6. Use the  Pomodoro Technique

Francesco Cirillo was constantly getting distracted at university.  He decided to study more efficiently and grabbed a tomato shaped kitchen timer. He set it for 10 minutes and worked solidly then had a break. He realised that this was effective to be productive. 

With further testing and evaluation, he created a structure called the Pomodoro Technique (named after the Italian word for 'Tomato'). This consists of breaking you work into focused time blocks (25mins) followed by a short break (5mins). You then have a longer break after 4 consecutive time blocks you then have a longer break (15mins).

There are quite a few Pomodorro aps, e.g.



Focus Keeper  

Be Focused




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It's amazing what you can do if you are focussed.  John F kennedy said he would put a man on the moon within the decade and he did. What could you do, if you start to focus? 

Copyright Ash Fernando 2018