Do something wonderful – And simple – in your life

“Focal Point”
Brian Tracy
American Management Association, 2002



When you were starting your career, you heard this, not only once, but many times: “You don’t have a focus!” And you are jolted to your senses – looking for ways to “organize” or “prioritize.” And you somehow, intuitively so, succeed.

In the business of discussion – or in life – we have always been told that “to have a focus” will surely make us accomplish more. The problem with discussion is there are many issues, and the problem with life is there are many priorities crying for attention.

In a game of chess, from an amateur’s standpoint, there are two kinds of players: One player goes for an early checkmate gingerly steering clear of a phalanx of pawns, penetrating lines of bishops, and the omnipotence of the queen; the other player forces a “simplification process” toward the end game, pushes for mutual “sacrifice” of pieces – so battleground is run of complexity – and deliver the coup de grace.

One player thrives on complexity, the other had the edge in simplicity. In either case, you need a high level of focus. As in a game of chess, so in a game called life.

“Focal Point,” new book by Brian Tracy, America’s favorite motivational speaker and mentor/coach, is one of many books geared to one objective: Enable us to sharpen our focus – and therefore increase our chance for success. The sub-title actually summarizes it well: “a proven system to simplify your life, doubles your productivity, and achieve all your goals.”

The author begins with the story of a consultant. There was a major technical problem at a nuclear power plant, a malfunction that was slowing every generation. So the nation’s top consultant was brought in – who wasted not time looking for the problem. For the next two days, the consultant walked around, studied and gauges in the control room, took notes and made calculations.

At the end of second day, he took a black felt marker, climbed up the ladder, and out a large black “X” on one of the gauges. “This is the problem,” he said. Shortly, the defect was repaired.

A week later, the plant manager received a bill for $10,000 from the consultant for “services rendered.” The plant manager of this multi-billion dollar facility protested the exorbitant bill, and thus asked for itemized expenses.

The consultant obliged. He sent a new invoice: “For placing ‘X’ on a single gauge, $1. For knowing which gauge to place ‘X’ on: $9,999.”

This “X” is your focal point, said author Tracy – “the one thing you can do to get the best result.”

The book discusses what the author calls the “Focal Point Process” – namely, Values, Vision, Goals, Knowledge and Skills, Habits, Daily Activities and Actions. Each part of the process is discussed in the style of this engaging speaker and author.

The book has an abundance of quotes and principles. One is applying the “80/20 Rule” – we call it “Pareto Law” them. It foes like this: Identify 20 percent of the value of everything you do. Many of our readers might have tried this with success. The author this joins those who have remarkably prospered because of this one simple rule.

The author brings us to self-evaluation, and hold us by the hand toward new ways to succeed. Whether you are a CEO on top of them heap, or a fledging management trainee below, you would find his advice relevant. There are times that he sounds more like motivational speaker and not an author, but that’s pardonable considering the gems of advice he freely throws our way.

Listen: “There are four ways to change: You can do more of some things, you can do less of other things, you can start doing something that you have not done before, and you can stop doing something that is not helpful to you or to achieving your goals.”

That is a mouthful to begin with, and then you journey on with the author in this book.

You can’t help but be inspired by the desire of the speaker to bring you to heights yet unscaled: “Most people settle for far less than they are truly capable of … They settle for a mediocre existence rather than committing themselves to breaking their own mental shackles and escaping from their own mental prisons.”

You get the impression that the author is telling you that you can truly dramatically succeed – that you can do almost anything. Minus the hyperbole, really, he could be right.

And he also knows the requirements for success. He underscores the need for Discipline, and quotes Elbert Hubbard for the purpose: “The ability to make yourself do what you should, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”

The author throws in many more tips – including the “1,000 percent formula,” which promises us to achieve a thousand percent improvement on your productivity in ten years. He has calculations, too, to convince you. But somewhere in the book, he gives a very encouraging quote that should make your day and mine. He says: “You were born to do something wonderful with your life.”

Everyday wisdom: An oasis in a desert

“Expect the Unexpected”
Roger Von Oech
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2002


Have you met someone who is bursting with information – current events, statistics, encyclopedic knowledge, every item in the Guinness Book, and every detail about science and business? But, you aren’t impressed – because the same guy – for the many years you’ve associated with him – has not said anything original. Or he hasn’t come up with any idea that comes close to brilliance – or even and insight,

It’s true then, it’s truer not – and Heraclitus said it 2, 500 years ago: “Knowing many things does not teach insight.”

If one is too purified up with information – and is proud of it – he has not time to distill such knowledge. “Practice forgetting,” said Roger Von Oech, and you are on your way to gaining insight. Who is Von Oech? He is the author of a bestselling creativity classic, “A Whack on the Side of the Head,” who came up with a freshly minted book – “Expect the Unexpected,” the subject of this review.

You must learn the value of forgetting. Von Oech relates this story: A creativity teacher once invited his student for afternoon tea. The teacher poured some tea into the student’s cup. Even after the cup was full, he continued to pour, and the tea over-flowed into the floor.

The student exclaimed: “You must stop pouring … the tea is not going into the cup.” The teacher replied: “The same is true with you. If you’re to receive any of my teachings, you must first empty out the contents of your mental cup.” We also heard id said that if your soul is full mundane concerns, the Divine cannot fill you with His power.

This Executive Read could have been titled “Heraclitus Re-visited,” because this book under review is a collection of 30 epigrams culled by the author from some 125 epigrams compiled by the 19th century compiler Hermann Diels. Heraclitus’ style, according to Von Oech, is similar to a Zen teacher’s paradoxical koan or a Delphic Oracle’s ambiguous prophecy. In my opinion, it partakes of the parable of Jesus of Nazareth.

His epigrams – whether oracle, koan or parable – provide insight into life. And you stumble into them like oases in an endless stretch of desert sand.

Consider this astonishing thought: “Expect the unexpected, or you won’t find it.” The author paraphrases it, saying “If we open our minds, we’ll discover wondrous array of ideas to help us solve the problems inevitably fall into out path.” I summarize this with a statement: “e prepared for a surprise!” In fact, many of our readers who have come upon a brilliant idea experienced such “surprising” or unexpected blessing.

“Drop an assumption,” the author says, and relates an anecdote about celebrated inventor Thomas Edison, who had a simplest to measure the “unexpectedness quotient” of prospective employees. He would invite a candidate to lunch and serve him a bowl of soup. He would then watch whether the person salted his soup before tasting it. If he did, he wouldn’t be offered the job. Edison felt that people are more open to possibilities if they don’t salt their experience of life before tasting it.

One epigram has a word of caution to the powerful and the mighty who have ascended to their “thrones”: “The way up and the way down are one and the same.” He who lives by the sword will die by the sword, the Scriptures say. He who wrests power by guns, goons and gold will also lose such power by the same three G’s. Recent history bears us out.

We are always told to look at the “big picture.” Or, we will miss the forest for the trees, as they often say. Heraclitus contributes this epigram: “The cosmos speaks in patterns.” We find patterns all around us.

We see similarities: stellar galaxies and water emptying out of a bathtub both spiral in the same way. We see relationships: The tighter a government’s restrictions on its press, the less prosperous that society’s economy is likely to be. We truly hope the last statement would soon ring true.

Have you marveled at the wisdom of your venerable dad or mom, when he or she links what are otherwise unconnected – and then come up with something astonishingly new? Heraclotus again has a gem of wisdom: “A wonderful harmony is created when we join together the seemingly unconnected.” Guttenberg joined the wine press and the coin punch to create moveable type and the printing press. Greek metallurgists alloyed soft copper with even softer tin to produce hard bronze.

When there is not sun, we can see the evening stars. You discover something new when a dominant feature is removed. The executive bosses should try getting out of their offices and thus enable their subordinates to shine.

“The doctor inflicts pain to cure suffering.” If a part causes the whole to suffer, cut it. An editor removes a favorite paragraph in order to save the manuscript. This article has said enough about this refreshing book. Before any sentence is cut, this piece must end. Let Heraclitus speak.