Tag Archives: Concentration

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8.12.15“To be great is not a word but work that makes a word.”
― Auliq Ice, Song writer, Author

Today, I want to discuss with you, the next stage of your business, after you have landed on creating your next new offering or service and dreamed of the sure to be eventual success of this next step.  The stage that most people don’t think of or want to think of is the amount of concentration that will have to be given to making the offer be a success.  That stage is called being in concentration.

So what is concentration?  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as: the act of giving your attention to a single object or activity—then a pop up notice says: “Concentration is currently in the bottom 50% of lookups on Merriam-Webster.com.”  This made me laugh out loud.  Of course it is at the bottom of the list of words looked up.  No one wants to be in concentration nor do they even want to know about it—that includes YOU and ME.  However, concentration is the energy that takes creation and makes something happen.

Concentration is the ability to focus on what we want to accomplish, and to do the work necessary to bring it into reality.  It is a high and difficult state of mind to maintain.  This is the state of trying out things and failing.  We are so wanting it to happen that we keep on trying things until something sticks.  Being in the state of concentration is intense; it requires a determination to succeed.  And when we succeed it is certainly worthy of at least a mini fiesta.

How to know when you are in the stage of concentration is pretty easy.  You are single minded.  What there is to do is work.  This is where you sometimes forget to take care of yourself.  You do still need to eat and sleep!

There are times when you are on your knees because you have not met your goals.  What I have found that works for people who are wiped out like this is to admit that they are in concentration.  There is something magical about just saying what is authentic and true: I am in concentration now; this is hard.  When we are not clear about this state of concentration we suffer in silence—that is when we are likely to quit.

Am I telling you to complain bitterly to anyone who is around you?  No!  I am saying that you need to have someone who you trust to talk to when you are in this state.  I am talking about someone who is as committed to your success as you are.  And someone who will not be manipulated by you and let you off the hook of being in concentration.

To me being in concentration is a very high state of being.  I admire you and salute you.  I am also here for you, if you want to talk.

 

Photo courtesy of Frame Angel FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

The Four Simple Principles Behind Making Your Good Idea Successful

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Blog 62514First they ignore you.  Then they ridicule you.  And then they attack you and want to burn you.  And then they build monuments to you.

Nicholas Klein, Trade Unionist

What do you think?  Seems right on doesn’t it?  Apply it to your own entrepreneurial innovations.  Is your experience similar?  But who is the “they”?  Most often it is just you mocking yourself.

And what is your monument?  Profit probably—not a concrete monolith in some park.

What does it take to go from a dream to reality?  Who do you have to be in order to persevere and go through the stages necessary to achieve your monumental profit?

There are several stages—the first is formulation, putting together the idea.  This is the most fun stage, creating something new where anything goes.  There are entrepreneurs who get stuck in this stage.  It can become an endless cycle of getting ready to get ready.  This is the pitfall of this stage.

The next stage is concentration—taking the idea and putting in the hard work needed to make it a reality.  Concentration meaning putting all of your attention on implementing your idea.  Concentration is hard work.  Usually, this stage is when entrepreneurs give up.  You have your doubts and sometimes you believe your doubts.  Here’s a tip: if you know it’s hard and you are concentrating on making something happen, then you can go forward.  We usually think its “weak” to say something is hard.  It’s NOT weak.  If you see it’s hard as an observation not a sentence to fail, you will be able stay with the process.

Following concentration is momentum.  In momentum, people start thinking your idea as valid and they want to work with you.  This is the time when you are building at a rapid pace and are beginning to see the finish line.  You will still refine your idea and enhance it.  However, the slog slowly becomes a jog, then a race to the finish.

In the final stage you reach stability.  You have successfully launched your product.  You are making a profit.  Your monument has been built.  Congratulations.

Of course, you are not finished, after all, you are an entrepreneur and have another idea.  This one is better than the last.  You go back to concentration.

In the spaces below, please comment about your experience in going through these stages.  Do you have more stages to add to the conversation?  I look forward to hearing from you!