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FOCUS
VOLUME 2
AN I N S P IR ATI O N A L G UI D E
BY S P E N CER LO D G E 1
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FOCUS YOUR BRAIN.
FOCUS YOUR DAY.
FOCUS YOUR LIFE.
How often are you pulled away from important
tasks due to the lure of social media? Do you
reach for your cell phone every time you hear it
buzz? Are your chatty colleagues keeping you
from ticking things off of your to-do-list? Does
the notification of a new email coming in break
your focus?
Concentration in today’s fast-paced world isn’t
always easy. With our brains taking in thousands
of distractions on an hourly basis it’s easy to lose
focus. There are more than 1.09 billion daily active
users on Facebook, who log in multiple times a day.
But once you allow yourself to get distracted via
social media or via other distractions, refocusing
your mind can be a difficult task.
I often get asked how I manage to keep my focus
whilst running multiple businesses. Here are some of
the things that have helped me over the years:
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Some of the most successful people of our time have
something in common. You won’t find them still
hitting the snooze button at 9am. A recent poll
of highly successful people found that almost 90%
claim to wake up before 5am.
THE EARLY
BIRD CATCHES
THE WORM
Benjamin Franklin once said that rising early
makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. Waking
up before 5am in the morning gives you the
opportunity for some quiet time to get focused
before the rest of the world rises. For me, that’s a
liberating feeling. Map out your day, revisit your
goals and take some time for yourself. I’ve never
regretted waking up early and not sleeping in. If
anything, by waking early I find that I have more
energy throughout the day. Start by setting your
alarm just one hour earlier than you usually do.
You’ll be shocked as to how much you can get done
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in that power hour.
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MAKE YOUR BED
It may seem like a menial task but according to
new research, making your bed in the morning sets
the tone for the rest of the day.
Making your bed gives you a
sense of accomplishment.
Think of it as the first thing on your to-do-list that
you tick off. You’ll feel more organized, focused
and ready to take on the day. This might be a bit
tricky if like me, you’re married and you tend to get
up before your partner, but if you get the chance -
always try to make the bed!
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Exercise isn’t just vital for the body. Exercise is
vital for your mind! Regular exercise releases a
brain protein called brain-derived neurotrophic
factor (BDNF) key for memory, concentration, and
mental sharpness.
EXERCISE
The best time for me to exercise
is first thing in the morning.
You’ll always find me working out between 5 and
6am and I know I’m a more productive person
because of it.
When I first started training after my spinal surgery I
had a goal of being able to do 100 push-ups.
The first day I tried I could only do ten. But every day
I would increase that by one. Little by little I was able
to build up, without putting myself off and before
I knew it I could do those 100 push-ups easily.
Discipline and focus go hand in hand with exercise.
By training your body you are
without a doubt training your mind.
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PICK YOUR
TASKS CAREFULLY
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the
company was on the brink of failure. What he discovered
upon his return was that Apple had been producing
multiple versions of the same product to satisfy requests
from retailers.
Jobs immediately got to work reducing the number of
Apple products by 70%. Moving forward, his strategy was
to produce only a select few products: a desktop and a
portable device for both consumers and professionals.
The same thought process that Steve used could be
applied to streamline your life.
Focus is a matter of deciding what things you’re not going
to do. Yes, you might think you’re able to do two things at once,
but you can’t FOCUS effectively on multiple tasks.
Focus occurs in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Many
think that because their body is functioning without their
conscious thought, that they’re multitasking, but in actual
fact a lot of our physical actions such as breathing are
directed from a different part of our brain. As a result,
there’s no channel conflict. When you focus however, it’s
like shining a spotlight onto what matters. It’s something
that’s front and centre. This kind of concentration can
only happen on one thing at a time. Take on two things
and your attention gets divided. Take on a third and 6
balls will be dropped.
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Before knuckling down to the task at hand, turn
off your phone or put it on silent (not vibrate). I’ve
deleted all social media apps off of my phone so
that I’m not distracted whilst I’m working. Don’t get
me wrong, social media is a great tool that can do
great things for your business, but I find that it works
best to allocate a certain amount of time per day for
social media, so that I never lose focus on my tasks
at hand.
STAY IN THE ZONE
Another common cause of distraction is people.
If people tend to distract you at the office, put up a
sign of some sort to notify your colleagues that you
don’t want to be disturbed.
Don’t worry about offending people.
You’ve got a job and
you need to get it done.
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A common misconception is that you either have focus
or you don’t. Focus is a discipline and according to
research, it takes, on average 66 days to develop a
discipline into a habit. Richard Branson who is one of
the most successful entrepreneurs of our time battled
with ADHD growing up. Similarly to me, he disliked
school and had a hard time concentrating on anything
said during class.
When I was nineteen I realised what I wanted to be.
And for the first time in my life I was truly interested in
what I was doing. I would wake up at 4:30am every
morning and drive an hour into London. Between 6
and 7am a group of us would receive dynamic sales
training, but if you weren’t there early you weren’t
allowed in. I loved what I was learning, so naturally I
was always there front and centre.
DO WHAT
INTERESTS YOU
I hear a lot of stories these days about people suffering
from burnout. Yes, life can be stressful but if you truly
love what you are doing then it won’t feel like work.
Your passion gives you energy to do what you
love each and every day. I’m excited when I wake up
in the morning and I hope to always keep it that way.
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If you want to achieve
success in your life you
need to know exactly what
you want.
SET GOALS
FOR YOURSELF
One of the most powerful things I learnt early on
in my career was how to set clear and definitive
goals. I knew what I needed to do each day and I
got those things done.
When setting your goals it’s important to tackle one
thing at a time. Set a timeline in which you aim to
achieve these things and stick to it. When you know
that you’re working on a deadline, you tend to get
things done faster.
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FOCUS,
FOCUS,
FOCUS The mind is an
incredibly powerful
tool; it just sometimes
needs some fine-
tuning. Focus on your
goals, focus on your
success and focus on
making it happen!
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“SUCCESS OCCURS WHEN
YOUR DREAMS GET BIGGER
THAN YOUR EXCUSES”
SPENCER LODGE
services and sales industry, with over 23 years of experience.
He has personally trained over 500 people during his
career and has helped build some of the largest and most
for clients and investors from all over the world.
Find out more » hi@make-it-happen.com
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