The Successful Warrior is the Average Man with Laser-like Focus
We are warriors for impact.
That’s a big statement but it doesn’t mean a thing without the proper focus. The work that an impactmaker does requires a higher ratio of focus to effort than you might think.
The people and organizations that are the most consistent are able to focus on one mission no matter the scenario. They take in all information and pass it through an air tight filter that I’ll describe in this E-Impact.
Focus Jobs
What are some jobs that you think require a special amount of focus?
Here are some that come to mind for me immediately:
Surgeon
Archer
Air-traffic Controller
Racecar Driver
Sniper
These are all unique professions. There aren’t many of each compared to other roles. One thing they have in common is that there is some function of safety involved. Another (with the exception of the Air-Traffic Controller, maybe), is that there is a physical part of the job.
Maybe we are misdefining focus. It doesn’t require there to be immediacy or physical risk. It just means that you must limit distractions and while one could argue that every worker should avoid distractions, certain roles require a different level of concentration.
Here are some jobs that require focus you may not think of right away:
Author
Singer/songwriter
Financial Planner
Electrician
Plumber
Teacher
The list is much longer but the key is that the job requires you to navigate multiple variables at once in order to be successful.
Focus On Impact
The impact space might be the most extreme example of available time with complicated variables.
I’ve said before that generosity is simple (yet hard). Most people can begin to build a generous mindset and culture by doing simple things to help them identify opportunities to bless others. I encourage everyone to do this. But impactmakers, well, we’re different.
It’s Complicated (not relationship advice)
We like it complicated!
Or, at least we like it to be significant if not epic. With that being said, it can often get complicated. Remember when your relationship status on social media could be, “It’s complicated”? If we only knew how complicated our efforts would be now.
Maybe complication is a necessary evil but maybe it’s also a blessing. It’s something that we tend to lean into. You don’t shy away from it when you see a challenge. It’s more of a characteristic you look for because it indicates there is a problem to solve and someone can benefit from that solution.
You’re a problem solver and problems get complicated.
The more complicated something is (more variables), the more focus you must have.
Bruce Lee
Let’s take it all the way back to the July 21, 2020 edition of E-Impact. I’ve referenced this entry a few times since then, but it’s been a while. This one was about Bruce Lee and how he loved to celebrate the small wins in life.
I think Bruce’s way of living was admirable. He was incredibly skilled physically but his mental fortitude was more impressive. He was a focused man and had plenty of quotes to show for it.
This is not Bruce Lee.
This entry’s title is a direct quote from Bruce.
“The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus.”
You can’t say it better.
Bruce died at the age of 32 in 1973. He was too young but packed in a full lifetime’s worth of knowledge.
I feel comfortable naming him as an impactmaker even if that word wasn’t invented during his life. His mom was the half-niece of powerful Hong Konger and philanthropist, Robert Hotung. I’m not sure what that makes him in genealogical terms but it seems giving was in his blood.
Lasers
Laser:
a device that generates an intense beam…
I was reading the definition of laser and just stopped after “beam”. There’s no need to read further for the purposes of this writing. Intensity is something that Bruce Lee and The Impactmaker Movement are about.
Bruce’s quote indicates that the key ingredient to triumph (as a warrior) is laser-like focus. It must be intense.
Think about the things in your life that are intense and ask yourself these five questions:
What party is initiating the intensity?
How do I react to that intensity?
Is the intensity desirable?
Is there a purpose for the intensity?
Does anyone else share the same intensity?
Can the intensity be channeled to another destination?
What?
The first question is about determining which things in your life are intense by your design. You want them to be intense and thus, it’s a worthwhile use of resources.
You have one laser - a limited supply of intensity.
How?
The second question is designed to help you consider how that intensity makes you feel.
When?
The third question is about the moment - helping you determine when intensity is providing enjoyment.
Why?
The fourth question will tell you if there is a good reason for the intensity.
Who?
The fifth question is to find the people you share the feeling with.
Where?
The sixth question is doing your due diligence to figure out where else you can use the intensity.
Note that you’ll have to apply these questions to each thing you believe involves intensity in your life. Don’t overestimate it otherwise, it will take you a whole week to go through everything. My guess is that most people in your position would overestimate how many things are actually intense because you tend to like intensity and even thinking about it.
Lasers are intense.
The ideal scenario involves you wielding an intense laser that makes you feel something, something you like, with a noble purpose, that others also feel, and that has significant use cases.
I’m not saying that you have to answer all six questions “correctly” but the clearer and better your answers are, the more you should lean into that action (laser).
The Average Man
You’re average. That’s fine. We’re all just human but with laser-like focus, we can do extraordinary things. I’m not writing this just to motivate you. Don’t expect things to come because you answered the questions above the right way.
The average man is smart enough to manipulate responses to get the desired result. You knew how to answer the test questions to get the right grade or the interview questions to get the job. This is different. You can’t just have the right answer. You have to have the actions too.
This is where using the laser properly comes in. All of my writing assumes you want to make a difference, so with that in mind, take action.
Consider yourself average and requiring laser-like focus to find success. This is better than assuming amazing ability that will enable you to rest on your natural skills.
Bruce the Average
Bruce Lee was 5’7 1/4”, 141 pounds. He wasn’t a big man even by mid-twentieth century standards - average a best. However, he had the focus and while I don’t believe his statement was a testament to his own success it was very fitting.
Anything you can do to highlight your need to focus is good. Consider yourself average. Review the title of this writing. Set reminders for yourself. Find the best way for you.
Review E-Impact 103 and the blurb about Seth Godin if needed. There is something special about the beginner’s mindset. Bruce was a successful actor, martial artist, and philosopher but never an “expert”.
Lasers, again?
I couldn’t help myself. I read the rest of the definition of “laser”. It includes this line:
Lasers are used in drilling and cutting, alignment and guidance, and in surgery
Seems to me that we were (I was, haha) right about some of the jobs that require focus. Maybe you can consider your impact work to me figurative drilling, cutting, alignment, guidance, and ultimately, surgery.
I love a good metaphor but in this case, I’d like to think of it as more than just a metaphor. You’ll need true laser-like focus to make the impact you want. You’ll need to recognize problems, talk to people who are suffering, recruit others, deal with politics, rules, and red tape, build physical stuff, build figurative bonds, connect people, and execute plans. A little lost focus could hinder a huge effort.
Your laser doesn’t require a single piece of precision in the moment but an extended concentration that focuses on many things for a single issue.
And that is the difference between the jobs at the beginning of this entry. Those things have lots of single projects (surgeries, arrows, flights, races, targets) that require separate executions of focus. Your work has one mission and focus on many things. Keep in mind that laser-like focus is about intensity and not narrowness. In other words, can’t have tunnel vision. The laser is like a strong filter applied to many situations.
The Battle
You are battling a relentless enemy. You’re a warrior (although an average human) that will not settle for anything less than success. I lied. I am here to motivate.
Take the motivation and run out to the battlefield, laser-equipped, ready for action. Ask yourself the questions when the battle gets tough and never lose the confidence to do extraordinary things no matter how average you believe the odds to be.