Focus

When I teach here in Smith’s School of English in Ikoma,  I really try to encourage my students to have a clear goal.  That’s why I write things like the entries about the Winner’s Bible.  If you make your own winner’s bible, you are essentially making your own goals into pictures and reviewing those pictures daily.  Having clear goals gives you focus.

I was reminded about focus just today when I saw a video of an old climbing partner of mine.  He is solo climbing in the video. That’s something that really demands focus. Solo climbing is climbing without a rope. When you climb without a rope, you become very focused. This is simply because the alternative is very unpalatable.

I want my students to have clear goals because that will motivate them to move towards the freedom they desire using English. Focus creates motivation in its own way. The challenge is to become focused in the first place. That is why you need to revisit your goals. Unlike climbing, where the goal is so tangible and indeed a little addictive, language learning goals are often a little abstract.

I strongly recommend turning some of your language learning goals (or any other goals, for that matter) into images that you can revisit daily.  This should forge them into strong clear goals with plenty of focus, which will propel you into the desired future you have imagined.

I will include the video to help you see some of the aspects of focus and what they can help you achieve. Just translate his climb into your imagined goal and then get started on creating focus!