Focus is a must, on and off the links

I love golf - both playing and watching the pros - so you can imagine my delight when my wife, Carol Ann, surprised me for my birthday with a trip to watch the Ryder Cup in Glasgow, Scotland, in late September. What a memorable experience, one that's been on my bucket list for a long time. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a victory for the USA!

Along with the spectacular scenery and outstanding golf, the thing that struck me most was the focus of all the players.

It's easy to have focus when everything is going well, but great athletes keep their focus when they are staring at defeat. A sure way to fail is to lose focus.

I remember when my close friend Lou Holtz was asked to speak to the American team at the 2008 Ryder Cup by then-captain Paul Azinger. Holtz told the players to remember the acronym WIN, which stands for "What's Important Now."

Holtz told the American athletes to evaluate the past but focus on the future. If you just made a bogey, what's important now? Your next tee shot. If you make a birdie, what's important now? Your next tee shot. You play one shot at a time and stay focused.

He finished by telling the players to enjoy the competition and what they were doing, but to stay focused. That team won, the last time the U.S. team brought home the Ryder Cup.

I watched Holtz do the same with many of the football teams he coached: Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina. As Holtz said, think only about the next play or point, not what just happened. You can only focus on what will happen next. Don't look back and don't complain. If you maintain your focus on the future, anything can happen.

Years ago, when I played golf for the University of Minnesota, my coach, Les Bolstad, drove home a similar point about focus. I remember practicing and getting ready for the NCAA Golf Championship Tournament at Purdue University. Les told me to focus on each shot as if it were going to be my last. I would say to myself, "This is the last drive I'm ever going to hit, so it better be good. This is the last putt that I'm ever going to make," and so on.

I've carried that philosophy through to my work life. "This is the last speech I'm ever going to give, so it better be good. This is the last book I'm ever going to write ... This is the last acquisition I'm ever going to make. "

It takes that kind of focus to succeed. I'm convinced that one of the top things that keep people from getting what they want is lack of focus. People who focus on what they want to achieve, prosper; those who don't, struggle.

Forbes Magazine recently did a story on the nine habits of productive people. One of them was focus, specifically using your morning to focus on yourself and ignore the demands of other people.

I couldn't agree more. I make my to-do list every morning by working backward: What do I need to accomplish by the end of the day, week and month? That tells me where to focus.

But what about getting your work team focused on the right goals? The Change Management website offers this simple test: Ask everyone in your group what the organization's mission is, how it affects their jobs and how they contribute to it.

If a significant percentage can't provide a persuasive answer, you need to either communicate your mission more consistently and effectively, or change it so people understand their roles better. A business can't succeed without a common focus.

This idea predates modern business culture, as evidenced by this old fable: A martial arts student approached his teacher with a question. "I'd like to improve my knowledge of the martial arts. In addition to learning from you, I'd like to study with another teacher in order to learn another style. What do you think of this idea?"

The master answered, "The hunter who chases two rabbits catches neither one."

Mackay's Moral: Stay focused on one thing. Trying to get everything will get you nothing.

Harvey Mackay is the author of the New York Times best-seller "Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive." He can be reached through his website, www.harveymackay.com, by emailing harvey@mackay.com or by writing him at MackayMitchell Envelope Co., 2100 Elm St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414.