Boaz Rauchwerger: Speaker, Trainer, Consultant and Author

As a young man, in the Boy Scouts, I became quite proficient at marksmanship with 22 caliber rifles. The key was to focus, find the center of the target and then hold my breath for a second when pulling the trigger.

I was born in Israel and came to America with my parents when I was nine. None of us could speak a word of English. By the time I was a high school senior, I had learned enough of the language to become an evening newscaster on the largest rock and roll radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Don't get overly impressed. Two months later, with many of my high school classmates listening to me every evening, I was fired. Two problems: I had a German accent and I couldn't read well on the air. Determined, I went to work with my speech teacher, focused, and six months later got rid of the accent, gained some confidence in reading out loud and went to work for another large radio station.

These two incidents are examples of what happens with focus. Yet, most people see their lives as a blur of anxiety, worry and stress.

My father was a carpenter and a builder. He would have never considered building a house without a detailed blueprint. He didn't just approach a piece of property, have a truck unload a stack of wood and hope that magically a house would appear. Yet most people never take time, on a regular basis, to form and follow a blueprint for their lives.

Do you regularly sit down and think about your future? If your answer is that you don't have time to do that, I believe you're hoping that a house will appear from a stack of wood. As I coach CEOs on a weekly basis, the main thing I do for these corporate leaders is help them focus. The following are some of the questions I ask them:

1. Where do you want to be in five years?

2. Where do you want to be in one year?

3. What are your main objectives in the next month?

4. What are your top objectives for this week?

5. What do we need to do to achieve your objectives for this week?

6. In addition to work, what are you going to do this week to get away from work?

Notice that we start with a long-range plan and then break it down to THIS WEEK. We also make sure the CEO does some mental relaxation.

Aren't you the CEO of your own life? Of course you are. If you were a corporation, how well would you rate the way you're running YOU? Are you focused on a clear future you've identified in writing? Are you steering your ship toward a desirable harbor or are you simply drifting?

If you are not spending much time focusing on your future, and particularly the financial portion of it, let's start with just five minutes a week. Eventually you can build up to an hour. Would an exciting, rewarding, happy future be worth just one hour a week?

If your desire is to be financially independent, debt-free, to building loving relationships, enjoying more time with your family or working on a hobby, a clear, written plan of action will help tremendously. Start with five minutes and week. Focus, aim for the target, take action and you too can hit an exciting, worthwhile target.

Affirmations to Help You Focus

As you can see, I am focused on focus in this issue of the Power Notes. Let's turn the questions in article one into affirmations to help you achieve your dreams. Productive affirmations are statements of what your desire, written as if already accomplished, with a date and an emotion. Here are some examples, using a money goal.

It's December 31, 200_ (5 years from now). I now have $150,000 in savings toward my retirement. I am debt free and I am excited!

It's December 31, 200_ (one year from now). I now have $20,000 in savings and am on my way to becoming debt-free. I am excited. (Notice that we're now breaking down the long-term goals in smaller, manageable pieces. Be sure to set these at levels that you can actually see. If the number is not believable, lower it until it is.)

It's May 31, 200_(30 days from now). I now have $1,000 in savings. I've paid off my smallest debt and I am excited!

Affirmations, in your life's blueprint, can be written for each area: relationships, finance, health, educational and spiritual desires. Read these affirmations the first thing each morning and the last thing each night. Do not analyze them. Just read them out loud. Within 21 days you will believe every word and find yourself taking small steps toward those specific goals. I believe in you. You are a Champion!

A Daily Focus Affirmation

I focus every day on my important written goals.