Multitasking is Good, Focus is Even Better!

I almost freaked out when I found out that I could cut steel and concrete with just a bottle of water, or simply by shining a torch light. Wait, with my bottle of Nestlé PureLife, I could cut down the Eiffel Tower?
Ok, I know that sounds dramatic and impossible, but the real gist of this is that you can cut steel or concrete with a water jet or laser. It sounds like science fiction, but that’s the power of focus.
Taking it further, I remember a very razz proverb from my grandma that says that you can make your pee foam – if you aim it at just one spot.
Science fiction or razzness aside, there is so much you can achieve in life and your career – just by the power of focus. It allows you to put together your mental, financial, and professional energy on what is imperative. Hopefully, you can have the superlative success that nobody would have imagined you are capable of.
The power of focus also goes into the everyday things we see around us. Think about how a small push of the brake pedal can stop the humongous SUV we are using to harass innocent Fiat Punto drivers on the roads. The little force from our spindly legs is multiplied by focusing it on a small area of the brake mechanism.
So it boils down to this: if you are trying to do many things at the same time, you may be praised as the master of multi-tasking, but the chance is pretty high you won’t achieve anything.
How this affects your career and your life
I once mentored a young woman. Bright and intense nonetheless, she was never able to break into the big league because of a major problem – she wanted to do so many things. From project management certifications to doing ACCA (sorry, accounting sucks), to running a hair salon side gig. Ultimately, her attention, energy, and intensity stretched thin. It was simply not enough to achieve success.
So, if you need to have a transformation that lasts and gets you there, the first big question would be – what would you rather be successful in… if you had just one chance?
Unfortunately, it’s hard to find an answer to that deceptively simple question easily. No wonder it has been hard to be successful as well. Sad.
So let’s say you are one of the few who knows what they want to be, the next thing would be to focus on it like a religion. Act like your life depends on it. The focus does the magic!
Run the distance
Focus is magic; but every magician will tell you, if you don’t have the crowd, you don’t have the magic! You need to run the distance for the focus to show its effect.
This reminds me of the few times I did some sit ups, then I gingerly touched my pouch, feeling for anything that looks like the start of a six pack. Of course, once I fell off my schedule after a few days, only the one pack stayed behind.
Simplification is deceptive
Before sauntering into the evening, I need to warn you that simplification is a façade. Yes, you need focus, and then you need focus to run the distance to achieve anything. Errm, that isn’t all to succeed. You need to run smart; you need a dose of luck.
Gosh! We need many things just to get a chance to succeed.

Author: dejiolowe

Adédèjì is the founder of Lendsqr, the loan infrastructure fintech powering lenders at scale. Before this, he led Trium Limited, the corporate VC of the Coronation Group, which invested in Woven Finance, Sparkle Bank, Clane, and L1ght, amongst others. He has almost two decades of banking experience, including stints as the Divisional Head of Electronic Banking at Fidelity Bank Plc. He drove the turnaround of the bank’s digital business. He was previously responsible for United Bank for Africa Group’s payment card business across 19 countries. Alongside other industry veterans, he founded Open Banking Nigeria, the nonprofit driving the development and adoption of a common API standard for the Nigerian financial industry. Beyond open APIs, Adédèjì works deeply within the fintech ecosystem; he’s the board chairman at Paystack. Adédèjì is a renowned fintech pundit and has been blogging on technology and payments at dejiolowe.com since 2001.

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