Today it is often said that one must have a “laser focus” to become successful. What does a laser have to do with achievement in one’s life and why does that one need to be “laser focused”? In order to answer those questions, we first must establish what a “laser” is and why it is connected to our focus, our thinking.
Having a “laser focus” has become a catch phrase, used in any and all practices involving creation. We talk of the laser focus in an animal stalking its prey. Students of all ages are told to study with a laser focus. The conversation terms, “cut to the chase” or “bottom line this” have all but been replaced by “laser it for me”. Yet, what is it that we truly mean when we use the term, “laser focus”?
Crash Course in Lasers
Around 1957, Charles Townes was experimenting with light transmission. He and his brother-in-law, Arthur Schawlow, began to work on the concept of very short waves to amplify radiation. This idea was also being explored by a variety of scientists in other places as well as other countries. Gordon Gould, who was a graduate student at Columbia University had also discussed the problem with Townes.
Gould’s research had been focused on augmenting, or pumping up, atoms so that they would emit light. As he continued his research, he realized that there were many more possible tasks that a concentrated beam of light could accomplish. Although not yet officially “invented”, he named this concept “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation” that became known by its acronym, LASER. Many scientists were responsible for what we call “laser” today, including as far back as Einstein, whose theories helped enormously in the research.
Unlike the common light bulb, the laser emits a highly focused, narrow beam of light. Although each color on the light spectrum is transmitted at a different wavelength, the laser allows the wavelengths to become very similar; it shortens them. A laser “beam” is very bright and able to be focused in extremely tiny places. Laser beams are not diffuse, as is naturally occurring light, and are therefore able to travel great distances. Those tiny laser beams are used in precision tools as they can cut through diamonds and even thick metal. Yet, they are also capable of great use in surgeries, in the most delicate operations, with minimal invasiveness. Recording and information retrieval are another property of lasers. Television, internet, communications, printers, barcode scanners, are some of the many ways that lasers have helped with research, healing, and discovery. It seems that each day a new and helpful use is found for lasers.
What do Lasers have to do with Focus in One’s Life
Accomplishing one’s goals in life requires determination, perseverance, and yes, focus in order to be successful. Here are some helpful perspectives on achieving that success.
Set Goals, Long and Short Term
“How do you get there if you don’t know where you are going?” If one is simply moving through life without an identified goal, like the light from the Sun, the journey will become diffuse, unfocused, and dissipate into nothingness.
First, identify the destination. Where do you want to be in 10 years? For what do you want to be known in 10 years? Establish that long-term goal. Be clear with yourself about that goal. Pinpoint your future. This goal is where your aim, your focus, ultimately needs to be. See all the colors of your life – education, experience, environment, mindset, talent, abilities – focused on that goal. Don’t make the mistake of simply visualizing that goal. Write it down on paper. Get a journal. While typing your work is helpful, the connection with mind, body, and memory is enhanced when one writes the words, or sketches the imagery.
Second, see the trajectory from now until goal accomplished. What steps do you need to take? What are the small goals, the pieces that will mark your progress? Put up checkpoints in those places. As example, the checkpoint “education”. What do you need to learn to be successful in reaching your goal? Do you need to adjust your environment, the way you once learned to see the world? What kinds of experiences will you need to accomplish your goal? How do you see these checkpoints lining up on the trajectory of your goal? These checkpoints allow you to shorten your colors, bringing them into line with one another so that the “tiny spot” that is your goal may become clearer and more achievable.
Third, when you reach a checkpoint, take time to determine how those life colors are coming into line with one another. Are there adjustments needed in order to intensify that light to illuminate your goal? When developing the laser, scientists continually had to reassess their efforts. At each step of the development, the question “what if we did…” had to be part of the thought process. Make time each week for this reassessment. Doing so will aid you in your efforts; and in keeping your mind on your goal.
Fourth, set aside time to rest and recharge. Recognize that you are not made to function at top speed constantly. Take time to rest, to play, to connect with others in a relaxed environment. An amazing gift of humans is that even when we shut down our conscious private computers, even when we log-off and do something different, our sub-conscious internet is still spinning away working on the ideas we have.
Fifth, be careful that you don’t find yourself heading down a rabbit hole. Self-discipline is critical While you are developing and using your laser focus, other thoughts and ideas might well come to you. Before you realize it, you may find yourself off trajectory and into territory that will not be helpful for achieving your goal. Journal those thoughts and ideas for a future time. Are any of them vital to where you are now in your life? Will any of them support the trajectory toward goal that you have set? As research scientists work, they begin to imagine many different possible applications for their research. Pursuing all of them simultaneously will weaken their efforts and scatter their focus; just as unfocused color waves in light will diminish its effects.
Sixth, take time along your journey to acknowledge those who help you. Not all people in your life will have the same goal as you. Yet, a great many of the people you encounter in your life will have a way to make a profound impact on your success. Ten years, or even less, when you have met your goal; when your laser focus has reached its full potential and cuts through the goal to allow you to step through? Be grateful to those who encouraged you. Be grateful to those who challenged you. Be grateful to the nay-sayers who pushed you to prove them wrong. Then move forward, refining and refocusing your laser to a new goal and a new adventure.
It’s true. Success requires discipline and focus. “Laser focus” is a metaphor that can change one’s life.