For the last decade, I’ve traveled to hundreds of entrepreneurial and self-growth events where the themes are all about thinking big, and bold. I’ve done the world’s most intense experiential training designed to unlock power and purpose. What I noticed was simple, yet scathing in impact.

Most people weren’t going to achieve their dreams and vision for one reason and one reason only —lack of focus. Without focus, all the energy and possibility created would be lost, scattered and ultimately spent in places that didn’t really matter.

Most entrepreneurs and solopreneurs have no problem creating a powerful, bold vision. They don’t have issues cultivating the skills required, and most love learning and do it automatically. In most cases, they’re also surrounded by other people who are doing big things. These are all powerful markers and must-have ingredients for long term success.

Yet, what’s missing is what moves mountains, creates results and provides deep levels of achievement, and fulfillment: ruthless levels of focus. This is what you’re here for, because it matters — and bringing your dreams to life has to happen. So, how do you harness this level of focus and ensure your dreams come to life? In a distracted world, it’s never been harder and simultaneously rewarding.

Below, are 4 steps to help ensure your entrepreneurial success:

Step 1: Achieve clarity or pay the price

The first step to harnessing the power of focus is knowing what to do. Sounds simple, but clarity for entrepreneurs is crucial — otherwise your day will be filled with distractions. If you have no idea what to do, you’ll spend your time on the easy action steps and wonder why you aren’t seeing big results.

The best way I’ve found to do this with myself and countless clients is to set 90 day targets. These are much better than one year targets since they increase urgency due to how close they are, and are enough to produce a ton of results.

Ask yourself:

• Where do I want to be in my business in 90 days? Set specific targets for revenue, audience size, content creation, etc depending on your specific business.
• What can I do to get there? This is where you brain dump everything and don’t stop until you feel you got nothing left. Step away from it, and come back later before asking the next question.

Out of all of these, which are the 20% that will have the most impact? Circle the top priorities. These are usually the bigger projects that aren’t urgent, yet crucially important. Armed with clarity, it’s time to move on to the next step.

“The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee

Step 2: Put your big initiatives first

With the most important work identified, you’re now going to fill your calendar or workflow with the most important items. This means you start your day with time blocks solely dedicated towards those projects. Here’s why: Most people start their day with little tasks; checking off small things making us feel like we’re making progress —but don’t actually produce results.

Instead of checking email, social or even your websites subscribers first thing in the morning, do your most important work. I personally start the day off with a 90 day timeblock to tackle these, and the results have been incredible. It won’t be easy at first, but stick with it and you’ll start to gain confidence in your capability to bring your vision to life.

Step 3: Protect your focused time

You’ve got clarity, you’ve set your time blocks to work on the big movers in your business. You’re all set right? Wrong! It’s one thing to create time blocks, it’s an entirely different ball game to execute on them.

This is where boundaries come in. Make yourself unavailable to others, delete apps, and get off the smartphone. Recent research states the average American worker checks his or her email 88 times a day. Don’t be this person. Do anything you can to protect your focused time, and you’ll become an efficient, purposeful and consistent machine.

Step 4: Stay consistent and be patient

As I mentioned earlier, the lure of easy tasks and busyness can feel great, but it does very little to move our business forward. Using this system, you will feel tempted to go back into your old routines and habits.

The key to making this work, like anything —it takes consistency. The truth is you won’t notice a big shift if you do this for a week, but stay with it for the next 90 days, and you’ll be amazed at what you can create.

You’ll be making real progress with your brand, product or service —and fall in love with focus. Focus itself is a powerful driver of purpose and fulfillment. We’ve all had days as entrepreneurs where we were busy, yet exhausted at the end of the day. The power of this system is you’ll finish your work day knowing you’ve moved your business and life forward. No amount of motivational Instagram quotes can hold a candle to this feeling.

“Your life is controlled by what you focus on.” – Tony Robbins

Focus is your competitive advantage

Lastly, remember this: In a distracted world, focus becomes your competitive advantage. You’ll start to rise above in your niche as someone who is consistent and always delivering. People will start asking for your secret — and the latest hack.

Best of all, you’ll know you’re putting in the real work to make your dreams come to life and never look back. You’ll develop confidence instead of feeling stuck and scattered. As time passes, getting into your focus states will get easier, and the pay off will be even bigger.

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com