Cam Taylor

Be inspired. Be focused. Be tenacious.

32 Quotes to Inspire Focused Living

When you focus, you direct your attention and energy in one direction. It’s often the difference between mediocrity and excellence, starting and finishing, wishing and doing.

A few months ago I came across an acronym for f.o.c.u.s. I found very helpful. It goes like this:

FOCUS – Find One Course Until Successful

There are so many distractions. Things we start but never finish. We fall into the trap of believing the myth of multi-tasking – which is a verifiable myth!

If you’re like me, you will benefit from a reminder of the incredible power of being focused – whether at home, at school, at play, at work, or anywhere else you find yourself.

  1. The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want. – Ben Stein
  2. What you choose to focus your mind on is critical because you will become what you think about most of the time.  – Noel Peebles
  3. The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing. – German Proverb
  4. Don’t waste time calculating your chances of success and failure. Just fix your aim and begin. – Guan Yin Tzu
  5. To do two things at once is to do neither. – Publilius Syrus
  6. It’s the constant and determined effort that breaks down resistance, sweeps away all obstacles. – Claude M. Bristol
  7. A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it. – Author unknown
  8. Excellence is in the details. Give attention to the details and excellence will come. -Perry Paxton
  9. Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus. – Alexander Graham Bell
  10. You become what you think about. – Earl Nightingale
  11. It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time. – Sir Winston Churchill
  12. You can’t pick cherries with your back to the tree. – John Pierpont (JP) Morgan
  13. Only when your consciousness is totally focused on the moment you are in can you receive whatever gift, lesson, or delight that moment has to offer. – Barbara De Angelis
  14. It is a process of diverting one’s scattered forces into one powerful channel. – James Allen
  15. If you’ve lost focus, just sit down and be still. Take the idea and rock it to and fro. Keep some of it and throw some away, and it will renew itself. You need do no more. – Clarissa Pinkola Estes
  16. Often he who does too much does too little. – Italian Proverb
  17. Determine what specific goal you want to achieve. Then dedicate yourself to its attainment with unswerving singleness of purpose, the trenchant zeal of a crusader. – Paul J. Meyer
  18. If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results. – Jack Dixon
  19. Concentration is the secret of strengths in politics, in war, in trade, in short in all management of human affairs. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
  20. If you chase two rabbits, both will escape. – Author unknown
  21. Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets. – Nido Qubein
  22. Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow. – Aesop
  23. Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. Focus on your character, not your reputation. Focus on your blessings, not your misfortunes. – Roy T. Bennett
  24. Some people think they are concentrating when they’re merely worrying. – Bobby Jones
  25. The man who succeeds above his fellows is the one who early in life clearly discerns his object, and towards that object habitually directs his powers. – Earl Nightingale
  26. Correct one fault at a time. Concentrate on the one fault you want to overcome. – Sam Snead
  27. Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time. – Arnold Glascow
  28. Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days. – Zig Ziglar
  29. What we see depends mainly on what we look for. – Sir John Lubbock
  30. I just try to concentrate on concentrating. – Martina Navratilova
  31. Every great player has learned to two C’s: how to concentrate and how to maintain composure. – Byron Nelson
  32. The successful man is the average man, focused. – Author unknown

Which quote jumped out at you and why? I welcome your comments below.

About Cam Taylor

Coach, author, speaker, father, friend, leader, life long learner.

12 Replies

  1. Rob

    Arnold Glasgow is absolutely correct and you believe it. I can tell.
    #23 #27 Thanks came. Gave me something to focus on other than Advent and preparing for a new year and new mountains to climb.

    1. Thanks Rob – good catch on the double entry – must have been a favorite of mine. All the best with your mountain climbing!

  2. Shirlene Henning

    From the German Proverb, most of the time my focus,is all over the place! It would be a challenge for me,to focus,on the main thing,as it is. Thanks Cam. Excellent blogs.

    1. I think being all over the place is a problem for more than you & I! Thanks for your comment.

  3. Greg McNally

    The following ones hit a chord: #2, #7, #10, #12, #20. I note too that 23 & 27 are repeats. #19 and #28 look like repeats too.

    1. Thanks Greg for weighing in. Those duplicates were a test 🙂 – I’ve added a couple of new ones to replace them – thanks!

  4. Nancy Harder

    #15 Definitely fits me. Perhaps I need to challenge myself with some of the others.

    1. Maybe if you sit down and are still you’ll be ready for even more focus quotes 🙂

  5. Beth

    So hard to choose….but I will choose 2 today.
    #10 I definitely believe this to be true and try to adjust my thinking when needed!
    #29 I connect with this as well….if I look for what is good and what I am grateful for I will see life in a more positive, uplifting light.

    1. Thanks Beth – 2 great choices and core to growth & focus. We are so impacted by what we dwell on & continually think about! Enjoy your day!

  6. Don

    #20 My dad used to take us rabbit hunting, so I know from experience that this one is true! Thanks – it comes at an appropriate time in my life and is helping me with a decision I need to make.

    1. Great example from real life 🙂 I’m also glad the thought is helpful today as well.

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