I have a passion for excellence but have no work ethic and so I’m always looking for quotes from overachievers to inspire me and point me in the right direction. Below is a quote from the chef of my favorite restaurant L2O in Chicago. He is one of the hardest workers I’m aware of – 16 hours a day 6 days a week. But it’s not only the hours but that he is able to maintain the highest standards while working that length of time. I actually don’t recommend working that hard, but I figure if he can do 16 hours of quality work at his passion maybe I can do 2 or 3. Anyway, I found the post below very helpful.

“In one way, focus is conceptually a point or view. But for a human being, focus is the idea of being able to remove what is around you and bring complete attention to what you are doing at the moment. I don’t think you are born with focus. You might be gifted with a talent for focus, but I think that is something you learn if you are interested in it.

Into a professional environment the personal focus, or the focus of the group, usually brings success and achievement to what you are doing. It is like a playing a sport. When you first start it is difficult to do for more than a short amount of time, but the more you exercise the better you become. Focus not only allows you to perform better, but it helps you to present yourself with more clarity, making it easier for others to understand you and better appreciate you. ”

For the full post see here

http://l2o.typepad.com/l2o_blog/2008/08/focus.html