Your Blogs need to say this: Fw: Harvey Mackay's Column--Concentration is more than a kid's cardgame..

Listen up all you bloggers and small business marketing experts, yeah that's right listen up:-). Well don't just listen to me, but listen the guru of all gurus of business. Harvey Mackay certainly has this skill, and he certainly knows about focus. Your blogs need to grab attention, get to the point, and hammer the message home.

Often times stories do this, but great writers/bloggers tend to go on and on and on. They need to bring the point home, make it personal, emotional, and bring it home to the user. That's it, Blog your way to the top!


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-----Original Message-----
From: Harvey Mackay <alerts@harveymackay.com>

Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2007 10:58:42
To:vipin@urbantango.com
Subject: Harvey Mackay's Column--Concentration is more than a kid's card
game



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Harvey Mackay's Column This Week

Concentration is more than a kid's card game
A group of discouraged business people hired a consultant to come and speak to them on ways they might improve business. The consultant tacked a big sheet of white paper to the wall. Then he made a small black spot on the paper with his pencil and asked a man in the front row what he saw.
The man replied promptly, "A black spot."
The consultant then asked every person in the meeting the same question and each replied, "A black spot."
Speaking slowly and quite seriously, the consultant said, "Yes, there is a little black spot, but none of you saw the big sheet of white paper. You didn't concentrate on the whole picture, just the little spot. That's my advice to you on how you can go about improving your businesses."
Concentration is defined as "the ability to direct one's thinking in whatever direction one intends." We all have the ability to concentrate some of the time. But at other times our thoughts are scattered and our minds race from one thing to another. I'm sure you've noticed how difficult it is to get children to pay attention when they are playing.
We all experience lapses in concentration every day, usually because we allow our environment to distract us or our minds to jump from one thing to another. We share common distractions: noise; interruptions from people and electronics like phones, computers and TVs. This list could also include your environment—comfortable furniture, proper lighting and temperature. There are a whole host of internal distractions as well—how you feel, stress and boredom.
I've found that my ability to concentrate improves significantly when I am:

* Committed. I'm on board 110% and will give a serious best effort.
* Enthusiastic. I'm excited to take on this project and motivated to do well.
* Prepared. Knowing how to do something and being prepared for whatever might happen. Remember, perfect practice makes perfect.
* Physically fit. I exercise regularly to keep in good physical condition.
* Rewarded. I like to treat myself to something for a job well done.

The easiest place to spot concentration is in sports. For example, in golf—my favorite participatory sport—half the game is mental.
Golf great Ben Hogan stood over a crucial putt. Suddenly a loud train whistle blared in the distance. After he had sunk the putt, someone asked Hogan if the train whistle had bothered him.
"What whistle?" Hogan replied.
Jack Nicklaus, who many consider the greatest golfer of all time, said: "Concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety. I have always felt that the sheer intensity Ben Hogan applied to the shotmaking specifics was one of his greatest assets. It left no room in his mind for negative thoughts. The busier you can keep yourself with the particulars of shot assessment and execution, the less chance your mind has to dwell on the emotional 'if' and 'but' factors that breed anxiety."
Other athletes have shared similar thoughts about concentration.
Frank Gifford, NFL Hall of Fame player and sports broadcaster, said: "Most people think football is strictly a muscle game. In the pros, though, every club is loaded with so much power that sheer strength is cancelled out. You've got to outsmart the other team to win and that takes enormous concentration on details."
"Concentration is when you're completely unaware of the crowd, the field, the score," said Tom Landry, long-time coach of the Dallas Cowboys. "The real secret to success as an athlete is control of yourself and concentration."
Edwin Moses, Olympic gold medallist in track and field, said: "Concentration is why some athletes are better than others. You develop that concentration in training. You can't be lackadaisical in training and concentrate in a meet."
"Ninety percent of my game is mental. It's my concentration that has gotten me this far," said tennis superstar Chris Evert Lloyd.
Translate these examples to your business, and you'll be a superstar too. Train your brain by breaking up larger projects into smaller, more manageable tasks, and take a break between tasks to clear your head, so you can concentrate on the next item.
Don't be like the speaker who showed up with a cut on his face. He said that while shaving that morning, he had been concentrating on his speech, and had accidentally cut himself.
At the reception following the 50-minute address, a member of the audience whispered in his ear, "Next time concentrate on your face and cut the speech!"
Mackay's Moral: You can't win if your head's not in the game.
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