WHY FOCUS IS EVERYTHING FOR ENTREPRENEURS & INTRAPRENEURS

You instinctively know that you need to focus. Meanwhile, follow-the-rabbit syndrome continues to present new and exciting distractions. The cartoon snake with the eyes has been sent to hypnotise you. You're tricked into believing that it's possible to focus on more than one thing. That it's okay to back more than one horse.

So there you have it. Rabbits, snakes and horses all in the first paragraph. I'm already confused. Confusion is part of the problem. Everyone you speak to will be confused about what you're about, what you're trying to achieve and more importantly you'll confuse yourself.

Consider the rule of 50. Each idea has 50+ directions you could take it, 50 things that could go wrong and 50 hours of your precious time to invest to get your idea off the ground. 150 thought processes is enough for anyone and this is before you've created or sold anything. For those people working on more than one ideas simultaneously, the multiplier effect will:

a) Bake your noodle
b) Make you frustrated because of the lack of results 
c) Cause you to abandon the one that would've worked (because ol' snake eyes will be having you think you gave it your all, but it didn't work, so you'd better start something new)

The real reason you want more than one project on the go is probably fear. James Corden said in his recent interview with John Bishop that he never had a plan B because that would be like admitting that plan A was destined to fail.

The answer is to rate your all of your ideas in a four box of excitement versus reality check:

1. Y-axis: How much does it excite you to do this every day?
2. X-axis: How close are you to being able to begin?

The one that comes out top goes in your to do list. Let's call this the chosen one. The others don't. For ALL of the others, there are two other lists:

List 1 is your hobby, absolutely not in work time and there's only space for one thing on this list). List 2 is for everything else and it's called the 'Someday Maybe' list. This list is absolutely not to be touched until the chosen one has succeeded (unless you can give it in its entirety to someone else and trust yourself not to meddle). Here's what's worked for me (and I am a self-confessed 'Ooh! Look! A rabbit!' entrepreneur):

1. Make your decision and stick to it (back one horse)
   
2. Have a plan to stick with it for when the rabbits come (hire Elmer Fudd)
   
3. Play full out - are you giving it everything? (If the snake is still making those eyes at you, you're not in deep enough) 
   
4. Know why. Why are you doing this? What will life look like when the chosen one works out? What does it sound like? What does it feel like? (Begin with the end)
   
5. Notice the results you get. And notice how it feels. What gets measured gets done.

Leave rabbit hunting to Elmer Fudd. Better to execute one idea with everything you have, than do a half-arsed job on a few.