That's what China's Olympic stars are about too. They are taken away at a young age to devote themselves to sports and often don't see their parents for months! No half-measures for them.
How do the Chinese march in such straight lines in their parades? This is what they had to endure. No nonsense. No mucking around. No pain, no gain. Only single-minded determination to get the job done and done well.
When you concentrate force and apply it to a single point, even a steel plate can be penetrated, as shown in this photo of a shaped charge going through armour.
DISTRACTION is the antithesis of FOCUS. It comes in many forms: wine, women, song, religion, television, computer games, the stock market, financial problems, family feuds, noise, illness, ... anything that prevents one from concentrating on the task at hand.
In order to achieve any objective, one has to establish one's present position and decide where one wants to be. The journey between the here and now, and the desired destination is an obstacle course littered with DISTRACTIONS and problems.
I believe a lot of people drift along in life like a boat without oars, hoping and praying that the currents will transport them to a fate that is kind. The true achievers are FOCUSED. They know precisely what they want and have charted the course to get there. I know a girl who became the director of a publicly-listed company in her twenties. Perhaps someone had paved the way for her but she had the target in her sights and got there in double-time.
To FOCUS means to think about the the goal day and night, planning and scheming, probing and pushing, examining and re-examining, weaving, dodging, rolling with the punches, maneuvering around obstacles, driving ever onwards with gritted teeth and eyes fixated resolutely on that single final outcome, that ultimate end-result, with the all consuming, all encompassing obsession that overshadows every other thing.
Whether it's the right objective, whether you will still like yourself when you get there, whether the prize is worth the sacrifice, whether the end justifies the means, ... is another story.
If you know what you want bad enough, you know what you will have to do to get there. No two ways about it. FOCUS!
