The Power of Focus
Good Fit
- Readers who like motivation and business books
- Those who want to systematise habits and daily planning
- Anyone looking for concrete tasks and formulas at the end of each chapter
Not a Fit
- Those seeking scientifically grounded psychology or economics
- Readers who demand that testimonials and success stories be verified
- Anyone put off by an advertising and self-praising tone
In the preface the authors say that the book is a 2011 update, written after the economic crisis of 2008, and that «there is no magic quick fix». According to them more than 90% of those who attend short seminars do not take the time to apply what they learned. The book is built on the mould «section — story — strategy — Takeaways — Action Steps»; at the end the stories of five entrepreneurs and a section on «Gamechanger» companies are promised. The dozens of testimonials at the start of the book belong to the authors' clients and no source is given.
The first strategy opens with the story of Maria Sosa of Colombia: living in a mountain village, with a sick husband and a sick child, after terrorists threaten to take her son, Maria leads the family at night across the mountains to Venezuela and from there to Canada. From this story the authors draw the conclusion that life is built through choices, not by chance, and that at a decision moment one must act with courage; they even add that an «invisible force» will support you — an expression of belief, not of science.
The section «How Habits Really Work» defines a habit as «something that gets easier the more you do it» and compares it with learning to drive. With the chain metaphor, bad choices are shown turning link by link into a knot — a crisis (a heart attack, foreclosure on one's house, divorce). For finances a «no exceptions» policy (consistently saving at least 10% of income), a 21–30 repetitions rule and the claim that 47% of daily behaviours rest on habit are put forward; the source of these figures is not given.
The following part gives a list of about 25 examples for identifying bad habits (not returning phone calls, being late for appointments, not giving the family enough time and so on), and recommendations to «ask for feedback» and study successful people (meet one every month, read biographies, listen to audio recordings). Les Hewitt's cholesterol and sugar example — losing eight kilos in two months — is told as a story and turned into a general rule. The chapter promises to end with the «Successful Habits Formula».
- Each chapter is built from a story, a short theoretical explanation, «Takeaways» and «Action Steps»
- Many testimonials and the authors' own success statistics are given without sources
- Simple metaphors (a chain, learning to drive) make the main idea memorable
- The book has a structure mixed with advertising for its own programme
A more systematic and research-based approach to building habits
The same author's book of principles for reaching goals
At the end of the part read, the authors present a list of bad habits — not returning phone calls, being late for appointments, wasting time on the internet, not giving the family enough time — and ask the reader to set aside an hour to write down their own habits. Then comes Les Hewitt's sugar and cholesterol story: he gives up chocolate and biscuits and loses eight kilos in two months. The next part will introduce the «Successful Habits Formula».
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