Consider the postage stamp. The postage stamp has sharp, laser focus. It does not get distracted. It has only one goal. It pays attention to what it must accomplish. At the end of its days, it will have engraved on its epitaph: “It secured its success through its ability to stick to one thing.”

When I interviewed author Darren Hardy, he said, that the greatest challenge today is controlling our attention. “We are living in an era of epic distraction,” he said. “There is so much that begs for our attention. We are forever in reaction mode, whether it be to our inbox or social media accounts. But we must learn to be insanely focused.

“Some say that the problem is an overabundance of information. It’s not the overabundance of information, but the overconsumption of it that kills productivity.”

As Hardy points out, our brains can focus on just so many things at one time. That’s why having more than three goals at one time is confusing and doesn’t allow you to focus on any one goal; inevitably, you wind up taking no action at all. Hardy says that having anything beyond three top goals drains your brain.

Certainly, people talk about the law of attraction, but Hardy says that they should really focus on the law of paying attention. “What you want or need has always been there, but now that you are paying attention, you are giving your brain the energy it needs to focus on it,” he said. “You’ll be able to isolate conversations and make connections to things you want because now you are focused on it. Ideas will freely flow to you.”