The importance of focus and goals

If you’re ambitious to get ahead in life, or find yourself unsatisfied with your present situation, then how you spend your time and energy matters.

Men who value their time spend it wisely. If your excess energy is largely devoted to leisure and entertainment, or unfocused and spread across many activities, you might miss out on opportunities to open your world up to new adventures and successes such as alternative incomes, increased independence, or just meeting new and interesting people.

How would your life improve if you tied the activities you already pursue (outside of necessities like a job or business, relationships, exercising, rest, and eating well) were tied to a tangible outcome?

Do you like restaurants? Create a blog and write reviews. Do you like to surf? Become good enough to teach others. Do you like to write? Write and publish a book. Do you like helping people? Create a not-for-profit. Planning outcomes and setting goals for your activities can motivate you and make it more exciting to do the things you already like to do. Share your passion.

Be good at something

Almost any skill can be valuable to someone if you’re good enough at it. People value the authority of an expert and will pay one to teach them. Find your niche, market yourself, and demonstrate your ability.

If you were lucky enough to learn a skill when you were younger, build upon this. If you have no useful skills, then try a few things that interest you until you find one that you have a natural aptitude for. There is no skill or activity that is inherently more glamorous or valuable than another. Do it your way.

Play the long game

This is not another encouragement to pursue a 'side-hustle', or to spend your precious free time toiling away on a treadmill of wealth creation and becoming trapped trying to 'get ahead'. But, if we see our activities as part of a bigger picture, and our regular activities as brushstrokes on the canvas of our master-work (or as incremental achievements on a path to a fulfilling life), what we do regularly might add up to more than we first imagine.

If you’re an ambitious man driven by success, don’t spend your time on activities or hobbies that lead nowhere. Find your path, trim the fat, and channel your energy into a worthwhile purpose. This doesn’t mean you must - or should - live an unbalanced life, but try to be deliberate and outcome-focused, so that your valuable time can be used to build a better future with long-lasting benefits.