The Crazy Ones: Why Unwavering Focus is Key to Achieving Your Bigge...

The Crazy Ones: Why Unwavering Focus is Key to Achieving Your Biggest Dreams

by Bernard Jackson

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently." - Steve Jobs

We've all heard that famous quote from Steve Jobs' iconic "Think Different" campaign for Apple. It's a rallying cry for the dreamers, the visionaries, the ones who dare to chart their own course in the face of skepticism and opposition.The "crazy ones" are the people who stay laser-focused on their goals and dreams, even when the entire world seems to be telling them it's impossible or irrational. They are the entrepreneurs who start businesses out of a garage when everyone says they're destined to fail. The artists who pursue their creative passions despite being told to "get a real job." The athletes who train relentlessly for that Olympic gold medal that everyone says is out of reach.To the conventional thinkers and naysayers, the crazy ones appear...well, crazy. Delusional. Wasting their time chasing pipe dreams. But to the crazy ones themselves, that singular focus and belief is the very fuel that propels them forward to achieve the "impossible."In our constantly distracted world of infinite information and shiny objects vying for our attention, cultivating that level of intense focus and conviction in your goals is more challenging than ever. But it's also more crucial than ever if you want to turn your wildest dreams into reality.So how do you stay focused like a "crazy one" when everyone else is telling you you're crazy? Here are some key mindsets and strategies:

1. Develop Delusional Confidence

The first step to achieving any big, hairy, audacious goal is to become a little delusional in your confidence that you can make it happen. Call it positive self-delusion if you want, but you have to fully convince yourself that your dream is not only possible but inevitable.The world's greatest achievers all had this quality. They wholeheartedly believed in their visions, sometimes to the point where others thought they had lost touch with reality. But their delusional self-belief became a self-fulfilling prophecy.Think of the Wright Brothers who persisted for years in pursuing manned flight despite being mocked and ridiculed. Or Walt Disney defying the naysayers who thought his dreams of building a theme park empire were pure fantasy. These pioneers had to be a little "crazy" and detached from the prevailing skepticism to stay focused on making their visions a reality.

2. Construct an Impenetrable Bubble

Once you develop that unwavering belief in your goals, you have to consciously construct an impenetrable bubble around your mind to insulate yourself from negativity, doubt, and distractions.The world will constantly bombard you with reasons why you should quit, play it safe, or chase a more "realistic" path. Even well-meaning friends, family, and colleagues may inadvertently plant seeds of doubt with comments like "Are you sure about this?" or "Don't you think you're being unrealistic?"You have to filter out all of that external noise and negativity. Construct a mental bubble where ONLY positive, motivating thoughts and inputs are allowed in. Ruthlessly protect your mind from anything that could shake your confidence or derail your focus.Surround yourself with others who share your crazy belief system. Read books and listen to podcasts that reinforce your mindset. Physically remove any negative people from your circle who insist on raining on your parade. Your bubble has to be 100% leakproof when it comes to keeping out dream-killing vibes.

3. Embrace the "Crazy" Label

The ones who change the world and leave a dent in the universe have always been called "crazy" at some point along their journeys. So you might as well get comfortable with that label and wear it as a badge of honor.Every revolutionary idea, invention, or achievement was initially ridiculed and dismissed as ludicrous by the establishment and status quo. That's how you know you're really onto something big - when the masses call you crazy for thinking so big.Galileo was persecuted by the Catholic Church for suggesting the Earth revolved around the Sun. The Wright Brothers were mocked as crackpots for trying to build a "flying machine." Thomas Edison's teachers told him he was too stupid to ever amount to anything. Imagine if they had listened to the critics and given up on their "crazy" ideas?So when people start calling you crazy, it's actually a good sign that you're onto something groundbreaking. Relish it. Let it fuel your hunger to prove the doubters wrong. The critics and naysayers are simply recognizing that your ambitions are bigger than their limited mindsets can comprehend.

4. Cultivate a Monk's Mindset

Staying focused on ambitious goals for the long haul requires incredible mental discipline and commitment. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and you have to cultivate the mindset of a monk to sustain that intense focus over years or even decades.Monks train their minds through practices like meditation, prayer, and fasting to achieve a heightened state of concentration, willpower, and detachment from distractions. As a modern-day "dream chaser," you need those same skills to stay zeroed in on your quest.Develop mindfulness practices like meditation to sharpen your focus and tune out mental chatter. Practice fasting from tempting distractions like social media, video games, or binge-watching to build your willpower reserves. Engage in physical exercise to increase mental stamina. Read philosophy and spiritual texts to reinforce the right mindset.The path to achieving any big goal is inevitably filled with ups and downs, victories and setbacks. Having a monk's mindset allows you to stay centered, patient, and committed through the roller coaster. You don't get derailed by temporary failures or prematurely celebrate small wins. You remain steadfastly focused on the long game.

5. Reframe Adversity as Advantage

One of the biggest keys to sustaining intense focus is how you choose to perceive and respond to adversity, challenges, and setbacks along the way. The dream-killers see these as reasons to quit or change course. But the crazy ones recognize that adversity is inevitable on any ambitious journey, and they reframe it as an opportunity to get stronger.When people call you delusional or tell you to give up on your crazy dreams, you can choose to internalize that as motivation to work twice as hard to prove them wrong. When you face obstacles or failures, you can choose to be emboldened rather than deterred. You can choose to double down on your efforts rather than raising the white flag.Adversity is simply the price of admission for achieving greatness. The crazy ones understand that, so they don't complain or make excuses. They get excited for the opportunity to show their resilience and commitment. They know that pushing through the tough times and learning from mistakes is what will forge them into unstoppable forces.The greatest crazy ones in history all faced incredible adversity. But rather than letting it stop them, they reframed it as fuel for their insatiable hunger. Adversity became their advantage in outworking and out-lasting the competition.

6. Burn the Boats

For as long as you leave yourself an easy exit ramp or "Plan B" to fall back on, part of your focus will always be divided. That's why the crazy ones often "burn the boats" to make quitting or turning back impossible.This famous metaphor comes from the story of the Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés, who led an expedition to conquer Mexico in 1519. Upon arriving on the shores with his men, Cortés made the bold decision to burn the ships they arrived on. This eliminated any opportunity for his men to retreat, deserting, or losing their desire for victory. It was conquer or perish.When you go all-in and burn the proverbial boats, you eliminate any subconscious mental escape hatches. You force yourself to have no choice but to charge forward with absolute, uncompromising focus on your singular goal. No turning back, no Plan B. Just unrelenting forward progress.Maybe it's quitting your job to pursue your dream business without a financial safety net. Or selling all your belongings to buy a one-way ticket across the world to chase an opportunity. Or going for broke to self-fund your product or invention.Whatever it looks like, you have to find a way to make the psychological commitment so monumental that any other option besides success is simply not an option. Burn those boats and make the only way forward the achievement of your crazy dream.

Final Thoughts: The Crazy Ones Change the World

At the end of the day, all the greatest achievements, innovations, and world-changing movements in human history were started by crazy ones - people who were told their ambitions were delusional, unrealistic, and impossible. But they tuned out the doubters and stayed focused with cult-like devotion on making their visions a reality.So if you're chasing a crazy-ambitious goal or dream that others can't seem to understand, take heart. You're in good company with all the other misfits, rebels, and troublemakers who dared to be called crazy.The ones who change the world are never the ones playing it safe and following the well-worn path. They're the ones willing to be called crazy, to embrace adversity, and to stay focused like a laser beam with unwavering belief in their inevitable success.As Steve Jobs said, "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."So stay crazy, my friends. And never, ever lose focus on making your biggest dreams a reality.