Staying focused has never been easy; but it has never mattered more

I have a confession I need to make.

Despite owning the trademark behind Focus Quotient (FQ), I’ve struggled with focus for much of my life. I’ve known it for years, but I’ve rarely said it out loud.

Which is ironic — because I’ve long believed that without focus, sustained success is impossible.

That contradiction has cost me; an obvious Achilles Heel. And while it hasn’t stopped progress altogether, it has slowed it, diluted it, and made things harder than they needed to be.

So I’ve made a decision: 2026 will be the year I take focus seriously.

If that sounds familiar, read on.

Focus Is Not What Most People Think It Is

When people talk about focus, they usually mean distractions:
doom scrolling, social media, too much TV.

Those matter — but they’re symptoms, not the root cause.

In my experience, focus is made up of three core components:

I. Prioritisation

If you don’t know what matters most, everything competes for attention.

Most people never explicitly list their priorities. And when they do, they list too many — an unranked shopping list of desires rather than a hierarchy of importance.

Last year, I fell into that trap. I set too many goals, which made it easy to drift toward what felt interesting rather than what was most important. I made progress, but not enough. I gave myself a B-.

“Good, but unfocused” turns out to be an expensive place to live.

II. Rationalisation

Focus also requires subtraction.

Rationalisation is the ability to prune unhelpful commitments, habits and activities — even ones that once delivered value.

There are things I do, personally and professionally, that add very little to my actual goals. Keeping them out of habit is comforting. Removing them is freeing.

Channel you inner Marie Kondo.
If it doesn’t serve your priorities, question why it’s still there.

III. Reducing Confusion

Confusion kills momentum.

When things are unclear, we procrastinate, overthink, seek more input, or quietly avoid decisions altogether. Focus thrives on Clarity; it withers in murkiness.

The less cognitive fog you tolerate, the easier progress becomes.

How I’m Improving My Focus

This isn’t the first attempt to raise my FQ— but it’s the most deliberate.

I’ve developed a simple six-point plan that’s already making a measurable difference. Feel free to copy it.

1. Streamlining my goals

This year I have three goals only.
Big ones. Clear ones. Shareable ones.

Every decision now runs through a single filter:
Does this help one of the three? Does it make the boat go faster?
If not, why am I doing it?

2. Saying no to more things

2026 is the year of less.

Less networking events.
Less random coffees.
Less LinkedIn.
Less small-value engagements.
Less filling every minute with motion.

Many of these served me once. They no longer do.

3. Defining more rules

Rules remove debate.

Pre-deciding behaviours dramatically reduces mental load. For example, my rule to Exercise at least every other day eliminates endless internal negotiation.

Fewer choices. More energy.

4. Refining my habits

I mapped my daily routine in forensic detail and rewired it around the habits that directly support my goals.

Mornings and lunchtimes work best for me. I track progress visually — not for guilt, but for momentum.

5. Anticipating problems

I now spend time identifying the obstacles that could derail my goals before they show up.

That includes practical challenges, predictable excuses, and the Emotions I know I’ll feel under pressure. Preparation beats willpower every time.

6. Enjoying the process

Focus is hard to sustain if it feels punishing.

I celebrate the progress deliberately — not just outcomes, but behaviours:

• Every habit completed
• Every pre-decision honoured
• Every distraction avoided

Enjoying improved focus is itself a reinforcing loop.

Better Focus ain’t easy…but it’s worth it

Let’s be honest: improving focus isn’t easy.
Which makes postponing it dangerously tempting.

I now put Focus in the same category as Listening, Curiosity and Creativity — super skills that compound everything else you do.

Get focus right and:

• Decisions improve
• Energy increases
• Credibility rises
• Progress accelerates

Get off your Focus backside

Insight without action is just Entertainment.

If you’ve read this far and nodded along, here’s the uncomfortable truth:
your focus won’t improve because 2026 has arrived. It will only improve if you decide to treat focus as a capability rather than a hope.

So before you move on to the next article, meeting or distraction, do just three things:

1. Write down your top three priorities for the year.
   If you can’t clearly articulate them in one sentence each, you don’t yet have priorities — you have aspirations.
2. Identify one thing you will actively stop doing.
   Focus isn’t only about addition; it’s about removal. Something in your diary, inbox or routine no longer deserves the oxygen.
3. Create one rule that removes daily debate.
   Pre-decisions are focus on autopilot. Fewer choices. Less noise. More progress.

None of this is complicated.
All of it is uncomfortable.

But that’s the point.

If you’re serious about raising your Focus Quotient — personally or across your leadership team — start here. Small, deliberate moves compound quickly when they’re aligned.

And if you want a sharper way to think about focus, priorities and decision-making at scale, you know where to find me 🙂

Faris

Faris is the CEO and Founder of Shiageto Consulting, an innovative consultancy that helps firms and individuals sharpen their effectiveness. Connect with him here

Success = IQ x EQ x FQ

Want to assess your levels of IQ, EQ and FQ? click here

Originally Published on https://farisaranki.medium.com/

Faris Aranki Strategy & Emotional Intelligence

Having spent over 20 years delivering strategic change for the corporate and non-corporate worlds, Faris has experienced first-hand the fine differences between strategic success and failure.
His work has spanned numerous companies (from global behemoths to small start-ups), in numerous countries, across a range of sectors, supporting them all to unlock strategic success.

He came to realize that often what hinders institutions from achieving their goals goes beyond the quality of their strategy; it is their ability to engage effectively with others at all levels and remove barriers in their way. This has led to his passion for improving strategic effectiveness within all businesses and individuals and the foundation of Shiageto Consulting.

Over time, Faris has worked to distill his knowledge of how to solve complex problems in a structured manner combined with his skill on engaging effectively with others and his ability to quickly determine the barriers to a strategy's success. This knowledge has formed the foundation of Shiageto’s workshops, courses and methodologies. Faris believes that any firm or team can adopt these improvements; all it requires is a little of the right support -something Shiageto provides!

On top of leading our business, Faris is now an accomplished speaker and contributor for a variety of outlets.