Concentration—that is, the courage to impose on time and events [your] own decision as to what really matters and comes first—is [your] only hope of becoming the master of time and events instead of their whipping boy. –Peter Drucker
What stood out to me in the above quote was how Drucker brings out the point that concentration—i.e. focus—requires courage. It’s easy to think of it requiring discipline, but courage isn’t usually the first thing to come to mind.
Yet saying no to all the things that beg for our time, or that seek to distract us, in order to focus on the things that matter most can takes some guts. We may have to overcome our fear of missing out or being misunderstood.
Now, being a master of our time doesn’t mean we control what happens all around us—we obviously can’t control many things, and there will be countless surprises throughout the day. But we do have the choice of how we’ll respond. Will we have the courage to concentrate on what’s most important in that moment? Or will we be pulled to and fro, not because of a conscious choice to do so, but because we didn’t have the courage to choose not to?