I love American football and I recently caught a game of my favorite team, the Chicago Bears. I love sports because it's easy to look for and find metaphors between sports, life and business.

The Chicago Bears defense is one of the top rated lineups in the NFL. They are intimidating, intense and dominating.

There was one play in particular that I witnessed Sunday and have seen over and over in football and I see it in life as well.

A wide receiver on the opposing team was wide open and about to catch a pass for an easy first down. He had the ball in his hands... however... he dropped the ball because he was more focused on the impending hit he would receive from the defense after he caught the ball.

He would have easily caught the ball, but there would be a price to be paid afterwards. He knew a hit was coming and he allowed it to distract him from concentrating on the next step. He was looking too far ahead and it prevented him from catching an easy pass.

It is important to know what your next step is at all times.

That wide receiver's job is ultimately to catch the football when it is thrown to him. What he does after he catches the football is important, but he must catch the football first in order to gain any yards or progress afterwards. The job of the offense is to gain yards and score points.

People come to me all the time when they have struggles with focus and concentration. I hear it every single day, "I can't concentrate."

The solution is simple, and like any other muscle, you can train your concentration muscles and improve your abilities.

How many times in life do you drop the ball and miss an opportunity to progress because you were thinking about or worrying about something that might (or might not) happen later? You were so busy looking ahead that you missed something amazing that was right in front of you. Perhaps you think about work when you are with your children or partner. Perhaps you obsess about your relationship when you should be focused on your work. How often are you truly in the present?

Visualizing plants the seeds of greatness into your subconscious. Visualizing your goals and the big picture of it all is something you can do whenever you want. Yet there is a delicate balance between visualizing your future and doing the actions today, in the present, right here and now that will lead you progressively to your destiny. There is a healthy balance that must be achieved between these two powers.

What I would like for you to do all day today is ask yourself the question, what is my next step?

What is the next step?

And then I want you to simply focus on it.

Concentrate fully on that one step and completing it. Turn off all background noise, eliminate all distractions and put your blinders on to that one thing you are going to be doing and then do it to completion. If possible, turn off the phone, put a do not disturb sign on your door or cubicle and don't do anything other than what your next step is. Don't check your email, don't turn music on, don't allow yourself to do anything else. Focus 100% on that next step.

The more you practice this, the more efficient you will become, and you will achieve your goals in record time.

This principle is illustrated in detail in the audio program, TheTimeCommandments! I encourage you to study it and master it. I have broken down thousands of historic universal success principles into Ten Simple Strategies that I apply to my own life and my own business with amazing results. You can go faster than you think you can. And it's easier than you think it is.

When it comes to your day, your work, your family or your business, define what the next step is that you must focus on and then do it fully and invest all of your attention into it.