The importance of focus: An avoid at all costs list

Have you ever felt like you are doing a lot in a day, but achieving very little? How much of what we do actually contributes to our goals?

This little story reminds of the importance of focus and how we can only be really competent in very few things given that we have limited resources and time. 

Mike Flint, one of Buffett's pilots from NetJets, approaches him, realizing he has worked for him for the past 10 years. Flint feels that he hasn't achieved his career goals and would like Buffett to help him achieve them.

“The fact that you’re still working for me”, Buffett jokes, “tells me I’m not doing my job.”

To map out his goals, Flint was asked by his employer to conduct a simple exercise. It would change the way he viewed his priorities forever.

The 5/25 Rule

The first step in this exercise was to list down 25 things that Flint wanted to accomplish in the foreseeable future. Nothing was off the table.

Afterwards, Flint would rank these items in order of importance and circle the top five. Prioritizing his goals was more undoubtedly challenging than listing them, but Flint managed it.

Just when it appears as though the most challenging part of the exercise was over, Buffett asks Flint a seemingly simple question: “what are you going to do with the remaining 20 items?”

“Well the top five are my primary focus but the other twenty come in at a close second”, Flint explained. He goes on, “They are still important so I’ll work on those intermittently as I see fit as I’m getting through my top five. They are not as urgent but I still plan to give them dedicated effort.”

At this point, Buffett’s expression changes a little. He responds sternly:

“No. You’ve got it wrong. Everything you didn’t circle just became your Avoid-At-All-Cost list. No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top 5.”