The 5/25 Rule helps you focus on what matters most

List your goals

There is a story that Warren Buffett helped his pilot, Mike Flint, who worked for him for 10 years. He once allegedly asked Flint what his career goals were. “The fact that you still work for me suggests that I am not doing my job,” Buffett joked. He suggested that Flint do a goal setting exercise.

First, you had to make a list of 25 things that Flint wanted to achieve in the foreseeable future. Then evaluate them in terms of importance and circle the five most important. It would seem that these five goals are the most difficult to choose. But after that, Buffett asked what Flint was going to do with the other twenty items.

“I'll focus on the first five, but the other points are important to me too,” explained Flint. “I’ll work on them from time to time while I’m reaching my top five goals.” To this Buffett sternly replied, “No, you misunderstood. Everything that you didn’t circle turned into a list “Avoid at all costs”. Do not pay attention to them until you have achieved the first five goals."

Why is it more important to focus on one thing

We are constantly distracted by something. That is why most never achieve mastery in any area. Every time we get distracted by something new, we have to pay the cost of lost profits. This takes up our time and attention, prevents us from focusing on what is really important.

The chances of success increase when you are focused on one goal. Concentrate on the most important things and try to become a master in this matter.

Do not be distracted by fashion trends and do not jump from one interest to another. Apply the 5/25 rule not only in your career, but also in other areas of life: health, relationships, personal goals.

All this does not mean that you need to lead a boring and monotonous life. Just don't spray. Achieve your five main goals, and then move on to the next.

How it manifests itself in life

Think about everything you would like to do. Learn a foreign language. Master a musical instrument. Start your own bissnes. See the world. Most never achieve such goals, which means that they are not really important to these people. Usually such goals are chosen because they can be of some benefit. But this is not enough to strive for them.

For example, it would be great to speak ten different languages. But spending the entire weekend studying grammar is not so exciting anymore. Foreign languages are not very high on our priority list, work and family are usually more important. Therefore, we study them only in our free time, and it takes years to achieve this goal alone.

As a result, we get a list of goals that we will never achieve. This creates stress and guilt. Chances are, things that are not included in the five main goals will have little impact on your life. Instead of constantly adding goals to yourself, you better shorten them. The 5/25 Rule once again confirms that simplicity makes life better.

Do more of what is important to you.

Time and attention are two of the most important resources, but both are limited. There are more good opportunities than time for them. Don't grab each one. No matter how compelling an opportunity is, if it only helps you advance towards goal 25, don't waste time on it.

Cut back on your goals. This way you will quickly understand what is really important to you. Spend more time on this and don't get distracted by the rest.