Convergence and Divergence of Focus

At any moment, we are either in a divergent phase of life, or in a convergent phase. During a divergent period, we’re usually focused on broadening our inputs. We go to school, take on internships, travel, try a career switch, and so on, exploring new paths. During a convergent time, we take what we’ve learned thus far to double down on just a handful of goals on which we can spend our energy – we become more focused. We grow fastest not by converging constantly onto some single point set from the start, but over cycles of divergence and convergence that come and go like seasons.

These cycles of divergence and convergence come from the heart, not from circumstance. You can’t force yourself to become focused by picking an option when you aren’t sure that it’s right. If your choice isn’t based on the confidence you have in that decision, your focus ends up pulled apart by the worry that you’ve missed out on the roads not taken.

Focus is a destination, not a path. And the only way to get there is to earn the confidence to feel that what you’re working on is the right one for you, so you can say no to everything else. And the only way to feel right in what you do is to try your chances with the paths that might be wrong, too. That isn’t wasted effort – it’s what’s required of us to earn our focus.