Whatever you focus on the longest becomes the strongest. "Act the way you want to be, and you'll soon be the way you act." Eventually, you'll get into the mindset. It will create a difference in your attitude, and you'll begin to produce those results that you've been imitating.
Now they have become real to you because you are operating from a place of truth. You have to keep yourself focused on whatever your ultimate goal is.
There are stumbling blocks all the way; people get laid off, you have a bad game, you get traded from a team that you don't want to be on, but if your goal and your focus remain the same, "Hey, this is going to happen and I know I have the skills and I have the knowledge and have the instincts to dig myself out of this hole," you will dig yourself out of the hole.
You have to control the situation. Don't let the situation control you. If I keep getting distracted, if I keep looking at every new thing that comes up, if I keep trying every single new opportunity, if I keep saying "yes" to everything, if I keep listening to everyone's complaints.
if I keep doing whatever they ask me to do, at some point you'll lose your life, and I don't mean that physically, as in harm or death, but I mean that one day you'll wake up with a product, pick a position, pick something to focus on, and then have the business discipline to really focus on that one thing and do it well and say "no" to everything else.
That's the secret of mastery. If you look at the true masters, they were basically good at one thing. They didn't try to be great at everything. Concentrate on what you want, not what you don't want.
Don't ever think about what you don't want. Only think about what you do want. Don't complain. Focus on the positive aspects of people, not the negative ones. Then the positive will expand. You must define your mission. You must have a clear idea of what your next task will be.
What happens is that most people just kind of end up doing too many things that mean nothing to your mission. You should figure out what it is you desire in life and start working on a plan to get there and minimize everything else.
As long as we don't make progress, as long as we aren't moving forward, our focus fades. As you make progress, you begin to get excited, you begin to pay attention to things that are working and moving you forward, and you begin to find more focus in your life.