A friend of mine has an extremely simple life. He gets up when he wants, goes to work when he wants, travels when he wants, and seems to live a relatively comfortable life. He's a bright guy. But, he's not a rocket scientist. His secret is one thing.

My friend, Martin, gets up in the morning and has one idea on his mind. He may have several appointments, children, grandchildren, social plans, etc. But, it all follows his single goal of the day. He doesn't much care what anyone thinks. He spends zero time dealing pretense. That alone is a liberating personality trait. But, his single most powerful asset is his ability to singularly focus on the one thing he wants today and he focuses on it like there's nothing else in the world.

One may look at Martin and think he doesn't work for a living, but I assure you he both worked vigorously as a younger man and continues to work diligently each and every day of his working life. The powerful thing about his approach is that he judges success and failure on his accomplishment of these goals, perhaps the tally of the money when that is the end. But, he only counts the money when the goal of that day is to collect money.

On a given day, for a given cause, the money counts. On another day, he may set out to simply repair a problem. Because of his singular approach to problems, he never pays a premium for convenience. Whereas many will pay extra to get a problem out of their way, Martin is smart about every transaction and has his Irish heart set on getting the best possible deal. He still approaches every engagement from the mindset he had when he needed to feed five children on a working man's daily wage. He makes absolutely sure his work yields the best pay and he pays the least for the things he wants or needs. His focus is crystal, unwaivering. This method works.