Focus

I keep coming back to the focus it took for The Beatles to finish Rubber Soul. They were working against an immovable deadline, with EMI needing a new album ready for the Christmas market. A deadline can certainly sharpen our attention, but I wonder if something else was driving them. Maybe they knew they were onto something. Maybe they could feel the music changing and did not want to lose the momentum.

Consider “I’m Looking Through You.” The Beatles first worked on the song on October 24, spending hours developing a version that ultimately did not make the album. They returned to it on November 6 and tried again. They still were not satisfied. Four days later, with the deadline looming, they started over once more and finally found the arrangement we know from Rubber Soul. The song was completed with additional vocals and handclaps during their marathon final recording session on November 11.

That is focus. Focus is not always sitting down, locking in, and getting everything right on the first attempt. Sometimes focus means returning to something that is not working. It means staying with an idea long enough to discover what it can become. The Beatles could have settled for one of the earlier versions. Instead, they kept listening, adjusting, and returning to the work.

Focus is not always easy for me, either. My own creative work has plenty of starts and stops. Doubt creeps into the process. Confidence disappears. Other responsibilities compete for attention, and sometimes the easiest response is to put the work aside and promise myself that I will return later.

This daily series has taught me something about focus. Showing up every day for Four Weeks to Rubber Soul has required me to keep returning to an idea, writing about it, recording a reel, and putting it into the world. The discipline has helped me focus, but it has also helped me appreciate what focus actually requires.

Today’s word is Focus, but focus cannot simply be something we practice for one ephemeral day. It is something we choose again tomorrow. We return to the song. We return to the page. We return to the idea that still needs our attention.

The deadline may get us into the room. Focus keeps us there long enough to finish something that matters.

Check out today’s reel for more: