The Power of Focus

How to Exceed Your Own Expectations in Life, Love, Health, Career, Spirituality,
Finances, Recovery, Attitude and More

David Essel, M.S.

Author, National XM Satellite Radio Host, Master Life and Business Coach
 .
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012 David Essel
License Notes: This ebook is free and is for your personal enjoyment.
 .
“David Essel's destiny is to help you become more alive in every area of your life.”
~ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
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 Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Why This Book and Why Now
Chapter 2: What Does it Mean to be Fully Focused in Life?
Chapter 3: The One Thing Theory™, the Only High-Focused Goal-Achievement System
You Will Ever Need
Chapter 4: Focus plus Accountability equals Exceeding Our Own Expectations in Life
Chapter 5: How to Manifest Your Goals in a Focused Way
Chapter 6: Karma: Enhance it With Daily Focus
Chapter 7: The Eight Key Tips to Help You Stay Focused in Life
Chapter 8: Why Do We Shoot for Less Than We Deserve in Life, and What to Do About
It
Chapter 9: A Few of the Many People Who Have Helped Me to Stay Focused in Life so
that I Can Exceed My Own Expectations
Chapter 10: Final Thoughts on The Power of Focus
Appendix 1 Where do we go from here? Your next step to create the life you desire.
Appendix 2: Resources to Help You Stay Focused in Life and Exceed Your Own
Expectations
Contest Information
 Dedication
This book is dedicated
to my brother Terry,
who has been a source of strength
in my life in many, many ways.
The paths we choose to walk
are often filled
with challenges unforeseen,
and we all need companions
like my brother
who will walk
through those challenges
with us.
Terry has been that
Companion
for me,
many times over,
and to many other people
in this world, as well.
"The Kid",
as I call him,
is a rock in my life.
I love you bro,
David
 The Power of Focus
"David is the radiant soul of radio. He is brilliant, insightful and easy to listen to. David
makes a real difference in his listeners' lives." ~Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for
the Soul
 Introduction
I have come to realize that we get out of life what we focus our thoughts on, and just as
importantly, what we focus our actions on, on a daily basis. Over the years many people
have put the emphasis for our success on the power of thought, from books to DVDs and
movies. So much that you see today in regards to goal achievement and goal setting is
about focusing our thoughts. While this is incredibly important, what you are going to
find out in this book, and what I think separates this book from so many other of the
products on personal growth and motivation, is that we are going to look not just at what
our mind is doing, but what our actions are doing, or not doing, on a daily basis as well.
When I look at my life twenty years ago, I can tell you that I fell victim as well to all of
the hype and hoopla around the teaching that says if we just focus our mind in a certain
way, life will dramatically change. For years, I even taught this theory about “focusing
our mind, focusing our mind, focusing our mind,” but what happened in my life, and
what has happened to millions and millions of other people, is that this concept can only
get us so far. Eventually the mind is either going to retreat into old behaviors and old
belief systems, because it actually does not believe it when we say that, “I own seven
homes around the world today,” when in actuality, we are renting a mobile home. There
is nothing wrong with renting a mobile home, but I think you get the picture. This book is
going to offer a different look at focus. The mind is important, but there is much, much
more that we are going to cover in regards to this and the overall goal of achieving more
in life.
The other thing that is going to separate this book from many other concepts regarding
success is that we are going to focus on a simple formula, an extremely unique goal
achievement system, that if followed, you will be finally able to exceed your own
expectations in every area of life. I am so excited to introduce this system via this book to
the world. We have been working with this success concept since 1996, and now, after
years of changing thousands of people’s lives from all over the world through our 1-on-1
sessions and private class settings, we are sharing this success secret now, so that the
power of this system can help millions of more people to focus and exceed their own
expectations in life.
If you apply the principles in this book, you will become an amazing positive force in
your life. You will see your life change, and then as importantly, you will start to see the
lives of those around you shift as well. The world will change when you apply these
principles. Now some people, they might say, “Wow! This guy is an egomaniac. He is
telling me that if I follow the program in this book, that I myself can change the world.”
And the answer is, absolutely yes. You see, we have condensed some of the most
powerful teachings since the beginning of time into this book to help you focus. There is
no need to recreate wheels. There is no need to go out and continue to search and look,
because in our searching and in our looking we often overlook one major tenet to success,
and that is the focus of our daily actions. We are going to deeply explore the significance
of our daily actions in this book. At the end of this book, I only want one thing for you: I
want you to see that you hold the power in your own life, and that by applying certain
techniques in a specific way, you will be able to exceed your own expectations. I have
seen it happen with thousands of people that we have worked with. I know it can happen
with you. Let’s get ready to rock, and find out just how powerful the concept of focus is
in becoming more successful in life.
Copyright © 2012 David Essel
 The Power of Focus

Chapter 1:
Why This Book and Why Now
“You are worthy of every goal you desire.”

Let me go back in time. For the past thirty years, I have had the opportunity to practice
these principles that we are writing about, and I have also had the opportunity to practice
many other principles; some successful, some not. I have hit great setbacks in life. Like
many of you reading this book, I thought that I was highly focused and on a path of
success, only to have something happen with my health, finances, relationships, or my
spiritual path, that knocked me off track.
In these thirty years, I have had a chance to interview some of the most amazing minds in
this world. I mean incredible brains, people highly successful: in the world of sports,
business, personal growth, and in the world of spirituality. Everyone from Deepak
Chopra, to Suze Orman, to Lama Surya Das, an amazing spiritual leader, to Father Ron,
from the Hanley Center. I have had a chance to interact with people like Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi, whom I will tell you an amazing story about later, and authors like JJ
Virgin, Wayne Dyer and the singers Kenny Loggins and Meatloaf. All of these people,
have something in common with other highly successful individuals, like Donald Trump
and Harv Eker, the financial teacher, and that “something in common” is what you will
find out in this book. They are all highly focused people.
This is actually a follow-up to our very successful book with Hay House Publishing
called “Slow Down: The Fastest Way to Get Everything You Want.” In the book “Slow
Down,” I offered hundreds of success stories of clients that I had worked with over the
years as a master life coach. We also shared stories from listeners who had called in for
advice on our nationally syndicated radio show, only to call back two, or three, or four
months later to share their incredible success stories, and it was all because they finally
got focused in life.
I remember as a kid hearing over and over and over again my parents saying, “David J,
would you just do one thing at a time.” You know, I laugh now thinking about that. Even
into my adult life, I have been someone that has always wanted a lot of daily stimulation.
To have five-hundred projects going on at the same time. Trust me, there is a positive to
that, because when you have so many projects going on, you are going to be introduced
to many different philosophies, teachers and types of people. You will also be introduced
to a lot of success, and a lot of failure. What I have found, just like in the writing of this
book, is that when the time is right, and I apply my focus, miracles happen. And I want
the same to happen for you.
Focus, you see, is the key to long-lasting success. We can only juggle so many balls at a
time before we figure out that living life like this is not going to work. We can only for so
long say to ourselves that we are “a jack of all trades, but a master of none” until we
realize that this approach might actually be hurting us in life. At some point, we have got
to get focused. I know that if you really apply the principles as we are setting them out in
this book, that your dreams about achieving specific levels of success in life no longer
have to be just dreams, they can become your reality. You will see that you will be able
to exceed your own expectations, but it will take, and I say this to you with an open heart
and an open mind, it will take you doing things differently. It will take you surrendering
to a new way of thinking and acting.
When I was struggling financially, I had to surrender to a financial coach, and have her
take me by the hand down her path to success. When I have wanted to radically change
my body, I have had to surrender to someone else’s way of thinking. As a matter of fact,
going back fifteen years ago now, I surrendered to a guy named Bill Phillips, who wrote
the book,” Body For Life.” Even though I did not agree initially with the system that he
wrote about in his book, when I wanted to radically change my body, and become part of
a body sculpting contest, I had to throw out my old belief systems, and follow someone
else’s to get the success that I had wanted. That is called focus. When I have wanted to
get sober in life, which I will tell you about at the end of the book, I had to throw out my
beliefs of what it meant to get sober and follow someone else’s program. In other words,
focus right now. If we can get this into our mindset, focus means that if you are not
getting what you want out of a certain area of life, with your mind, your body, your
relationships, your career, your finances, and you truly want to see a radical shift in that
one area of life, you are going to have to surrender and focus to someone else’s program
that has what you desire. It is that simple.
So, why is now the time that this message about focus is so needed in our world today?
First, we have to agree that we are highly distracted in life. Life is moving so fast.
Between all of the different technology that is available, the five thousand channels on
television, the high expectations we have for our children, to not just be in soccer and do
well in school, but to be in soccer, and theatre, and political clubs, and volunteer on
weekends. All of a sudden, if you look around, we see harried parents driving their
children to a myriad of events, and losing themselves in the process. In other words, our
desire for success has gotten so out of control, that we have lost the concept of focus. We
cannot even sit down at lunch with a friend without having our iPhone go off with texts
and calls, and who knows what else. This time in our lives, more than ever, we need to
slow down and focus. Focus on what we desire. Focus on what is meaningful in life.
Our desire for instant gratification destroys our focus, as well. We want the big hit. We
want to lose the thirty pounds today. We want to make the hundred-thousand dollars now.
We want to buy the homes and flip them, and become a millionaire in two years. Do you
see what I am saying? We are so distracted with technology; we are so distracted with
instant gratification, we have lost the concept of the power of focus. Until now. Through
this book, we will bring back the power of focus, and finally get what we desire in life.
We need to slow down. We need to sit back. We need to focus, or our life is going to pass
us by, and we are going to say, “Was that all it was about?” Here is the good news: You
can change all of this today by getting focused and following the system in this book.
Then watch yourself month by month exceed your own expectations.

Chapter Review
Take a moment right now, without going any further, to slow down and focus on what
was in important in the previous chapter. These writing exercises are the absolute gems
of this work, which when done will help you to get the most out of your time and this
book. Remember, do not trust your brain to be able to recall this life changing
information. The act of writing allows you to delve deeper into your mind, and to focus
on what was important to you in the previous pages that is relevant to your growth at this
time in your life. As simple as these exercises are, I think the act of filling in the
questions here could be one of the most powerful steps that you can take, right now, to
create the life you desire. These questions are so powerful, that they are the same ones
that I have used since 1991 in my work with clients as a Master Life Coach. Slow down,
focus, write, then act to become who you truly want to be in life.
1) What was covered in detail, in this chapter?
2) What was of most interest to you and why?
3) What would be 1 or 2 actions steps, relevant to the information in this chapter, that you
could take right now to help you to focus more in life? Be specific, and also put the exact
day and time that you will take these steps.
 The Power of Focus

Chapter 2:
What Does it Mean to be Fully Focused in Life?
“You are worthy of every goal you desire.”

So, what are the benefits of a focused life? First of all, we are going to stop juggling all
those plates in the air. We are going to stop spinning five thousand plates in order to try
to feel successful in life. We are going to get clear. The benefit of a focused life is clarity.
The benefit of a focused life is a sharp mind. We finish projects that we start, and we are
disciplined role models for our friends, our coworkers, and our family. In other words,
maybe for the first time in our life people will say, “My Lord, this guy, or this woman, is
finishing the projects they are starting!” A huge benefit of getting focused is that we will
drop the chaos and the drama. We drop the excuses. We drop the blame game on the
government, on the economy, or on our genetics. We are going to drop blaming all of
these outside forces, and we are going to take responsibility for moving our lives forward.
Now, some people may say, “I don’t know if that is a benefit; I kind of like projecting
blame out there, and saying that I am not the reason that I do not have the money I want,
the body I want, the love I want, the relationship with God I want.” You see, without
focus, it is very easy to stay stuck in the blame game, but with focus, choosing one goal,
which I will get to later on in the book, and going after it full force, we can start to see
our life radically change. But it will not happen, I promise you, until we stop making
excuses for the reasons that we do not have what we want in life.
Another benefit of focus is that we will be filled with confidence and integrity. Why is
that? Well, think about it. When you are focused, you pick a goal that you want, one goal
at a time, and you go after it, until you accomplish it. That is going to increase your
confidence in life. That is going to make you feel better about yourself. It makes sense,
doesn’t it? Instead of saying, “I am going to do this, and do this, and do this,” and at the
end of twelve months, you haven’t done any of it, you are going to slow down and
choose one goal. You are going to attack it with a systemized approach that we will teach
you in this book, and you will complete it before you start another goal. You will increase
your confidence in life.
Next is your integrity. Integrity is walking your talk. Integrity is the basis of confidence.
When we are constantly saying, “I am going to make this amount of money, and I am
going to lose this weight, and I am going to do this, and I am going to do that,” and we
are just blowing smoke. People around us think, “Whatever! There he goes again; there
she goes again.” So, the benefit of integrity is that you will walk your talk, and you will
finish your projects. People will respect you, and once again, you will become a role
model to your family and friends, and most importantly to yourself. This is the beginning
of the pathway to exceeding your own expectations in life. As you can imagine, it opens a
doorway that many of us have never experienced throughout our entire lives.
Now, what are the challenges of living this way? What are the challenges of living a life
that is fully focused? Number one is that we have got to let go of the excuses, the
justifications, and the rationalizations that we use to keep us playing small in life. So
many times people will say, “Well, you know, I would have more money in the bank, if it
wasn’t for the meltdown of the housing market.” Or, “You know, as soon as my kids get
out of the house, or as soon as my kids graduate, or as soon as my kids….” and the list
goes on, and on. “If it wasn’t for my genetics, I wouldn’t be carrying this extra weight.”
Here is the truth about genetics and weight. A University of Florida study a number of
years ago concluded that even though sixty-five to seventy-five percent of the United
States of America is overweight or obese, only six percent of these people could use
genetics as a reason for their being overweight. You see, the challenge of living a focused
life is saying, “I have to walk through the resistance; I have to walk through the blocks; I
have to walk through the barriers to go after my goal.” “ I have to drop the excuse
regarding genetics and my weight and take personal responsibility for my health habits if
anything is going to change.”
It’s like when we look back at the story of Walt Disney, who went bankrupt seven times
before he became a huge success. The person who is not focused on their end result,
choosing only one major goal to work on at a time, would not have the resolve that Walt
Disney had. After their first, or second, or third bankruptcy, they’d give up on their
dreams. But when we are living a focused life, the opposite occurs. Challenges are going
to come up. Things are going to try to get in the way of you accomplishing your goal.
Right up front, I am telling you this. I am not telling you that living a focused life is easy.
I am telling you it is worth it. There will be blocks. There will be rainy weather. There
will be children getting sick on the day you are supposed to start working out in the gym.
There will be all kinds of blocks that are going to come up, and we have to walk through
the resistance. We have to be willing to say, “I am not going to let this knock me off my
course.”
Now, another challenge that may arise is that our friends, our family, and our coworkers
may not like the fact that you are changing. It is so true. For the twenty-five years that I
have worked as a master life coach, and I cannot tell you how many times a couple will
come in, or an individual, and declare that they are going to make a major change in life.
They are going to get sober; or go back to school. They are going to start working out
with a trainer in the gym. And, their friends and their partners initially are very excited.
Imagine this. A couple comes in and sits down, and says that they are looking at
improving their financial future. Together we make a decision, that in order for them to
accomplish the goals that they want to accomplish, that number one, they have got to
start saving now, even though they don’t think they can. So we work through that hurdle;
and life is good. We’ve got them on that pathway to success. Next, the wife decides that
she has got to go back to school to get a degree in order to get a better job and move
forward in life. Everyone is excited. The first couple of weeks go by; and when they
come back in, all hell is breaking loose. Everyone is upset with the new goals. Why is
that? Because, now that the wife is not home three nights a week until 10:00 or 10:30 at
night, it is disrupting their normal routine. So, while the husband initially was really
excited about his wife going back to school and their future being more secure with her
job change, now it is interfering with his life. Not only does he have to make dinner
nightly, but he has to take care of the kids those three nights by himself. If we are not
focused, and we are standing in the wife’s shoes, it is very easy to be swayed, and for her
to say, “You know what, honey? You are right. This is too much on you. I am going to
quit school, and we will figure out another way.”
But, that is not the answer anymore. When we get focused, we say, “I know there are
going to be challenges; I am not going to hide behind the façade that says, “Now that we
have decided that we are going to make more money, now that we have decided we are
going to lose the weight, now that we have decided we are going to forgive someone who
has hurt us in the past, that it’s going to be easy.” Resistance, blocks, and barriers will
occur; but, in our work, and by what you are reading right now, we are preparing
ourselves, so that when the rationalizations and justifications to drop the goal come up,
when the excuses arise, or when the going gets tough, we stay focused anyway.
Our family and friends and coworkers may think initially, I am going to repeat this, that
what you are doing is great. But when it starts to affect them, they may not be in your
corner. And that is okay. I have worked with many people who have made the decision to
get sober, and at first their friends are all excited about them doing this, until it starts to
affect the relationship. I have seen relationships break up because one partner got so
focused on their recovery, and the other one tried to sabotage it. We have to make
decisions for ourselves on the path to real success and realize that not everyone is going
to be in our corner for the long run, and that’s okay.
Let’s look at the concept of focus as it relates to “left-brained” and “right-brained” people
in life. If you’re a left-brained person, “left brains” are logical. They are analytical. They
are intellectual. For these type of individuals reading this book, when we get to the
systems, the formulas, the action steps, and the writing exercises, you will love it. I
promise you that this will excite you, because these concepts are strengths of yours.
When I have you organizing five days a week doing certain tasks on a daily basis to stay
highly focused in: writing the book, losing the weight, making more money, finding your
lover, or recreating a deep love relationship, …when we get to all of that systemized
stuff, you are going to love it. However, when we get to some of the softer parts of life,
like meditation, or lighting a candle in the morning to get focused, those things you
would like to shy away from, don’t shy away. Walk into the uncomfortable. Do those
tasks that we recommend in this book that are not the easiest to do, because that’s where
success lies.
Now, what about our “right-brained” friends reading this? The “right brains” are the
creative people, the spontaneous people, the “free spirits.” For you, when we get to the
candle lighting, or burning incense, or when we talk about following some of the
practices of meditation and opening our hearts to the world, you will love it. You will
immerse yourself in it. You will want to stay in that atmosphere of freedom; that
atmosphere of a spiritual approach to staying focused in life. However, when we start
talking about the daily structured system, the writing exercises to keep us on path, those
things that demand of you to do what is not natural, you may want to shy away from
these procedures. Like I mentioned above, don’t. Whatever it is that you don’t feel
comfortable with is usually, for both the left-brained and the right-brained person, the key
to success. Isn’t that interesting?
We want you to strengthen your strengths, to get highly focused on what you do well,
because there are going to be plenty of things in this book for both the left-brained and
the right-brained person to attach to that will be easy, that will be joyful, and that they
will connect with effortlessly. And do that. Connect. Get focused. Enjoy it. However, as I
have seen in my life, and in the thousands of clients that I have worked with over the
years, it’s when we delve into the uncomfortable, when we hold ourselves accountable to
certain daily practices that aren’t natural, we see the greatest success. Keep that in mind
as we go through the book. When something doesn’t feel right, when we are talking
about doing a daily practice, and you say, “Oh, that is not for me,” just remember, that
it’s exactly for you. If you follow through with this system, you will absolutely exceed
your own expectations in life.
As you read this book, you can probably see that most of us live in a highly unfocused
existence, and that is the reason why we don’t have what we want in life. Let me give you
an example of what this looks like. First of all, if you want to know the classic way to
defeat yourself in life, look at the practice of our New Year’s resolutions. On New Year’s
Eve, people make these resolutions for the year; that “I am going to lose weight, quit
smoking, save more money, find the love of my life, save my marriage,” and they go on,
and on, and on, right? It is probably one of the biggest reasons why we never exceed our
own expectations in life, because we are not focused. The New Year’s Eve resolution
system is the most unfocused form of goal setting known to man. And how do we know
this? Because twelve months later, for ninety-five percent of people who still set their
New Year’s resolutions, most of those resolutions are repeated. So, we know it doesn’t
work.
Another example of how we know that most of us live an unfocused life is the starting
and the stopping of projects. And this is classic. How many times have we started to lose
weight, and then we stopped? How many times have we gotten excited about going back
to church, or temple, or synagogue, and then we stopped? How many times have we
made a decision that, this is it; “I am finally going to go back to school, I am finally
going to take care of myself, I am finally going to…,” fill in the blank. And we started,
and we stopped. This unfocused approach to life destroys our own confidence. Going
back to confidence and integrity, this is exactly what we are talking about. In the
unfocused life, we are not walking our talk. That destroys our internal confidence.
If we really want to see another example of how unfocused many of us are, we just have
to look in our closets. Our closets are so cluttered. There was a client that I recently
worked with who had twenty-two pairs of jeans, eighteen pairs of flip-flops, thirty
jackets, and fifty purses. Now, this might seem extreme, right? But, I would like you right
now to put the book down and go into your closet and count how many pairs of shoes and
jeans and dresses that you have that you really don’t need. See that cluttering? It might be
a guy with ten fishing poles. It might be a woman with fifteen extra blankets or thirty
towels in the closet, just in case company comes. I remember once working with a
woman who on average would have fifteen bottles of shampoo and thirty rolls of toilet
paper in her house, when it was just her and her daughter who lived there. Unnecessary.
Totally unnecessary. This cluttering of our physical space continues to knock us off of
our focused path. Most of us live a very unconscious existence, and this book is saying,
“Let’s reel it in.” Here is the task to do in your home: go through your closets. Anything
that you haven’t worn for twelve months, box it up, take it out, clear it up. Do you really
need ten pairs of jeans? Do you really need twenty, thirty, or forty pairs of shoes? The
answer is no. If you are familiar with the concept of feng shui (if you are not familiar
with it, Google it; or get the book, “Feng Shui for Dummies”), we know physical clutter
also clutters the mind. Go through your house and clear out the clutter, because all of this
excess of material goods is destroying your ability to focus. It is robbing you of energy. It
is cluttering, not just your physical space, but your brain as well.
Now, let’s jump to the office, and it is the same thing. I have worked with clients who
have offices at work and at home, and both of them are totally disheveled. I would ask
you to do exactly what we do with the clothes: box up all of the files that you don’t need
for today, and put them in a corner. Twelve months from now, put them in storage, and
twelve months from then, if you still don’t need them, let them go. Move them out or put
them in a storage facility so they are not physically within your eyesight. These simple
examples are showing how unfocused many of us are. Remove the excess. It might even
be an excess of books in your office, or books at home. Give them away to Goodwill or
the Salvation Army. Start to get focused. Get clear to find the energy that you are looking
for.
The last thing I want to talk about in this chapter is the power of writing, and how we can
focus our mind through writing. Remember this, “Don’t trust your brain.” Wherever in
this book that you see a need to stop reading and to write down something that is
crucially important for your growth, don’t trust your brain and say, “Oh, that is a point I
am going to remember.” Never trust your brain. Write it down. When we do write our
goals down on paper, we begin to get more focused. When we write our goals down, we
get very clear on what it is that we are going to do on a daily basis to change our lives.
Also, when we write, messages from the subconscious can come to the surface to give us
solutions to challenges. Whatever the blocks or the excuses are, when we write them
down, solutions can start to come to the surface, rising from the subconscious, helping us
to stay focused and on our path. Writing is an awesome form of accountability.
Yesterday, as a matter of fact, a client came in, and I asked him what he wanted to
accomplish. He replied that he wanted to write his first book. (I love helping people write
books. It takes a highly focused approach, and we have a system we teach people on how
to do it.) I said, “How long have you been planning on writing this book?” The response
was, “About four years now.” I said, “Awesome! I would love to see your outline.” He
tapped the side of his head, and said, “It is right here.” I said, “Right where?” He said, “It
is in my brain.” I then replied, “And that is exactly why you haven’t acted on it in four
years.” It needs to be in writing. Remember, our written plan is a form of accountability.
That written plan now says, “It is in the physical world; let’s start moving.” Otherwise,
we can stay in our little fantasy land. When we put all of that in writing, it becomes real.
When it is in writing, we have a chance, the very first chance in our lives to actually
exceed our own expectations.

Chapter Review
Take a moment right now, without going any further, to slow down and focus on what
was in important in the previous chapter. These writing exercises are the absolute gems
of this work, which when done will help you to get the most out of your time and this
book. Remember, do not trust your brain to be able to recall this life changing
information.
The act of writing allows you to delve deeper into your mind, and to focus on what was
important to you in the previous pages that is relevant to your growth at this time in your
life. As simple as these exercises are, I think the act of filling in the questions here could
be one of the most powerful steps that you can take, right now, to create the life you
desire. These questions are so powerful, that they are the same ones that I have used since
1991 in my work with clients as a Master Life Coach.
Slow down, focus, write, then act upon your answers to become who you truly want to be
in life.
1) What was covered in detail, in this chapter?
2) What was of most interest to you and why?
3) What would be 1 or 2 actions steps, relevant to the information in this chapter, that you
could take right now to help you to focus more in life? Be specific, and also put the exact
day and time that you will take these steps.
Copyright © 2012 David Essel
 The Power of Focus

Chapter 3:
The One Thing Theory™: The Only Goal-Achievement System You
Will Ever Need
“You are worthy of every goal you desire.”

In this chapter, I am going to share with you the most powerful goal achievement system
you have ever seen. But I’ll also say right up front, this program may seem bizarre to a lot
of people. And why is that? Because, over the years we have been conditioned. We have
been brainwashed. We have been convinced that life balance is possible, and if we go
after multiple goals at the same, a little bit every day, life would become perfect. It is
hogwash. It is nonsense. It has never worked since the beginning of time, and yet we are
still being attracted to programs that promise it will work. It will never work. What I am
going to share with you right now, and I will tell you the story of how we came to create
this process, is something that will radically change your life. It will help you to become
highly focused and highly successful, and there are millions of people in this world that
follow it every day, but many don’t realize they are actually doing it. One goal at a time,
is the goal. Nothing more. Nothing less. Many of the most common goal setting programs
that are available today have great intentions in regards to helping you to accomplish
your goals, but they rarely work. Unless we are talking about the highly-discipline,
already internally-motivated individuals. And, according to my experience, that is
probably about one percent of the world’s population. In other words, one percent of the
world’s population are so highly internally driven that no matter what goal system they
follow, it will work. For the rest of us, it hasn’t, it won’t, and it never will.
When I first started doing this work thirty years ago, I was introduced to the “quadrant
theory” of goal setting, which is highly common and taught everywhere, even at the
finest schools. Some of the most successful individuals in the world promote these two
programs that I am going to share with you; the “quadrant program” and the “pie theory”
of goal achievement. While they can offer some success along the way, they are highly
limited. When I first started teaching as a master life coach, when I first started helping
people to transform their lives, I used either the “quadrant theory” or the “pie chart”
theory. And for a long period of time, we did see some progress with clients. And let’s
face it, if you are not focused in life, any type of a program will help you, right? If you
are just sort of going through the motions of goal setting, but you don’t have a daily plan,
and you don’t have a daily program, if someone gives you something to follow, you will
see some benefits. That is what happened when I became an official life coach in 1991.
(In 1996, I altered all of my work to follow what we have created now called The One
Thing Theory™.) I used the quadrant and the pie chart to help my clients become more
successful. I even used these programs on myself to become more successful. However,
here’s the caveat: I never was able to reach the highest level of breakthroughs in my
professional, personal, career, and finances until I became highly focused, and started
following the program we created.
Let me back up and define both the quadrant and pie theory programs in goal setting. The
quadrant theory says that we are going to break our life into four major goals: Finances,
health, relationships, and spirituality. Then, every week we will choose something to do
within each of those areas to help them all improve. In other words, it is kind of like you
are juggling four balls in life, and you are trying to keep them all going at the same time.
We do a little bit of work on our God path, we do a little bit of work in regards to our
financial status, we do a little bit of work with our health, and we do a little bit of work
with our relationships. We keep trying to juggle multiple goals at the same time. Now,
like I said, I taught this theory for a very long period of time. I saw myself and my clients
reach some measurable levels of success. So, again, I will remind you, anything is better
than nothing. However, the quadrant system falls short of delivering the success we
desire. The other type of system, which is very, very similar, is called the pie theory, or
the pie chart system of goal achievement. Here, instead of having four areas of life, we
divide life up into six slices of pie. So, we are just getting a little bit more specific.
Instead of saying, just finances, we are going to say finances and career. Instead of just
saying our relationships, we are going to say relationships with ourselves and
relationships with others. In other words, we add a couple of new categories, but it is the
same program. We end up every week saying, “Okay, I am going to do a little bit in each
of these six categories of life.” I have even seen some goal achievement teachers that will
break it up into eight, ten, or twelve slices of the pie, and get very specific, but it is the
same bottom line. Instead of four balls of life to try to keep everything going, you are
juggling six, eight, ten, or twelve different categories of life. Every day you are looking at
your chart and saying, “Okay, did I do a little bit here with my exercise? Did I do a little
bit here with God? A little bit with relationship with self? A little bit with relationships
with others?” As you can imagine, it eventually will drive you insane. You may see
nominal success, if you haven’t had any type of organized approach to goal setting, but it
is not going to be anything near what it could be if we became highly focused, and just
went after one goal at a time.
I am now going to give you the definition of The One Thing Theory™, and then I will
tell you how it came into existence. The One Thing Theory™ is the most highly-focused,
goal-achievement program available today. Now, you will notice, I didn’t say goal-
setting program. It is the most highly-focused, goal-achievement program that the world
has ever seen. I am going to say that emphatically because there is nothing, in the thirty
years of my doing this work in the world of motivation and personal growth on myself,
and then eventually helping millions of other people, I have seen so radically change
peoples’ lives. I will also give you multiple examples to prove this to be true. The One
Thing Theory™ states that at any given time in life, there is only one major goal to go
after. It is often the one that we have denied, delayed, or procrastinated taking care of. It
is the one that, when we look at it on paper we say, “You know, I don’t really have the
time to do this. I don’t have the money to do this. I don’t have the education to do this. I
could never forgive that person. I could never…,” fill in the blanks for yourself. The One
Thing Theory™ states that if we were to attack the one major goal that we don’t want to,
if we were to finally go after it five days a week for twenty minutes to two hours per day,
for a minimal of ninety days, our life would radically change.
If you believe in the power of focus, like I do, if you look at the Donald Trumps and the
Dalai Lamas and the Mother Teresas and the Oprahs of the world; if you look at all of the
most successful individuals that have walked this plane, you will see that each of them
have followed The One Thing Theory™. You will see that each of them has gone after
one major goal in their life that they knew would radically change their whole existence.
They attack this “one thing” like a Rottweiler on a bone. These individuals have become
highly successful in life by selecting one area of life to master. If we have one-hundred
people in a room, it could be something totally different for each of those one-hundred
people. So, my question to you right now is: What have you denied, delayed, or
procrastinated working on? What it is that you don’t want to face? What is it that will
demand of you great effort? What is it, that if you were to attack five days a week for
ninety straight days, with an organized, systemized format, would radically change your
life? Do you have back taxes that you haven’t paid that are weighing on your mind? That
could be your one thing. Do you have a resentment against a former lover? Maybe you
still have to interact with them because of kids. But, if you were to be able to let go of the
resentment, your life would be filled with peace. Do you have resentment against
someone who sexually abused you? Or financially abused you? Or maybe emotionally
abused you in the past, and that whenever their name comes up, you get the shivers? You
also know that if you let go of that resentment, your life would radically change. Do you
have a dependency on alcohol, smoking, spending, prescription drugs? Do you have
incredible debt or high expenses on a weekly basis that rob you of the inner peace and of
being financially free? That could be your one thing. Are you like the seventy percent of
Americans who are overweight or obese?
You must know that if you would finally lose that weight once and for all, your life
would radically change, and that you would feel great about yourself. Your confidence
would increase. Your health would improve. Your sleep would improve.
Do you see where I am going? Do you see where we are headed? In other words, no
matter what we accomplish in life, if we don’t go after the thing we have denied, delayed,
or procrastinated, starting today, and take care of this issue, all of the other achievements
will be short lived. It is incredible how I have seen this happen. In other words, we will
go to self-sabotage if we don’t take care of the one thing we have denied, delayed, or
procrastinated. Let’s say, regarding our weight, we might lose ten, twenty, thirty, or forty
pounds, but guess what, it is coming back. It is absolutely coming back if we don’t take
care of the finances, the debt, the over expenditures on a daily basis that rob you of
financial security; because the underlying stress will cause emotional eating and the
weight you lost will return. You have seen those statistics that say if you get a two-dollar
coffee every day, that over the course of four years, it adds up to thousands of dollars of
expenses. We might look at our bank account today saying, “Oh my God. If I had those
thousands of dollars right now that I have spent in the last five years on this coffee every
day, I wouldn’t be in the debt I’m in.”
Your one thing might be for you, your daily expenses. Or, it could be the release of a
resentment against God. That might be your one thing. It could be getting out of
victimhood. Maybe you are sitting here and you are blaming the presidency, or the
economy for your bad financial luck, or you are blaming the housing market. Maybe your
one thing is to let go of all resentments and get out of the victim mentality. I don’t know
what it is for you, but I can tell you this: If you are willing to do a little bit of work; if you
are willing to get focused to go after and attack this one thing, your life will radically
change. On the other hand, if we keep avoiding, denying, or procrastinating taking care of
that one issue that has been holding us back, that has been nagging us, that is always
sitting in the subconscious; if we do not go after and attack this, we will never reach the
highly-focused end result that you and I want, that is in the title of this book. In other
words, we will never exceed our own expectations.
For some people, The One Thing Theory™ will lead you to a new belief system about
money. This belief system about money might be wrapped up, as Harv Eker says in
“Secrets of the Millionaire Mind,” in the fact that money is the root of all evil, that rich
people are greedy, and that it is better to give than receive. All of those ridiculous
statements, that have no basis in reality, are holding you back financially. It is amazing
how The One Thing Theory™ works. Let’s go to the Bible for a minute. When we talk
about multiple goals; when we talk about the quadrant theory or the pie chart theory of
goal setting, just think about what Jesus said in the Bible, when he refers to the fact that
you cannot serve two masters at once. So, you cannot serve money and love. What is the
correct quote out of the Bible? It is not that money is the root of all evil. The correct
quote out of the Bible is, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” In other words, if
you put money up on a pedestal, and you love it so much, you are willing to do whatever
it takes that may even be against your morals and ethics; cheating on your taxes, for an
example, not reporting all of your income, or fabricating expenses. Okay, well you have
just created another master. So love is not your master; spirituality is not your master, and
God is not your master, because love, spirituality, and God are all based in honesty. Do
you follow me here? So, all of a sudden you are serving two masters. Your greed, your
love of money, has overcome your moral and ethical decision making, which is going to
come back, and it’s going to bite you in the butt. Later on we will talk about karma, to see
how we can clean our lives up at an even deeper level.
Let’s go back to the statement: “You cannot serve two masters at the same time.” That
falls perfectly into The One Thing Theory™. In our belief system, you cannot serve two
goals at the same time. No one has the energy to put one hundred percent effort into two
goals. So, in other words, if someone comes to me and says, “You know what, David? I
really need to lose twenty-five pounds, and I want to forgive my parents for some type of
abuse,” or “I want to earn one hundred thousand dollars a year, and at the same time, I
want to create this amazing pathway to God,” or, “I want to find the love of my life, and
at the same time, I want to find a new career path,” I will work with those people and
they will quickly see that we can only serve one goal at a time. The One Thing Theory™
is unbelievably powerful. They will see for themselves that we can’t serve two masters,
that they are going to have to make a decision on which of the goals in front of them will
have the most powerful effect on their life. Which of the two goals have they denied,
delayed, or procrastinated the longest? Sometimes people come in with three, or four, or
five goals. Which of those three, or four, or five goals have we denied, delayed, or
procrastinated working on the longest that will radically change our existence? That is the
master we want to serve. That is the one goal, the one master that we want to go after.
I had an interview in 1996 that led to me create this whole process around focus and The
One Thing Theory™ that radically changed every area of my life forever. I will never
forget the interview. At that time, I hosted a nationally syndicated radio talk show with
Westwood One. We were in about 230 cities across the United States. It had just
exploded. Our audience base was huge. We were interviewing, just like we are today
with my radio show on XM Satellite Radio, the greatest minds, the most incredibly
successful people in this world in the realm of finances, spirituality, fitness, career,
relationships, love, you name it. We had the most positively outrageous interviews back
then, just like we do now. During that year, we had an opportunity to interview an
individual named Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was the founder of
transcendental meditation. If you remember in the late fifties and early sixties, the Beatles
became huge proponents of transcendental meditation, and spread the message around the
world, as they still do today. As a matter of fact, several years ago, Paul McCartney
offered a free concert in Central Park, and the purpose of the concert was to continue to
promote the benefits of transcendental meditation. Our own government, as well as so
many other organizations, have done studies, double-blind placebo-controlled studies on
the power of Transcendental Meditation and its positive effects on our mind, addiction
recovery, reversing the aging process, attitude, and so much more. This stuff works.
Maharishi, who has since passed, was based then in Holland, with his University in
Fairfield, Iowa. I had been doing Transcendental Meditation for a number of years, and I
was blown away at the changes that had happened in my life due to this daily practice.
When I had the chance to interview the founder of TM, I was ecstatic. It was the fortieth
anniversary of transcendental meditation, and Maharishi and his organization searched
across America for one media outlet to do an interview with to celebrate this milestone,
and they chose our show, David Essel ALIVE! in order to do that. My team at David
Essel ALIVE! was amazed that, of all of the other avenues that Maharishi had, television
shows and radio shows other than ours, that they selected us. We were highly honored.
As we went through the interview, Maharishi was amazing, just unbelievably amazing.
The interview was so much fun. It was filled with laughter and joy, and also some highly
esoteric principles. When he would start to discuss them, quite frankly at that time, many
were going over my head. We would then go to another question, and we would be
laughing, and I would be spellbound. He would explain these incredibly difficult
concepts of why we are here, including evolution, awakening, and enlightenment. I
would just sit there and say, “Oh my Lord. This guy is incredible.”
Three weeks later, I am in Orlando, Florida, speaking at a convention, and as I come off
stage, a woman came up to me and asked me if she could buy me coffee and talk about
my presentation. As we are having coffee, she said, “Listen, I want to ask you about an
interview you did a couple of weeks ago with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,” which I was
more than excited to discuss. When I asked her why, she said, “Well, I have been with
Maharishi for thirty-six of his forty years, since he created Transcendental Meditation
and started promoting it around world.” Then she went on to ask me what I remembered
from the interview. I could not remember anything, other than the fact that this man was
filled with so much joy and love. It was very weird because, when I would interview
Deepak Chopra, or Wayne Dyer, or Suze Orman, or athletes, or movie stars, like Jenna
Elfman, or incredible authors, like Mark Victor Hansen, from “Chicken Soup for the
Soul,” I would always remember the four major points they covered, or the six major
points they covered, or the one major point they covered. I always had a great memory of
stories that people would share with me, and I could easily say to this woman sitting in
front of me, “Oh, you know, when I interviewed so and so, this was their main point,” but
when it came to her question regarding Maharishi, I had no answer. Finally I looked at
her, and I said, “You know, I don’t really remember anything other than joy and laughter
from Maharishi, and it is kind of strange that that’s all I can remember.” She smiled and
said, “David, that’s because you don’t have any joy in your life.” I looked at her, and I
was aghast at her reply. My small ego started going on and on in my head, “Who does
this woman think she is? She doesn’t even know me. I have been talking to her for fifteen
minutes. She doesn’t have a clue of who I am, and she is telling me I have no joy. You’ve
got to be kidding me.” I continued speaking to her, but in the back of my mind I am
saying, “I’m going to get out of this conversation very quickly, because this woman
obviously doesn’t know me.” As we talked more, I finally said that. “You know, I think
you have come to a conclusion, and that you really don’t know what you are talking
about, because you don’t know me, and yet you are making this claim that I don’t have
joy.” My feathers were ruffled. My small ego was hurt. She went on then to explain her
point. “David, listen, please don’t take it personally. It is just the truth. Whenever myself
and other followers of Maharishi would be with him, we might be sitting in a room and
he would speak for four, five, six, seven, or eight hours. We would walk out of the room
and collectively start asking each other what we got out of the presentation, and almost
every time it was the same thing. People would talk about different topics that he
covered, and the rest of us would say, I don’t remember him even covering that topic.
The point, David, is this: Whatever it is that you walk out remembering that Maharishi
said, is what is lacking from your life.”
You can imagine that I was not a big fan of hers. I was sitting there thinking, “How can
she say now that I have no joy in my life, just because these things happened to her and
her colleagues when they were sitting with Maharishi.” Well, needless to say, I wrapped
up the conversation pretty quickly. I was very polite and very nice, but I really wasn’t
buying it. Weeks go by, and the thought kept coming through my mind that she had just
shared: “David, the only thing you will take out of an interview or a conversation with
Maharishi, is that which is lacking from your life.” So, I continued to run that through my
brain, and I sat there trying to intellectually understand it. I said to myself, “But wait a
minute; I host the most positive and the most popular positive radio show across the
United States of America every week. I have just written my first book. My client base
from my 1-on-1 coaching clients is off the wall; I have a waiting list. I live on the beach.
I have a Mercedes convertible.” I went down this list of all of this stuff, and I said, “You
know, I just don’t see it. Maybe what she is saying is true for other people, but it is not
for me.” It was about six weeks later that I woke up one day and I got it; she was right. I
had very little joy in my life. I was addicted to multiple things: Number one - work,
number two—fame, number three—money, number four—alcohol, and number five, I
was a binge cocaine addict.
Now, all of those things wrapped together would make it obvious to anyone in the outside
world that maybe she was right, that just maybe I didn’t have the joy I thought I had. As
the days continued to go by, the epiphany of understanding that she was right was
impossible to ignore and I knew I had to start working on something to radically change
my own life. So I started looking at it. What is my one thing? What is the thing that I
have denied, delayed, or procrastinated working on for the longest? What is the thing that
is absolutely destroying me? What is the thing that I need to let go of right away in order
to feel joy? As I looked at this list of all of these things that I eventually had to attack, I
knew I could only do one at a time. This was the birthplace of The One Thing Theory™.
The very first thing I had to attack was my binge cocaine addiction. Now, I had this
addiction since college, and even though I was working with addicts and helping people
to get clean, every several months I would hide away with a several-day blast, a binge of
my addictive process with cocaine. I would be gone from society for several days. In that
process, I would be up all night. I would be trying to reach that level of “connection” that
people experience with a cocaine addiction, or any addiction for that matter, that we
believe can only be reached with an outside substance. I needed an awakening. And it
came on a Tuesday, in 1996, after the interview with Maharishi, after the connection with
this woman who was one of his colleagues. A Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.; I
remember it like it was yesterday. I had only been to sleep for about four hours, and I
awoke in so much pain from my latest binge from the several days before, and I knew
that I could not carry on like this anymore. My joy was absolutely ripped out of my life.
She was right, and Maharishi was right. On that very day, I screamed out to God for the
one thousandth time to take this addiction away. I have no idea how it happened, other
than my intense prayer, on my knees, screaming for salvation, screaming for recovery.
Something clicked at that time, an awakening and awareness. I do praise God from that
day forward, because my first “one thing” was healed.
When I realized that the awareness of the addiction was a pathway to freedom, joy and
success, I literally changed my life on that day. I also started working on changing my
philosophy with coaching my 1-on-1 clients, throwing out the pie charts and the quadrant
theory, and working on The One Thing Theory™. It was also in that year, 1996, that my
life coach certification program was created, where I started to certify people to become
life coaches. Out of that, “Life Coach Universe™” would be born, an official
organization that trains people to become coaches. In that process, just like in this book,
the anchor, the one thing that we train our coaches on to go and help others with, that
separates our life coach training certification from all other certifications in the world, is
the process of The One Thing Theory™. (We go into intense detail with this program in
our certification programs. Our online program, “The One Thing That Will Radically
Change Your Life Forever!™,” which consists of three videos and a twenty-one page
manual, will take you deeper into The One Thing Theory™ process, is available at our
website: www.davidessel.com.) When this breakthrough occurred in 1996, I knew that I
had to share this with the world, which we have been doing since then. Everything
changed in that year; everything about the way I worked 1-on-1 with my clients and the
way that I lived with my own life. As I go through my existence, I continue to knock off
my one-things, the things I have denied, delayed, or procrastinated working on in my
own life, like my various addictions. There was one time I had to really focus on
finances. There was another time that I had to really focus on my health. There was
another time that I had to focus on my codependency with others, my craving to be
accepted by everyone I met. Every time I do this, I see my life go to a whole new level,
just like it has been happening since 1996 with all of my clients. This system is so
powerful. This system will blow away your beliefs in regards to what you are capable of
achieving. I know, since it has worked for thousands upon thousands of people since we
started it, that it will work for you as well.
So, what is your one thing? We have created a list of six areas of life for you to choose
your one thing from:
The first area of life is relationship with self.
The second area of life is your career.
The third area of life is your health.
The fourth area of life is your spiritual path or religious path.
The fifth area of life is your finances.
The sixth area of life is your relationship with others.
Look at the list, consider each of these areas and say, “Which of these have I denied,
delayed, or procrastinated working on? Which of these areas have I not wanted to face?
Which of these areas, that if I were to move through and accomplish, would I breathe
easier, sleep better, feel better, would I create more success in my life?” That is the area
we want you to focus on. Remember, you cannot exceed your expectations in life if we
are not willing to remove those anchors that are holding us back. This is the key to our
work. In other words, some people will say, “I know that if I was free financially, if I just
earn 250 thousand dollars a year, my life would be so radically changed.” We know that
is not true. The example that proves this is erroneous thinking that is so often used is with
lottery winners. According to a Gallup poll, about forty percent of individuals who win
the lottery are bankrupt within four to five years. So this tells us that money isn’t the
answer. There is something deeper that has to be taken care of; and that usually is beliefs
about money, being worthy of receiving from this world. Remember that old adage, “it is
better to give than to receive;” well, it is not true. It is better to give and to receive.
Unless we have this clear belief system around money, no matter how much money you
make, you will always lose it. It will be rollercoaster, the yo-yo; make money and lose
money, out of debt and in debt. It goes back and forth constantly. So, what we want to do
with The One Thing Theory™ is say, “What is this thing about money?” and go deeper
into it. Hire someone, or use our programs, to help you see what you cannot see by
yourself regarding resentments, regarding belief systems about your body, money,
addiction, or whatever it might be. This is the key to our program. I just want to say this
again: If it wasn’t so effective, we couldn’t be doing this since 1996. It really, really
works.
Here are some examples of just a few of our clients who have mastered their life, who
have exceeded their own expectations by focusing on The One Thing Theory™.
Tracy lost eighty pounds and has kept it off for four years already. When we worked
together, her one thing was health, without a doubt. She had three young kids. She was
working and her husband worked, and their relationship was strained at the time. Of
course, she was one of those people who were always doing for others, but her one thing
wasn’t finding more time in the day. It wasn’t making more money. It was her health. So,
she went on this incredible program, highly focused, to lose this weight. Within eight
weeks, she had lost twenty-four pounds. Within a year, she had lost eighty pounds, and
she has kept it off. Her life has radically changed. That is like losing almost a full person
that you are carrying around, right? Can you imagine someone who needed to lose eighty
pounds, how much better they would feel about themselves by losing that weight? The
other thing that Tracy did while she was losing the weight, in our work together, is that
she got to the core beliefs about worthiness of losing the weight and how to create that
pathway to success that she could sustain. Many people who don’t figure out the concept
of self-sabotage and goal setting will lose the weight and gain it back. Tracy has still kept
the eighty pounds off, and her life has radically changed.
I worked with a couple once who were trying to recover from an affair. When they came
in, of course, the one thing that they originally thought was going to be the core of their
work was who was “really” to blame. “He did this to me,” “she did that to me.” But, their
real one thing is going to be shocking to many people. When they focused on, “What was
my role in this affair?” “How did my lack of communication lead to this affair?, ”What
was it that I did that pushed my husband out of my house to have an affair with someone
else?” and, “What was I not communicating to my wife, that I held resentments about,
that led me to have the affair?” Their one thing, is called self-responsibility. When they
both found their one thing, and they both became responsible for their actions that led to
the affair, their marriage healed. Now, this is a couple I worked with four years ago, and
their marriage and their love is more solid and deeper than they had ever had in the
eighteen years of marriage prior to finding their one thing. So the one thing with this
couple, which is very difficult to admit and honestly deal with when there has been an
affair, was simple, powerful, and difficult: “What was my role in this affair, and how do I
admit it and release it?” That is what each of those people had to do in order to create the
deepest love they have ever experienced. Now, for most people, after an affair, whoever
cheated, whoever went out and had the physical contact with someone else, is who we
blame. The victim is the person who is pointing the finger. The person who actually had
sex with someone else is the one who we want to hang. It is just the bottom line, it is the
way life works, even though it doesn’t “really” work that way. In actuality, what this
couple did was very brave, strong and powerful. I have worked with many, many couples
over the past twenty-plus years that have had to come to this conclusion, that if I don’t
take my responsibility, look at, and release it, for how this relationship crumbled, I am
going to repeat the pattern, hold the resentment, and repeat it in the future. They attacked
their one thing and, obviously, the result is amazing.
Another great example of someone who went after the one thing was Angela. In ninety
days, Angela doubled her income, even though she did not have a college education. In
her case, her one thing was money, because she was making so little that it was a stressor
in every area of her life. Her one thing was increasing her income. So, we went through
all of her belief systems around money, worked through them, and then we created a plan
of attack. Her one thing was to double her income. Now, she has said to me, and I have
repeated this thousands of times to audiences I have spoken to, that she was not
convinced it was possible. Just like a lot of people I work with who don’t think that
sobriety is going to be possible because they have been drinking for so long, or don’t
think that forgiveness is going to be possible because they’ve held resentments for so
long, or who, like Angela, don’t think they are going to actually be able to double their
income. So, we worked on Angela’s beliefs, and then we got into the plan. In ninety days,
she doubled it, but it even gets better. It was ninety days, to the day, when she got the
offer that doubled her income, and wouldn’t you know it, three days later she called me
back and said, “David, I am so stressed. You are not going to believe what happened. I
got another offer at more than double my income.” Then a couple days later, well you
guessed it, she got another offer that was even higher than that. Her income continues to
skyrocket. She is doing amazing things in life, and it is all because she focused on her
one thing.
The last little story I am going to share with you is about someone who achieved great
success with The One Thing Theory™ is a client named Howard. Howard came to me
with thirty-plus years of heavy alcohol addiction. He was a highly-functioning alcoholic.
He was able to own his home and keep a job, but a serious alcoholic nonetheless. Within
eight weeks of intense work together, Howard was able to get into recovery and to
experience sobriety. That was a number of years ago, and he is still sober today.
I want to say this again: When most people come in to work with our program, they are
not aware of The One Thing Theory™. They are not aware of choosing one goal and
going after only one goal at a time. They are only aware that life is not working. When
we explain the system that you are reading about right now, when we explain the power
of focus, and when we explain that if they were to get the focus, find the one thing, and
do the work, they would exceed even their own expectations in life. Well, sometimes
people honestly are skeptical. We have thousands of stories proving this system
absolutely works. Through our company and this book, we have so many different
programs available, whether you want to work with me 1-on-1, or if you want to take our
online course, The One Thing That Will Radically Change Your Life Forever!™, or join
one of our group courses through LifeCoachUniverse.com. There are all kinds of ways to
get even more in tune with your one thing, more in tune with finding the pathway to help
you exceed all of your expectations in life. And that, is my only goal for you.

Chapter Review
Take a moment right now, without going any further, to slow down and focus on what
was important in the previous chapter. These writing exercises are the absolute gems of
this work, and will help you get the most out of your time and this book. Remember, do
not trust your brain to be able to recall this life changing information. The act of writing
allows you to delve deeper into your mind, and to focus on what was important to you in
the previous pages that is relevant to your growth at this time in your life. As simple as
these exercises are, the act of filling in the questions here could be one of the most
powerful steps that you can take, right now, to create the life you desire. These questions
are so powerful, that they are the same ones that I have used since 1991 in my work with
clients as a Master Life Coach. Slow down, focus, write, then act upon your answers to
become who you truly want to be in life.
1) What was covered in detail, in this chapter?
2) What was of most interest to you and why?
3) What would be 1 or 2 actions steps, relevant to the information in this chapter, that you
could take right now to help you to focus more in life? Be specific, and also put the exact
day and time that you will take these steps.
Copyright © 2012 David Essel
 The Power of Focus

Chapter 4:
Focus and Accountability: How to Exceed Your Own Expectations in
Life
“You are worthy of every goal you desire.”

We rarely accomplish any major goals in life by ourselves. Did you ever realize that?
One of the reasons that this is true is because of the concept of accountability. With our
program on focus, accountability is everything. It is actually quite the opposite of what
the human brain wants to do. In other words, what we would really like to be able to do is
lose the weight, make the money, get sober, find the love of our lives, enhance our
current relationships, save our marriage, or get closer to God, all by ourselves. Most of us
don’t want to be held accountable. We do not want someone to be saying, “Did you do
this today?” “Did you follow through with those calls today?” Did you get into the gym
today?” Did you watch what you ate all day long?” “Did you deal with the anxiety,
instead of going and having a drink?” Whatever we want to accomplish in life, first, we
need to first get focused, and then, we need to be held accountable to change.
One of the reasons that there are life coaches and athletic coaches, counselors, therapists,
and ministers, is because of the importance of accountability. Over the years, in the world
of life coaching, we have really fine-tuned this concept of accountability to make it much
different than any other forms of 1-on-1 personal growth or self-help programs. If you
look back years ago, when we would work with counselors, or therapists, or ministers,
the normal scenario would be, “This was a great session. I look forward to seeing you in
seven days. Keep in mind everything that we talked about.” That was it. Now it has
radically changed. In our life coach certification courses, we emphasize the need to hold
our clients accountable. We train our teachers how to do that through writing exercises,
and through questions that go deep into the aspect of why we want to change and how we
are going to change. And, the next step is crucial. The coaches that we train, as well as
the clients that I work with, have certain deadlines to hit in their accountability process in
order to accomplish what they want in life. There is no more of the “old-day approach” to
coaching, where we would say to someone, “That was a great session. I can’t wait to see
you next week.” That doesn’t work. It really never worked. Now what we say is, “That
was a great session. Here are the assignments to do over the next seven days. I want you
to answer these questions in writing. I want these homework assignments to be sent to me
within twenty-four hours, or forty-eight hours, or seventy-two hours. Keep a diary or a
log of all of the tasks that you have done to accomplish your goal for the next seven days.
Bring all of this in next week, and we will go over it.” That is called accountability; and
this is an important part of all powerful goal achievement programs.
When we add this component of accountability, and you follow what we are encouraging
you to do in this book, you can absolutely exceed your own expectations in life. But we
need to find someone to hold us accountable. We need an accountability coach or an
accountability partner. We need an accountability professional who is going to be there
with us step-by-step. If we do not follow through on tasks that we say we are going to do,
we have to have someone calling us out on the table, and saying, “If you are serious and
you want to keep working together, you have to do the work, period; or you may want to
find someone else to work with.” Now, that is what I call a true accountability coach.
Remember, we rarely accomplish any great things in our life by ourselves. I don’t know
too many people over the history of time that are incredibly focused and successful who
do it by themselves. Stephen King has worked with editors and publishers to become one
of the most prolific authors of all time. Michael Jordan, I remember in an interview one
time, when someone said, “What does it feel like to be called the greatest basketball
player of all time, to be able to do this by yourself with your God-given talents?” He
looked at the interviewer and said, “I wish I could say that is the case, but it is not. I have
surrounded myself with the best coaches, the best nutritionists, the best personal trainers,
and the best mental toughness coaches that I can find to be able to do what I have done
on the basketball court.” Do you see what I mean? We don’t do these things alone.
Whatever it is that you want to accomplish in life, your “one thing,” you will definitely
need an accountability partner to make it happen. You might be thinking right now: “If I
could just forgive this person”, or “forgive myself.” “If I could just make X amount of
dollars.” “If I could just lose this weight.” “If I could just open my own business that I
have dreamt about for years”, or “write that book.” “If I could just save my marriage”, or
“rebuild my relationship with my children.” “If I could just get sober”, or “find that
incredible loving relationship I’ve always wanted.” Or maybe, “If I could just find inner
peace by developing a deep, abiding relationship with God.” Whatever your goal is,
you’re going to have to find someone to help you accomplish it. Again, let me repeat this:
We rarely accomplish any substantial goals in life alone, which means, you probably will
not exceed your own expectations if you try to do it by yourself.
You see with accountability, we can’t hide. Everything is out there. We can’t say that we
are eating perfectly and we are exercising as we need to, when we have an accountability
coach who is weighing us or measuring our body every four weeks. Maybe there is no
movement on the scale, or there is no movement on the tape. They will look at us and
say, “Okay, wait a second. There is something you’re not doing, or this scale would’ve
moved by now”, or “these measurements would’ve changed.” Do you know what I’m
saying? We need an accountability partner to make these dreams our reality.
I’m going to get you involved right now in finding your accountability partner. I want
you to write this down: Who do you need to reach out to in order to accomplish your
biggest goal in life? Look at the list below, choose who you need to work with. Who will
be your accountability partner in order to accomplish your greatest goal in life?
Will it be:
1. A life coach?
2. A minister?
3. A counselor or a therapist?
4. A financial adviser?
5. A mentor?
6. A personal trainer?
7. A massage therapist, or some type of energy healer?
Now, when you look at that list, I want you to just put a check mark in the book next to
maybe one or two of those types of individuals that you know you need to contact to ask
them to be a part of your accountability process. Who do you want to be your
accountability partner in order to achieve your greatest goal?
Do not, I repeat, do not trust your brain when it says, “You know what, David, that’s
great for most people, but I know I can do this on my own.” If you could’ve done it on
your own, you already would have. The fact that we still have huge goals to accomplish
says we are not going to be able to do it on our own, and we need to reach out for help.
The next step, after you choose who you are going to work with, is to go ahead and figure
out a date and time we are going to begin the process. Write that down now. What day
and what time will you hire this person, or will you trade services and barter with this
person, to become your professional accountability partner? Don’t just read this book and
nod your head and say, “Oh this is great,” and “That will work.” It is more important than
ever for us to slow down today and to make the decisions in order to, yes, exceed our
own expectations.
On a side note, I want to make a comment about friends and family members as
accountability partners. We rarely recommend doing this. Most of the time, when we
have friends or family members who become our accountability partners, it leads to
nothing but chaos and drama. Even though they have their best intentions at heart, too
many times family members or friends will fall into one of two categories. They will
become the drill sergeant. Because of their desire to help you succeed, and also because
of their lack of training in knowing how to push people to certain limits and hold them
there, they could go over the top and actually damage the friendship or relationship. The
second way that individuals who are friends or family members might sabotage your
success, unknowingly, is that they do not hold you accountable enough. They are not
strongly based in accountability principles, so they let you get away with more things
than a professional would. I would highly recommend that you look at the list once again
and find professionals, and actually hire them to help you achieve your greatest goals.
In the realm of mentorship, there are mentors around the world that you may be able to
work with at no charge. There are many people that I know that have mentored me
because they’ve wanted to see my level of success rise dramatically. They believed in
me. And, over the course of years, I’ve done the same. That is an avenue you may want
to pursue, as well as pursing a professional to hire. In this very moment, as I write this
book, I can tell you I have multiple accountability partners in my life; some that I pay,
and some that I will do an exchange of services, offering them the same support in their
growth that they offer to me. Regardless of how it is done, there is no way in my life that
I am going to exceed my expectations, even though I work in this field, without powerful
accountability partners.
I want to share a few more stories of individuals whom I have worked with who became
very focused and successful in life. They asked to be held accountable for their own
personal growth, through the various programs we offer, and have once again exceeded
their own expectations. While I love to talk about the Donald Trumps, and the Harv
Ekers, and the Michael Jordans, the Walt Disneys, and the Suze Ormans of the world, I
also want to share within this book people that are achieving exceptional levels of success
that you may never hear of, but nonetheless, they are inspirational to me today, and I
hope to you as well.
In the world of spirituality, I met a client named Lynne, who came in looking for
assistance with her marriage. When she first walked in the door, and she would admit this
to this day, her real purpose was to see if I would agree with her that, in her mind, her
husband had dropped the ball in their relationship, and it might be time for her to leave.
We worked for multiple weeks on this very topic, and by doing intense exercises that I
had given her after every session, she came to the realization that maybe it wasn’t her
husband’s fault entirely for the breakdown of their relationship, for the disintegration of
their marriage. She also found out that, if she were to apply principles that we were
talking about in the sessions in her marriage, that she might be able to resurrect it. Lynne
exceeded her own expectations by doing the most incredibly challenging work that
anyone in relationships will do, and that is to look at her role in the dysfunction. She not
only looked at her role, but she took an accountability approach to it, changed her role,
and ultimately, not only saved, but created a love and a marriage she never knew
possible.
When we worked through that, we came up to her next “one thing.” Lynne’s desire was
to become one with the divine, to become one with God, and to experience God on a
daily basis. An awesome goal; one that you can imagine offers incredible benefits in any
and every area of an individual’s life. As we went through and decided upon what
Lynne’s daily rituals would be and the practices to open her heart and to become closer to
God, we came to this “block” regarding time. Finding the time to do this was a real
challenge for her. She not only was working very deeply on her marriage, and
successfully so, but she had several children and a business she was running. She could
not find the time in her day in order to create this space to deepen her spiritual path.
Through our work together and holding her accountable, one of the exercises I gave her
was to go and block out her days, and to come back with one hour per day that she knew
she would be able to devote to her practice of spirituality. Seven days later, she comes
walking in, smiling and shaking her head, and saying, “The only time, David, that is even
possible is 5 a.m., and I don’t even know if I can do that.” As her accountability coach,
there was only one thing for me to say to her, “Let’s go.” Her eyes got really big as she
realized it was the only step she needed to take in order to bring this goal to her own
realization and to exceed her expectations. Well, we are talking five or six years later
now, and Lynne continues to get up earlier than the birds every morning, and her spiritual
path has become her foundation for her own personal success in life. And yes, her
relationship with God has deepened so greatly that she has now used this as an
opportunity as a professional master life coach to powerfully affect the lives of thousands
of people in this world today.
Lynne would be the first one to share with you right now that without an accountability
partner, whether it was me or someone else, the odds of accomplishing this goal would
not have been possible.
Next, will be Lisa, who came to me as a heavy long-term addict of alcohol and drugs,
from pain pills to heroin to crack cocaine. She was also a heavy smoker and drinker. I
can’t imagine a substance that she had not been battling. Lisa came to me a few months
after ending a rehab program and was in desperate need of daily accountability, even if at
that moment she didn’t know how radically her life would change. The accountability
factor, when I work with someone five days a week, is intensely high. They know that the
next day when they call me on the phone, or they come into my office, that they have
work that needed to be done since the end of our session twenty-four hours earlier. Lisa
had never experienced this form of accountability before. When you look at someone
with thirteen years of heavy drug and alcohol addiction, who is only thirty years old at
the time, with two young children, the odds of succeeding are incredibly small, unless
they are willing to hold themselves accountable and surrender one hundred percent to
someone else’s program. For twenty years prior to meeting and working with Lisa, we
found that our program, which is holistically based (meaning that we work from a mind,
body, spirit, nutrition, exercise perspective, as well as deep emotional healing), we knew
that if anyone were to apply the principles that we offered them they could become
successful, regardless of how intense or how long their addiction had been going on for.
Within days, Lisa, a long-time smoker, had dropped her nicotine habit. She had lost her
cravings for the needles and the drugs. It wouldn’t be that the cravings didn’t come back
down the road, but in her eyes, she was amazed that within a period of seven days, then
fourteen days, then twenty-one, that for the first time in her life that she can imagine, she
began to feel free. I look at people like Lisa as absolute miracles in life. The exercises
that I gave her on a daily basis were always completed one hundred percent. She has
become one of the shining stars of our holistic addiction recovery program. Of the many,
many people we’ve worked with, and the many successes we have, Lisa is by far right up
at the top of the list, because she had such a long history of intense drug and alcohol use,
and such a long history of emotional issues that had not been dealt with. From that time
forward, when she completed our program, she has gone on to win back the custody of
her children that she had lost during her drug abuse years, as well as pass medical boards
and become a healthcare professional. It is unbelievable the success she has achieved
through the power of an accountability program.
The last story I am going to share with you is a fun one in regards to accountability, and a
surprising one as well. A number of years ago a woman came in and sat down
exasperated. She had read all of the top books on finding her soul mate. She had written
out all of the exercises on what to look for. She handed me her sheets, and the soul mate
of her dreams was six-foot-two, blonde hair, blue eyes, and made 250 thousand dollars a
year. The list went on and on and on. I looked at this and I started smiling. She said,
“What? Have you not seen this before?” I said, “Oh, yes, yes, yes. I have seen this type of
list before, I just happen to not believe in them.” Well, her face became white as she
looked at me and said, “How could you not believe in this type of list, when they are
written about in all of the top soul mate books in the world?” I looked at her with a smile,
and I said, “You know, I just don’t believe in the concept of one person who is our soul
mate and they have to have certain characteristics because we know who we are attracted
to.” “Love is a little bit more challenging than that. If it were that simple, it would almost
become robotic.” “But, if you would like to follow an accountability system that we have
created to help people create deep love, I would be more than willing to work with you.”
Begrudgingly, she continued to stay with me for the rest of that session.
With her homework assignment in hand, she returned the next week. I had asked her,
instead of writing about all of the physical characteristics of the person that she wanted to
meet; I wanted her to write about the personality characteristics. I know that this was not
an exercise that she had a lot of fun with. She was used to that fantasy concept of soul
mates, where, if we just visualize hard enough, and reread the list of physical
characteristics that we are looking for, this person will pop into our life. I don’t believe
that to be true. When she brought in her characteristics, she had written this down: that
they would be honest, funny, a great communicator, trustworthy, and the list went on and
on and on. I looked at her and I said, “Now we are getting somewhere. This is incredible.
I want you to go home and do this exercise and even fine tune it a little more.” At the end
of our work, she said, “You know, this isn’t anywhere near as fun as the other stuff I’ve
done, and I’m not really sure it is going to work for me.” The very last time that I saw
her, I said, “I understand that this isn’t exactly what you were thinking of doing during
your work with me, but I’m just going to ask you to trust the process.”
For the next several years, she would read her list regarding the type of personality
characteristics that she wanted in a man, but there was still some hesitation in her falling
in love with the concept I was sharing. Years later at a conference I spoke at, there was a
line of people asking questions, and at the very end of the line this woman comes up, and
she says, “I don’t know if you remember me, but you worked with me a number of years
ago.” I said, “Oh my Lord! The soul mate woman.” She started laughing, and she said,
“Yes. Can I buy you coffee? I would love to share the end of my story.” So, we had
coffee and she shared the story, which is the power of accountability. She said that she
left the office not convinced that all of the work that she and I had done together on
personality characteristics for finding her lover was going to actually work, but she was
willing to try it at least, because her other programs from the “best selling soul mate
books” did not work.
A number of months after we worked together, she went to lunch with a friend of hers. It
was a gentleman that she went to lunch with once or twice a month. They had been good
friends for a number of years. When he got up from lunch to go to the restroom, one of
her friends, that she had no idea was in the restaurant, came over and said, “Oh my Lord!
Who is the guy you are with?” My former client looked up and said, “What do you
mean? It just happens to be a friend.” She said, “Well you and your friend have this
amazing chemistry. Have you been seeing each other for long?” My client says, “No. We
are not seeing each other at all. As a matter of fact, like I said, we just get together for
lunch, and it is no big deal.” Her friend replied, “Well, I’d look into that a little deeper. I
think you guys have something going on here that you may not realize.” With that she
walked away and her male friend came back to the table. Over the next couple of weeks,
my former client continued to run through her mind what her friend had said, that this
guy had a great rapport with her, that their energy at the table was magnetic, that it was
awesome, but she kept shaking her head, because she said, “This isn’t the guy that I’m
looking for. He is not tall. He is not in shape. He doesn’t have a lot of money.” She kept
running through that list, until one day she went back to the list she had created in regard
to personality characteristics, and as she read the list, her jaw dropped. Everything that
she had done in our work together as her accountability coach, asking her to get clear
about the personality characteristics she was looking for, was dead on. He was incredibly
funny, trustworthy, a great communicator, and honest. In other words, the guy that she
had looked at as only a friend, someone who didn’t meet the physical characteristics, hit
every one of her personality characteristics dead on. So, as she is telling me this story,
she starts smiling, and then she holds up her hand and says, “David, we have been
married for a number of years now, and I couldn’t be happier. Thank you so much for
holding me accountable to doing the exercises we did together. Even if it didn’t look like
I agreed with you during our sessions, I took it to heart, and it has changed my life
forever.”
If you, as you read this book, truly want to change your life and exceed your own
expectations, it will have to be done through the help of an accountability professional, a
coach, or a partner who will be willing to ask you to do the uncomfortable, to hold your
feet to the fire, to do what you may not want to do on your own to create the life you truly
want.

Chapter Review
Take a moment right now, without going any further, to slow down and focus on what
was in important in the previous chapter. These writing exercises are the absolute gems
of this work, which when done will help you to get the most out of your time and this
book. Remember, do not trust your brain to be able to recall this life changing
information.
The act of writing allows you to delve deeper into your mind, and to focus on what was
important to you in the previous pages that is relevant to your growth at this time in your
life. As simple as these exercises are, I think the act of filling in the questions here could
be one of the most powerful steps that you can take, right now, to create the life you
desire. These questions are so powerful, that they are the same ones that I have used since
1991 in my work with clients as a Master Life Coach.
Slow down, focus, write, then act upon your answers to become who you truly want to be
in life.
1) What was covered in detail, in this chapter?
2) What was of most interest to you and why?
3) What would be 1 or 2 actions steps, relevant to the information in this chapter, that you
could take right now to help you to focus more in life? Be specific, and also put the exact
day and time that you will take these steps.
Copyright © 2012 David Essel
 The Power of Focus

Chapter 5:
How to Manifest Your Goals in a Focused Way
“You are worthy of every goal you desire.”

Now, where do we go from here? You might be thinking, right now, “What do I do to
stay focused? What type of a system can I follow? Once I find that one area of life that I
have denied, delayed, or procrastinated, once I’ve found my accountability partner, what
do I do next?” Going back once again to 1996, when I started to do all of my life
coaching in a radically different way in order to help my clients exceed their own
expectations, we created something called the 3 Keys to Manifestation. In other words,
the three keys to creating the life that you want. I am going to go through these each right
now.
The very first key, number one, is intention. Intention is a statement of affirmation. It is a
statement that says, “This is what I desire to accomplish.” Now, we do
affirmations/intentions, I use those words interchangeably, very differently. We don’t
believe in pie-in-the-sky affirmations or intentions. We don’t believe in saying, “I earn
one hundred thousand dollars a year,” if we are currently earning twenty thousand dollars
a year. The subconscious does not buy into it. It says, “You’ve got to be kidding me.
Who are you to repeat every morning that you are earning one hundred thousand dollars a
year, when you are earning twenty thousand dollars a year, and you are not doing
anything different to create this added income?” That is the way the subconscious takes
these ridiculous affirmations that we have all bought into over the years, written by some
amazing authors and well-meaning teachers, that just don’t work. So, let’s instead create
an intention, an affirmation that is exciting, that is passion-driven, and that will be
accomplished in ninety days. In other words, the subconscious can wrap its head around
that. Let’s say that we are a size twenty dress, and we want to be a size ten, and so we say
to ourselves, “On or before ninety days from today, I am now wearing a size sixteen dress
by doing the exercises necessary on a daily basis and eating a very clean diet.” Now, if
you go from a size twenty to a size sixteen, you are going to feel pretty darn good about
yourself, and that is what we want your intentions or affirmations to be based on.
These affirmations or intentions will be stated at least two times every day; in the
morning, the first thing when you wake up, and in the evening, right before you go to
bed. The key is to repeat these affirmations or intentions with emotion and see that end
result in your mind. So, if we look at sobriety, we would begin it with something like, “I
am a sober, happy, healthy person, attending events free of the need of alcohol, on or
before…,” and we would state the date. If it is a loving relationship, “I am in the process
of forgiving my husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend for events that have occurred in the
past. I am holding them in love, moving forward in our relationship every day between
now and…,” and say the date. In other words, whatever your “one thing” is, whatever
your one goal is, if it is financial, if it is forgiveness, if it is sobriety, if it is walking your
path with God, whatever the one thing is, we want that to be the focal point of your
intention.
This brings me to the area of canceling out negative thoughts. All of us, on our path to
greatness, will have thoughts of insecurity, jealously, resentment, or doubt, and those
thoughts are okay. They may often arise in the beginning, especially around your one
thing. You may be talking about your money, and even though you are doing all of this
work, you are not seeing your income increase. You can fall into doubt. So, as you fall
into doubt, and those thoughts come up saying, “I don’t have the money I wanted to. I
have been working really hard. Money is hard to create.” Right away, say the word
CANCEL, and then restate your affirmation, “I am in the process daily of doing the work
necessary to increase my income by one thousand dollars a month on or before…,” and
state the ninety-day time period. In other words, we want to attack the negative thought
process with the word CANCEL, and follow that thought process with the positive
affirmation or intention you desire. This step is so important because we are retraining
the brain, but, and I say this as a major warning, if you are trying to feed the brain
nonsense, like, “I am a size two,” when you are actually a size twenty, or, “I am earning
one hundred thousand dollars a year,” when you are only earning twenty thousand dollars
a year, or, “I own five homes around the world,” when you are renting a one-bedroom
apartment… Whatever the fantasy intentions are, they are automatically thrown out by
the subconscious. Over time these fantasy statements detract from our energy to do the
work necessary on a daily basis.
The second key to manifestation are statements of gratitude. Now, we are going to
approach the gratitude statements a little differently too. I do struggle with gratitude
statements such as, “I am grateful for my new income of one hundred thousand dollars a
year,” when you are only earning twenty thousand dollars a year. I don’t see them as
productive. Once again, just like going back to the intention or affirmation statements, I
see this as the brain saying, “Why are you wasting our time having gratitude for all of this
money, when you don’t have it?” Instead, what we teach in our courses is, to create a
gratitude statement from a totally different perspective. Let’s get focused on what we
have right now regarding your one thing, and have gratitude for it, even if it isn’t perfect,
even if it isn’t exactly what you want. So, we might say, “I have intense gratitude for my
body, right now; my ability to walk and to see. Period.” “I have gratitude for the money I
am earning right now. Period.” “I have gratitude for the home I am in, and that I have
shelter and food. Period.” In other words, as Eckhart Tolle stated so eloquently in his
book “The Power of Now,” everything is happening only in this present moment.
Miracles happen in the present moment, which means that if we want to exceed our own
expectations, we better be appreciative of what we have right now, grounded, happy,
healthy, even though it may not be ideal. If we can be happy now for our body, our
money, our relationship, even for the struggles that we have, we will be exceptionally
happy when life changes. But if we are living in denial, and we want to make up
statements that are not true, that means that we are living in the future, and we cannot
change the future. But if we have gratitude for the present, we can radically change the
present.
The last step is the action step. This is step number three of the 3 Keys of Manifestation.
How do you exceed your own expectations in life? It is all about action. We call this in
our courses, the “seven thousand pound hammer for success,” and it is really true. If
people want to radically change their lives, it all comes down to action. Your mind is
powerful, yes; your gratitude is powerful, yes, but nothing can reach the power of what
you do on a daily basis to retrain the subconscious and to create success in your life. So,
when you find your one major goal to go after, when you get highly focused and find
your one thing, we recommend that you then create a system; five or even six days a
week of action steps to bring you closer to your goal. If it is about money, your action
steps could be tracking your income, or tracking your expenses. Your action steps could
be increasing income or decreasing expenses. Your action steps could be decreasing debt.
Five days a week in writing. These action steps must be specific, measurable, and time-
lined. In other words, if you wanted to lose weight, Monday through Friday, from 6 a.m.
in the morning until 7:30 a.m. in the morning, you are going to walk. So, here we have a
specific, measurable, and time-lined action. We know the exact activity we are going to
do; we know the exact time of day we are going to do it, and we know the exact length of
time we are going to do it for. Specific, measurable, and time-lined. If it comes to
forgiving someone, or maybe forgiving yourself, you might say, five days a week you are
going to write letters of forgiveness to your partner or to yourself, or to someone who
abused you in the past. Five days a week, you are going to write letters of anger, or angst,
or jealously, or insecurity, to get those emotions out of us, and then follow that up once
again with letters of forgiveness. In other words, the action steps are the key to life
change.
Over time, the action steps will change your belief systems. We do not believe that
thinking positive thoughts has a long-term effect on changing your beliefs about being
worthy of money, or love, or a better body, or a better job. We just don’t believe that it
has that power long-term. We believe positive thinking is crucial and important; an
inevitable part of someone becoming more successful in life. We believe and have seen,
in our work of thirty years, that people change their beliefs about themselves by being
willing to do the action steps that are often uncomfortable five to six days per week.
Daily action is what changes belief systems, and that is what is going to help you to
exceed your own expectations in life.
There is also something that we call “umbrella goals” that I am going to discuss briefly
right now. I know a lot of people love to have those goals that say, “I am earning a
million dollars a year,” or “I own seven homes around the world.” These are the goals
that I’m not a huge fan of, but I know a lot of people are. Let’s put these big goals
underneath the category of “umbrella goals.” If I’m working with someone who wants to
exceed their expectations in life, I will say to them, “If you want to write an umbrella
goal, go ahead.” Let’s say they are earning twenty thousand dollars a year, and they want
to earn one hundred thousand dollars a year. In their writing, they will put down, “I am
earning in twelve months, or twenty-four months, one hundred thousand dollars per
year.” I will have them write that down in a time frame that is realistic, and then put that
away. Now, let’s put our focus on our ninety-day goals and watch the umbrella goal
become a reality down the road.
The next incredibly important topic I want to share with you is the most powerful way to
start and end every day. In a focused approach to life, these two periods of our daily
existence have been shown to be the two most important times of the day. For many of
us, this is going to call for us to begin living our lives in a radically different way. So,
here we go.
Morning routines. We need thirty minutes every morning to apply this new practice of
focus. Plan on getting up thirty minutes earlier every day and find a space in your home
that is quiet. Your computer can wait. The e-mails, texts and phone messages can wait.
Some clients will say, “David, I already get up at 5 a.m. I couldn’t imagine getting up any
earlier!” But, with our highly focused approach to life, this is an incredibly crucial step to
take in order to bring into your existence what you truly desire. Sit in a comfortable chair.
Light a candle, and even incense, in order to set the mood for our new morning ritual.
Now, grab your coffee, your tea, or juice, and sit. Watch the candle, or if you’re at a
window, stare at the outside world. If you do have a window, or you have a balcony, put
a birdfeeder up, or if you have a backyard, you could sprinkle birdfeed in the yard. Bring
in the abundance of wildlife, the energy of wildlife. Bring in the energy of candles and
incense. You might even have statues of religious figures or saints that you look at. Some
people will make an altar. Some people, on this altar or in a corner of a room, will put
their favorite paintings, or their favorite color. If you can, get a small tabletop water
fountain to have on during this time of day as well.
Now, earlier in the book, I said, “There are going to be areas of this system that right-
brained people are going to love,” This section is for all of you right-brainers. You will
really enjoy the whole spiritual, energetic approach to living. The logical left-brained
people reading this are probably shaking their heads and saying, “Not more of this pooh-
pooh spiritual stuff.” It is not pooh-pooh spiritual stuff. All of these steps that I am
recommending right now to start your day with, allow you to begin it in a highly focused
way. For the first five minutes, just pay attention to your surroundings. Get centered.
Have your coffee, or tea, or juice. Listen to the water. Look at the flames. Smell the
incense. Look at the birds on the outside. In other words, we are getting focused in the
present moment; which is crucial to the start of every day.
Next, with a small pad of paper, write down a couple of things that you did well the day
before. It just might be one or two. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Maybe you stuck
with your exercise program, or chose not to yell at your children when you usually would
have for something they did. Or maybe you stayed late at work to complete a project.
Then, underneath that, write something that you did yesterday that you would like to
change. Maybe yesterday you said you were going to walk, but you didn’t, so today you
are going to walk twice as far. In other words, we want to follow a yin-yang approach.
The very next thing I want you to do as you sit and breathe, is look at one major
challenge that you have in your life. If you notice, this is all going along with The One
Thing Theory™. What is the one major challenge that you have going on that you are
focused on, that you need answers for? Jot that down. It might be losing weight, making
more money, or forgiving someone. It might be sticking with a spiritual program. It
might be finding time to volunteer in your community. Just write down the one thing that
is most crucial for you to figure out a way to accomplish today. Then just ask for help;
you might be asking the internal self, you might be asking God, or you might be asking
your guides around you. Just ask for help to solve this problem, to find the motivation to
complete this task today. Whatever your greatest challenge is, do that. Then, put your pad
down and just focus on your breathing. Continue to ask for guidance. During this thirty-
minute period, periodically bring yourself back into the room. Look at the candle. Listen
to the water. Look out the window. These thirty minutes of a highly-focused approach to
starting your day will offer benefits far beyond anything that you might imagine.
The very last thing to do before you end this thirty minutes of solitude and focus in the
morning, and this is where we get to have some fun, is to see, with a vibrant vision or
feeling in your body, the end result of the life you desire. See yourself living in the
mountains, or with an incredibly deep love relationship. See yourself at peace during
times of challenge, or with a radically different body. See yourself sober, or maybe
owning your own business. I want you to take the last five minutes of this thirty-minute
period every morning, and immerse yourself in what you desire. As you can imagine,
getting up from your chair after the contemplation, the focus, and then ending it with a
vision of all that you desire, is going to be one of the most powerful ways to start the day.
Just before you get up and leave, throw a thought out to the universe or a prayer that says,
“And I ask you to bring this same feeling of success to everyone else in the world.” Now
you are ready to start your day in an extremely focused way. Within ninety days of
following this morning system, you will automatically know that you are on a path of a
high-focused approach to life, meaning that the end result will be that which you desire.
In the evening, we are going to have you end your day in a very similar way. Very
simple. You can do this in bed. You can do it in a chair. Before you go to bed, grab your
journal or a notebook, and just write down one or two things you did well that day. Just a
couple of things that you say, “I am really proud of this.” Again, we are going to re-
encourage you to imprint in your brain that which is going well. Then write down one or
two things that you have gratitude for. You might say, “I am really grateful that someone
let me into traffic.” “I am grateful that, I forgot my lunch and someone had extra food
with them at work.” Whatever you are grateful for. “I am grateful that my partner did not
give me a hard time for tracking mud through the house.” Whatever it is, just write a
couple of statements of gratitude, and then you are ready for your rest.

Chapter Review
Take a moment right now, without going any further, to slow down and focus on what
was in important in the previous chapter. These writing exercises are the absolute gems
of this work, which when done will help you to get the most out of your time and this
book. Remember, do not trust your brain to be able to recall this life changing
information.
The act of writing allows you to delve deeper into your mind, and to focus on what was
important to you in the previous pages that is relevant to your growth at this time in your
life. As simple as these exercises are, I think the act of filling in the questions here could
be one of the most powerful steps that you can take, right now, to create the life you
desire. These questions are so powerful, that they are the same ones that I have used since
1991 in my work with clients as a Master Life Coach.
Slow down, focus, write, then act upon your answers to become who you truly want to be
in life.
1) What was covered in detail, in this chapter?
2) What was of most interest to you and why?
3) What would be 1 or 2 actions steps, relevant to the information in this chapter, that you
could take right now to help you to focus more in life? Be specific, and also put the exact
day and time that you will take these steps.
 The Power of Focus

Chapter 6:
Karma: Enhance it With Daily Focus
“You are worthy of every goal you desire.”

Karma is a passionate topic of mine. When it comes to getting highly focused in life, one
of the most important things we need to realize, and learn, and understand, is the whole
definition of karma. What is it? What is this karma? People talk about it all of the time,
right? You reap what you sow. What goes around comes around. All of those statements
or definitions of karma are true, but I want to take it to even a deeper level, because if we
start to really focus on what the true meaning of karma is, we will be able to radically
change our lives and make healthier decisions daily, which will bring a different end
result to our life.
Let’s go back again to 1996. It was a magical year for me. I remember my very first
coaching client that I trained to be a life coach. During the very last part of the course,
which I still teach identically today, we went over what is called the “ripple effect.” The
ripple effect is karma. The definition that I used back then, we still use today: “Every
thought, every word, and every action that you do or have goes out into the universe and
returns in kind.” Reread that statement. This is one of the most powerful understandings
of the way life works. If we can grasp its meaning, it will help us make totally different
decisions on a day-to-day basis, maybe even a minute-to-minute basis, ultimately helping
us to exceed our own expectations and create the life that we totally desire and deserve.
Think about it. This is powerful. Every thought, every word, and every action you have is
going out into the universe and returning in kind. Thoughts of judgment like, “They are
so lucky that they have all of that money.” “They are so lucky with their genetics that
they don’t have to work out to have that beautiful body.” “ They have it made and I
don’t.” However we are judging the world, we are judging ourselves. When we put that
negative energy out by judging other people, that negative energy is coming back.
Sometimes it comes back by other people judging us and saying unkind things to us, but
sometimes it comes back just within our own internal lack of self-confidence. You can
imagine, that if you stopped judging others, you would stop judging yourself. You would
have more energy, be more creative, and be more in love with yourself now and always.
What an amazing way to focus your energy. There is no more diversion with our
thoughts. Now this takes focus. I admit that initially, it takes a lot of focus to be highly
aware that our thoughts, our words, and our actions go out into the universe and come
back to us in kind. It means we have to be on top of our game, which is what this book is
all about; helping you to get focused.
We want for you to awaken and say, “The reason why I am struggling with finances is
the fact that I haven’t always been honest with my tax returns.” This is true. Sometimes
people, during our work together, will wonder, “Why am I always struggling
financially?” “Why am I always struggling in love?” “Why am I always struggling in…”
whatever it might be. We will look at karma. Let’s take your money. I might ask, “In the
last ten or fifteen years, have you not reported all of your income to the IRS?” They will
look at me and say, “Well, yeah. I don’t want to report it all.” I will say, “Have you
embellished any of your expenses?” “In other words, do you take your family out to
dinner and write it off as an expense? “ “Well, yeah, but everyone does that.” We will get
through this whole list, and all of a sudden at the end of it, they will look at me and say,
“Oh my Lord! It is karma isn’t it? In other words, I am struggling financially because I’m
not honest in my financial life.” Bingo! Lights go off. Now, the cool thing is, we can
change that. Someone else might be struggling in love. They might be in a relationship,
where they are always bickering, always arguing. Then they realize through these
exercises that they’re constantly gossiping about their lover to their family or to their
friends. They’re constantly thinking negative thoughts that “he or she isn’t living up to
my expectations,” or “he or she is doing that again.” And all of a sudden it dawns on
them, “Our relationship is in total hell because of the fact that I am constantly talking
about my partner in negative ways.” Well, the thoughts, words, and actions go out into
the world, and they come back to us, right? So, karma is simple. It is easy to understand.
And, the best news, it is reversible.
So, how do we reverse karma? How do we actually take what is not going well with our
life, find the starting point and change it? Grab a piece of paper, or a small notebook, and
every time you judge yourself or someone else, just put an X down. You might judge
someone who is a terrible driver in traffic. Just put an X. You might judge yourself as
you look in the mirror and say, “You’ve gained more weight.” Just put down an X. You
might look at a woman with an incredible body and lots of jewelry, and say, “She’s such
a snob.” Put an X down. If someone mentions something about the administration, the
President of the United States, our economy, or whatever it might be, and you add your
two cents, you are a part of the gossip. Put an X down. I think you get the point here.
When we start to see how often our mind is wrapped in negativity, our words are
wrapped in gossip, or our actions are not as loving and kind as they need to be, we can
then get a grasp of where our karma is coming from.
The next thing we need to do is to forgive ourselves. So, step number one is to get an idea
of how many times a day all of these negative thoughts, and words, and actions are going
on. Step number two, at the end of every day, just write a statement, or you could even
mentally say, “I forgive myself for all thoughts, words, and actions that were unkind
today.” Cancel these out, bringing in only words, thoughts, and actions that are kind and
life-supporting. Period.
Next, you’ve got to change your actions. Forgive yourself for what you’ve done, then we
need to be looking for ways to help others in order to reverse our karma. There are many
awesome books that talk about this in great detail. One that comes to mind is called
“Karmic Management.” The more that we ask others, “How can I help you?”, the more
we look for ways to help others daily, the faster we reverse our negative old karma and
supplant it with positive new karma. What we sow, we will reap. So, what we do, we will
get in return. But, we don’t do this with the return in mind. We don’t say, “Okay, I see
that my partner is overwhelmed with laundry today, so I am going to do the laundry, and
then tomorrow, she’d better help me with this.” That just doesn’t work. We need to do it
free of a desired end result in order for it to be pure karmic based.
Another thing we can do in regards to karma, is before you go anywhere, bless the world
ahead of you. As you get in the car, bless your car. You bless your travels to your end
destination. Before you go into the health club, you send a blessing to the health club, or
a blessing to your business, or a blessing to your church. Before you enter your home,
you bless your home. Your thoughts are preceding you in blessing the way ahead. This is
a very simple exercise to do. A lot of times people forget to do this exercise in the
beginning, so you may want to jot yourself a note every day to remind yourself to do it.
Before you go anywhere, bless that which is ahead of you.
The next thing we can do in order to become more focused on karma, would be to bless
your friends and family every day. The very first thing I do when I get up in the morning
is to say a prayer to bless and to relieve all suffering amongst all living beings in this
world. Then I go ahead specifically and mention my family, and my friends, and those
people I know who are suffering. We are planting powerful karmic seeds by getting
outside of ourselves and blessing the world around us. Next, and this is a great challenge,
bless those people you do not care for. I am going to repeat this. Bless those people you
do not care for. Those people who have hurt you, who have lied to you, or who have been
unkind to you. Take moments every day to specifically think of those people and bless
them. This is a beautiful karmic seed for you to plant. Also, bless those people who don’t
care for you. Maybe you don’t even know who they are, but just send a general blessing
out for all people who speak unkindly of you today, or think unkindly of you today, or
who may act unkindly towards you today. Bless them, and allow them to become
abundant and happy today. We are planting karmic seeds that will come back and be of
such great benefit for us, in the present and in the future. Get focused on your karma. We
have so much more control in life than we could ever imagine, if we are actively involved
in this concept of planting positive, powerful karmic seeds. You can exceed your own
expectations in life when you set yourself up daily with acts of positive karma.

Chapter Review
Take a moment right now, without going any further, to slow down and focus on what
was in important in the previous chapter. These writing exercises are the absolute gems
of this work, which when done will help you to get the most out of your time and this
book. Remember, do not trust your brain to be able to recall this life changing
information.
The act of writing allows you to delve deeper into your mind, and to focus on what was
important to you in the previous pages that is relevant to your growth at this time in your
life. As simple as these exercises are, I think the act of filling in the questions here could
be one of the most powerful steps that you can take, right now, to create the life you
desire. These questions are so powerful, that they are the same ones that I have used since
1991 in my work with clients as a Master Life Coach.
Slow down, focus, write, then act upon your answers to become who you truly want to be
in life.
1) What was covered in detail, in this chapter?
2) What was of most interest to you and why?
3) What would be 1 or 2 actions steps, relevant to the information in this chapter, that you
could take right now to help you to focus more in life? Be specific, and also put the exact
day and time that you will take these steps.
Copyright © 2012 David Essel
 The Power of Focus

Chapter 7:
The Eight Key Tips to Help You Stay Focused in Life
“You are worthy of every goal you desire.”

Here are eight of the key tips to continue to look at, in order to stay highly focused in life,
to assist you in exceeding all of your own expectations.
Number One: I cannot say enough about our morning and evening rituals that we
recently went over in this book. There is this incredible opportunity, if you follow those
two rituals, to get extremely focused every morning, to start your day off with energy,
with opportunity, and then to end your day with gratitude. These two points are so crucial
to follow that, for those who might be reading and saying, “I don’t have time to add
anything more to my day,” I’d love for you to reconsider. Again, walk into the
uncomfortable. Doing those things that we say we “don’t have time for” is exactly what
the ultra-successful people have been doing in life since the beginning of time. You and I
can do the same.
Number Two: Meditation. One of the most powerful ways for us to stay focused in life
is through the daily use of meditation. We highly recommend, for those new to
meditation, don’t try to learn how to meditate via a book. We don’t believe for most
people that the art of meditation is possible to learn, unless you follow a CD, or if you
have the opportunity to join a class. The Buddhists say our mind is like “ten thousand
monkeys in a cell.” And it is really true. Our minds are wired, especially now, with all of
the technology that is bombarding us, from the computer to billboards, to TV, to radio, to
satellite radio, and more, with so many thoughts and activities, judgments, and beliefs,
that it is almost impossible for the average person to learn how to mediate by themselves.
There are great CDs on the market right now that you can purchase to train yourself how
to meditate. If you go to YouTube and Google “David Essel/meditation,” we have a free
mediation video for you to follow along with. It doesn’t matter where you go to learn.
Meditation is one of the most powerful ways for us to get focused and in alignment with
our purpose in life.
Number Three: Yoga or Pilates, or some form of meditative movement. Here we focus
the breath; we focus the mind, and we focus the body, all in one activity. These mind-
body exercise programs can be incredibly powerful in helping you to focus in life.
Number Four: Exercise. Any type of exercise, including running, walking, aerobic
classes, or strength training. If we can bring our mind into the present moment, it will
help us to focus. Many people, like myself, who run every week, can get highly focused
during their runs. Several segments of this book were created during my regular runs. I
have also come up with ideas and concepts for this book during my walks on the
treadmill in the gym, which I do every day as well. Exercise flushes the stress-producing
chemicals out of the brain, and allows the endorphins to come in to calm, to center, and to
focus our attention. Exercise is key on a daily basis in regards to focus in life.
Number Five: Energy work. Energy work can be amazing in helping people to get
highly focused in life, whether we are talking about reiki, or acupuncture, massage
therapy, or any type of BodyTalk therapy. All of these happen to be techniques that help
the mind and body to focus.
Number Six: Prayer. As many of the priests and monks and nuns have said during my
interviews with them, that the goal should be throughout the day to pray without ceasing,
to give gratitude for everything that you have throughout the day, and to pray for those in
need throughout the day. Prayer helps us become and stay focused as well.
Number Seven: Diet. This might come as a surprise to some people. What we consume
can either help us to become focused or stay scattered. First, remove all sugar sources.
That means convenient foods that are loaded with sugar. It means, of course, the
traditional sugar foods; the snacks, the cookies, the cakes, the candy bars. All of that, yes,
remove it. Sugar adds to the hyperactivity in the brain. It also can interfere with our sleep
cycles. White flour, remove. White flour is digested by the body just like sugar is. It gives
that incredible surge of energy, and then leaves us exhausted. We are trying to move
away from all substances that bring us that incredible high and then leave us flat.
Obviously, that is the exact opposite of what we are looking for. Remove all alcohol.
Even in the smallest amounts, alcohol clouds the brain. For many people, the next day,
even after having something as simple as two glasses of wine, they’re not as clear and
they’re not as focused. Many are allergic to gluten. So, you can find now gluten-free
breads and cereals in your grocery stores. Some people are allergic to soy and to milk.
Gluten, soy, and milk can actually create “brain fog,” just like sugar can, to an individual
who is trying to get highly focused in life. It is almost like we are shooting ourselves in
the foot if we don’t change our diet. We are doing all of this great energy work, this great
focus and writing work, we are getting really clear, and then throughout the day we are
consuming foods that are working in the exact opposite direction. Next, caffeine. For
many people, caffeine is one of those double-edged swords. It offers that instant hit of
focus, which is really great; but if caffeine is taken by itself, without any food, we are
going to experience the “caffeine crash,” similar to what happens after we eat sugar.
Now, what foods can we add to help us get focused in life? First, to keep our blood sugar
levels normal, eat every three to five hours. What do we eat during those periods of time?
The foods that are best to consume are those that are digested slowly, adding energy to
the body over a period of time, versus the rush that comes with simple carbohydrates,
white flour, and sugar. That would be nuts, or lean protein sources, as a main component
of our daily intake of food. Fruits and vegetables are awesome. We could look for dairy-
free foods, for those people who are affected by dairy. Wheat-free foods, for those people
who are affected by wheat. Make it simple, “Go back to nature. Eat the simplest, non-
processed foods.” Another important ingredient, for people who want to stay focused in
life, is to consume large amounts of water. For some people, it might be up to ten, fifteen,
or even twenty eight-ounce glasses of water a day to help them stay focused. A wonderful
book called “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water” explains what happens when we are
consuming less water on a daily basis than what we need. It takes away our focus. It
increases our fatigue.
Number Eight: Gratitude for what we have right now. I know I mentioned this earlier,
but it is so important to say it again. To be grateful for the home, the money, the body,
the relationship you have right now, even if it isn’t optimal, is a key component of getting
focused and moving forward in life. Live in the present moment with gratitude.

Chapter Review
Take a moment right now, without going any further, to slow down and focus on what
was in important in the previous chapter. These writing exercises are the absolute gems
of this work, which when done will help you to get the most out of your time and this
book. Remember, do not trust your brain to be able to recall this life changing
information.
The act of writing allows you to delve deeper into your mind, and to focus on what was
important to you in the previous pages that is relevant to your growth at this time in your
life. As simple as these exercises are, I think the act of filling in the questions here could
be one of the most powerful steps that you can take, right now, to create the life you
desire. These questions are so powerful, that they are the same ones that I have used since
1991 in my work with clients as a Master Life Coach.
Slow down, focus, write, then act upon your answers to become who you truly want to be
in life.
1) What was covered in detail, in this chapter?
2) What was of most interest to you and why?
3) What would be 1 or 2 actions steps, relevant to the information in this chapter, that you
could take right now to help you to focus more in life? Be specific, and also put the exact
day and time that you will take these steps.
Copyright © 2012 David Essel
 The Power of Focus

Chapter 8:
Why We Shoot for Less Than We Deserve in Life, and What to Do
About It
“You are worthy of every goal you desire.”

Why do we settle for less than what we desire in life? What gets in our way of staying
focused and accomplishing our biggest goals in life? From a mental perspective, it has to
do with our belief systems.
First, we have to look at worthiness. Many of us have grown up with, sometimes well-
meaning, sometimes not-so-well-meaning parent figures or role models, saying, “We
need to be happy with less,” or, “We are not worthy of greatness,” or, “We are not
worthy of great success,” or, “The people worthy of great success have PhD’s,” or, “They
come from the other side of the tracks,” or, “They…,” and the list goes on and on and on.
So, the very first thing that blocks us from shooting for what we really want in life is the
fact that we don’t feel worthy of it. And, that can be changed. Do you know how that is
changed? By the daily action steps that we will take to prove we are worthy, even when
life isn’t working the way that we want it to. And what does that mean? Quite simply, it’s
this: If your “one thing” is your health, and you know you need to lose weight, in order to
feel worthy of a body that you desire, you’d have to get up every day and do the work
necessary. We cannot allow excuses to get in the way. We cannot allow rationalizations
or justifications to get in the way. For many of my clients over the years, I’ve seen that all
it takes is ninety days. Ninety straight days of getting up and exercising, especially when
you don’t want to, may be all that is needed to change the belief system that you’re not
worthy of this massive, beautiful, important goal.
Another reason we shoot for less, is the concept that “it is better to give than receive.” I
mentioned this earlier in the book. I am repeating it again for a very good reason. Many
times in life, when people are struggling financially, or in love relationships, it is often
because of belief systems that say, “It is better that I do for you than do for myself.” We
see that with a lot of women in marriages with families, or even in marriages without
children. They believe that it is better to give than receive, that, “It is better for me to
keep doing all of these things to make myself available for my family, my friends, or my
church, but not to take the time for me.” What happens next? It is called resentment. We
start shooting for less than we personally deserve because of the belief that “it is better to
give than receive.” In reality, it is the best of both worlds, to be able to give and receive,
which is what this program is all about.
Why do we shoot for less when it comes to money? Because of those concepts like,
“Don’t be greedy.” “Don’t ever make more money than you need.” As long as you have
enough to get by, be happy with that.” Well, that is nonsense. It is not necessary to just be
able to scrape by every day. If you desire a great income, you deserve the great income.
We have already setup the process throughout this whole book on how to help you get
there.
Sometimes people shoot for less because they have a fear of success. Fear of success
means that, “If I lose this weight, I’m going to have to keep working out six days a week
for the rest of my life. I don’t know if I want to be successful and have to be that
accountable.” Or with money: “If I make the money I want, that might mean I have to
work six days a week to make it. That might mean there are going to be times in my life
when I don’t take time off, when I don’t even take vacations, and I don’t know if I want
to be that successful and have to be that accountable in life.” Do you see what I’m
saying? So, sometimes it is the fear of success that is the reason behind us shooting for
less than we desire in life. What about the fear of failure? We say, “What would my
family think if I went after this huge goal and didn’t make it?” “What would my friends
think?” “What would my coworkers think?” So, this fear of failure, the fear of being
judged by others might be something that holds us back, allowing us to shoot for less in
life, and being totally unhappy along the way. We need to shift this. We absolutely need
to change this.
Let’s do this right now. I want you to write out what your expectations are for every area
of your life. Grab a piece of paper, or you can do it right here in this book. I am going to
create a whole list for you, with a line next to it for you to write down what your
expectations are, and I want you to be specific.
What are your expectations regarding:
1. Money. How much money do you want to earn on an annual basis? What would make
you really, really happy?
__________________________________________________________________
2.
3. Your health. What are your expectations for your body? For your health? How is it that
you would like to see it changed?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
____________
4.
5. Your love life. What are your expectations for your love life? How is it that you would
like to see altered, if at all?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
____________
6.
7. Your relationship with God, or your spiritual path. How would you like to see this in
your life? What are your expectations personally for your own spiritual path? If you don’t
have any, just leave this blank.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
____________
8.
9. Career. What is it that you would like to see in regards to your own personal
expectations for your career path? Where would you like it to go from where it is right
now?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
____________
Now, in this next section, we are going to go a little higher. We are going to do the same
columns, and I am going to ask you to write down next, what it would look like
specifically to exceed each of the expectations written above. As you look at each of
these categories of your life, I want you to go big. I want you to write out how you would
exceed your expectations in regards to money. Let’s say that on the first exercise above,
you wrote down that it would be great if you earned seventy-five thousand dollars a year.
If you are currently earning forty thousand dollars a year, you might say, “If I could earn
almost double it, that would be great.” But, what would it look like specifically for you to
exceed the expectations you wrote about above? I mean really exceed it. Would it be one
hundred thousand? 150 thousand? 200 thousand? What would put you at the brink where
you say, “I don’t even know if that is possible.” Please don’t waste your time here and
put a billion dollars a day, or something ridiculous like. Be realistic, but be outrageously
excited in your response.
What would it look like to specifically exceed each of your own expectations in life?
1. Money: _______________________________________________________________
2. Health: _______________________________________________________________
3. Love life: _____________________________________________________________
4. Relationship with God/Spiritual Path:
________________________________________
5. Career: _______________________________________________________________
Next, choose one of those categories, the one that you have denied, delayed, or
procrastinated working on, the one that needs the most attention in your life, and the one
that if you were to go after would radically change your whole existence. Choose one of
those categories, and write it in the line in this book right now.
_______________________________________________________________________
_____
Now, what specific actions steps do you need to take on a daily basis in order to
accomplish this one goal listed above that would exceed your own expectations?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________
As we continue to move forward in life, I want to go back and review a few really key
components in this program of focus.
1. We need to choose one goal at a time, and only one goal at a time.
2. We need to get ready to walk through any resistance or excuses that come up along the
way of accomplishing this one goal that will exceed our own expectations.
3. We need to write a daily system to stay focused on, actions steps five days per week.
4. We need to ask to be held accountable by an accountability professional or a partner on
a daily basis.
5. We need to clear our mind every morning and see with passion what you want out of
life.
6. We need to get or stay involved with courses and books in order to increase our focus
on a daily basis. At the end of this book, I will give you a list of a few resources that will
help you do just that.

Chapter Review
Take a moment right now, without going any further, to slow down and focus on what
was in important in the previous chapter. These writing exercises are the absolute gems
of this work, which when done will help you to get the most out of your time and this
book. Remember, do not trust your brain to be able to recall this life changing
information.
The act of writing allows you to delve deeper into your mind, and to focus on what was
important to you in the previous pages that is relevant to your growth at this time in your
life. As simple as these exercises are, I think the act of filling in the questions here could
be one of the most powerful steps that you can take, right now, to create the life you
desire. These questions are so powerful, that they are the same ones that I have used since
1991 in my work with clients as a Master Life Coach.
Slow down, focus, write, then act upon your answers to become who you truly want to be
in life.
1) What was covered in detail, in this chapter?
2) What was of most interest to you and why?
3) What would be 1 or 2 actions steps, relevant to the information in this chapter, that you
could take right now to help you to focus more in life? Be specific, and also put the exact
day and time that you will take these steps.
Copyright © 2012 David Essel
 The Power of Focus

Chapter 9:
A Few of the Many People Who Have Helped Me to Stay Focused in
Life so that I Can Exceed My Own Expectations
“You are worthy of every goal you desire.”

In this chapter, I want to give some credit to just a few of the many people who have
helped me to stay highly focused in life to accomplish the things that I have, many of
which have exceeded my own expectations. Now, I take credit for the gifts God has given
me, and I take credit for the work that I’ve put in here, but I also must give credit to these
people, because for without them, I would not be where I am. And I surely wouldn’t have
a chance to continue to exceed my own goals and my own expectations in the future
without a team of people to help me.
As an introduction to this section, I want to mention that almost everything that I have
accomplished in life, and I laugh as I say this, has had very little to do with my academic,
intellectual, or scholastic training. In other words, when I look at some of the things that
have really blown open my career path, such as hosting national television segments with
Fox TV, Lifetime TV, WWOR TV, or hosting nationally syndicated radio shows with
Westwood One, and now currently with XM Satellite Radio/Premier Radio networks, all
of these have happened because of the people around me who have believed in me, and
due to my desire to make a difference in this world. I say this humbly, however, because I
have no background, schooling, or education in journalism or in communications, yet
much of my career has been based on work in the field of communications. Television
and radio entrepreneurs, television and radio hosts, or segment hosts, most of the time are
groomed to go into those positions through their academic endeavors. Yet in my case,
and there are many people like me around the world, we accomplish things in life
because we believe in ourselves and we surround ourselves with people who believe in us
as well. If anyone would have asked me years ago, “Do you think that by 2012, that you
would have seven books published, that you would have had the experiences on national
television as a host and segment reporter, or you would have, for the past twenty-one
years, been involved with national talk radio shows?” I would have said, “Absolutely
not.” I mean these are examples where I have so far exceeded my own expectations in
life because of the help and the belief of others.
Let me run down a list of some of these people and, of course, I am going to leave a lot of
individuals out, for which I apologize. If you don’t see your name here, know in my heart
that I love you. I just wanted to pick out a few people who have had a great impact in my
life in regards to focus.
First are my family; my mom and my dad, Pat and Ed Essel, and my sister, Marydiane,
and brother, Terry. They have helped me immensely. I would say that one of the greatest
things in regards to focus that my family has brought to me is the focus on faith, the focus
on God. My family has surrounded me with the absolute love of themselves to me, and
also the absolute love of God, as we know God to be. So, I know that my focus and my
faith in life have come from my family roots, which are so amazing and so incredible.
Through all of my ups, my family has been there, and through all of my incredible
challenges, my family has been there. They have helped me to stay focused, on my path
to help others.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was huge in my life; from the interview that I mentioned in 1996
to today, in helping me to get focused in attacking life, just one major goal at a time.
Joe Cirulli has been a great friend of mine and a mentor since 1986. Joe has helped me
focus immensely in so many different arenas, from radically changing my body, as he
introduced me to something called the Super Slowdown Training Method, to the concept
of being able to do what you love and earn great money at the same time. During one of
my greatest trials in life, when I went through a very difficult divorce, he helped me
focus. While I was in great pain, Joe helped me focus on the beauty that I brought to this
world. He has been immense in my life in regards to focus.
Renee Bledsoe has been a friend of mine for over thirty years, a confidant, and an
accountability partner. Renee has helped me focus in so many ways. A number of years
ago, after she came and watched me do a sermon at a church, she grabbed my hand, and
said, “Sweetie, it’s time for you to have your own church.” It was one of the most
amazing experiences I have ever had in my life. As an all-faith minister, opening our
church together, could have never happened without Renee’s focus and seeing in me
something that I had never seen in myself. I had never really imagined myself being the
pastor of an all-faith church, being a minister that would freely go around and help people
to the greatest of my ability, regardless of what religious path they came from. Renee’s
belief in me, as she herself is an all-faith minister, has led me to this incredible
experience of co-founding a church to make a difference in our community. To this day,
it is one of the greatest things that I have experienced. Renee’s ability to help me focus on
my spiritual gifts led to that, which I will forever be grateful for.
John Biffar, a world acclaimed international film director, has been a friend of mine for
over thirty years. John was the producer of my first exercise video, “The Beach
Workout.” He is an individual who has helped me focus on delivery skills, both on
television and on radio. To this very day, John brings an ability to help me focus on my
gifts and my talents through his experience in front of the camera. His advice helps me
reach people at a deeper level through delivery as well as content. He is a blessing.
Harv Eker, Adam Markel, and Marleen Payne have brought to me, in their own ways, an
amazing ability to focus on money. I say that from a very proud perspective, that they
have helped me to elevate my awareness and understanding of the way money works, of
making money, of saving money, and of spending money as well, in order to have belief
systems around money that are extremely grounded and healthy. The focus I have gotten
from all three of these people has been incredible.
Caroline Ravelo. Here is a woman who believed in me so deeply that when she opened
her publishing company, she came to me and said, “I want your book, ‘Heaven On
Earth,’ to be the first book my company publishes.” Caroline, for years now, has been an
amazing source of spiritual strength and entrepreneurial strength in my life, and has
helped me to stay focused on being able to do both, to be both spiritual and successful as
an entrepreneur.
Father Ron at the Hanley Center for addiction recovery is someone who I met when I was
in the center to recover from alcoholism. Father Ron came up to me on day three and
said, “David, if you surrender to God, if you focus solely on your walk with God, you
will never, ever, for the rest of your existence, ever have a craving for alcohol or cocaine
again.” Father Ron’s words were so prophetic that, that evening, I had an immense
spiritual awakening, and from that moment forward, regardless of how difficult life has
been, his words have rung true. If I surrender, minute by minute, day by day, my life and
will to God, I will forever be sober and happy. It is unbelievable, the effect that he had on
my life.
Ardith Bissinger has been another person with a huge spiritual effect on my life. I call her
one of my spiritual coaches. Without a doubt, she is so grounded in the love of God, that
during one of my most difficult experiences, which happened to also be during my
divorce, she helped me focus on forgiving myself and my former wife in the middle of
my deepest, darkest pain. Without Ardith, during that experience, I would have never
understood that you can go into forgiveness at the same moment that you are in deep
pain. An incredible experience.
Peggy Solomon, with Westwood One Radio. Peggy helped me when the rest of
Westwood One didn’t believe that a focused show on health and personal growth could
make it in the early nineties on nationally syndicated radio. Peggy was so focused on
what I was able to bring to the network and to bring to America’s radio airwaves, that she
helped build my faith in myself, even when other executives at the network didn’t think it
would work. Peggy was focused on my gifts and talents to the world, which made our
show a huge hit with Westwood One.
Gary Loughlin, my cousin, who has been a real estate mentor, a broker, and an agent for
thirty-plus years, in 2000 opened the doorway for me to get into business coaching in the
world of real estate by simply giving me a call and saying, “I have a client for you to
work with, a new real estate agent. I believe you can help him as he starts his career.”
When I called back and talked to Gary, I said, “I have worked with people from all
different walks of business, but never real estate. Do you think I can actually do it?” His
answer was, “Of course you can!” From 2000 to this day, I have worked with hundreds
upon hundreds of real estate agents from around the world, helping them to maximize
their potential in business. My focus in the world of real estate at one time had me
working with seventy agents a week as clients, and it all started with Gary’s belief in me
and the focus that I could make a difference in that industry.
Richard Gerson was an amazing mentor of mine, who asked me one day in 1984 what I
wanted to achieve out of life. When I told him I wanted to be recognized as one of the top
health, fitness, and personal growth experts in the world, he looked at me and said, “Then
go back to school and get your master’s degree.” It was those words, and his help to get
my master’s degree, that opened the doorway for me to be able to create the work and the
reputation that I would have never been able to do without furthering my education.
Trevor Oliver, with Premier Radio Network and XM Satellite Radio, had so much faith in
me from my work with Westwood One, that he encouraged me to join him at Premier
Radio Network and XM Satellite Radio. He wanted me to bring my unique message to
the national audience that is deeply needed today: Our need to focus on exceeding
expectations, overcoming challenges, and creating the life that everyone desires. This
message, backed with Trevor’s excitement about my program, brought us back to
national syndication. We are making a difference in the media landscape, which is often
based on sensationalism and negativity, through our positive talk radio show.
Steve Block, one of my earlier mentors, had so much faith in me in business, that he hired
me as a spokesperson for his exercise equipment company, SPRI Products. Our focus
was based on helping aerobics instructors and personal trainers to maximize their
potential in fitness. Steve’s faith in me was so great that it opened up doorways to success
that I still benefit from today.
Carolyn will always hold a special part in my heart because of her ability to help me
focus on my sobriety. A number of years ago, during a conversation we had together, she
opened up about her life. At that time we had been dating for several months, and there
was something that she needed to talk to me about that was very scary for her to share. It
had to do with her sobriety. As she went through the story and told me everything about
her life and her work on getting sober, she said she was afraid that when she told me this
that it might end our relationship. In other words, I might not want to be with someone
who was in recovery. At that time, I was a full-blown alcoholic, a functioning alcoholic,
but an alcoholic nonetheless. My evenings consisted, from 8 p.m. on, drinking wine as I
completed my work, until I completed enough of the wine itself, where I would fall
asleep, better known as passing-out. It was during this incredibly heart wrenching
conversation with Carolyn, when my mind was triggered, and my focus finally turned to
my sobriety. At the end of this evening, when she had shared such vulnerability and such
honesty, without ever asking me to get sober, I went to bed thinking, “This is the time,
and this is the message.” The next day, waking up, the same thought was in my head: I
need to focus on my own recovery, as alcohol was interfering with every area of my life.
The very next day, I called and did the intake paperwork over the phone with the Hanley
Center for recovery in West Palm Beach, Florida. Without Carolyn’s vulnerable, open,
and loving communication about her life, I may have never taken the step to save my
own. The focus on my recovery has been rewarding ever since, and I owe that to Carolyn.
These are just a few of the many, many people who have helped me to stay focused in the
past, in the present, and who will continue to do so in the future. I share these stories with
you because, I know that, like the saying goes, “no man is an island,” and that if you want
to exceed your expectations, you are going to have to surround yourself with people who
are doing what you want to do, who are better than you, smarter than you, more inspired
than you, and most importantly, who believe in you. Take a moment right now, and as an
exercise, write down who has inspired you, who has helped you focus in the past and in
the present. Use the lines below just to write down a few of these people.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Next, who do you need to ask to help you today to get to the next level in any and all
areas of life, to help you to stay focused on your path of exceeding your own
expectations? Write down just a few of the names of these people right now.
The third part of this exercise is to contact the above list. I want you to pick a date and a
time that you will e-mail or call this list of people, asking them to help you stay focused
and to exceed your own expectations. We will never, ever do this alone; so, let’s do it
together.

Chapter Review
Take a moment right now, without going any further, to slow down and focus on what
was in important in the previous chapter. These writing exercises are the absolute gems
of this work, which when done will help you to get the most out of your time and this
book. Remember, do not trust your brain to be able to recall this life changing
information.
The act of writing allows you to delve deeper into your mind, and to focus on what was
important to you in the previous pages that is relevant to your growth at this time in your
life. As simple as these exercises are, I think the act of filling in the questions here could
be one of the most powerful steps that you can take, right now, to create the life you
desire. These questions are so powerful, that they are the same ones that I have used since
1991 in my work with clients as a Master Life Coach.
Slow down, focus, write, then act upon your answers to become who you truly want to be
in life.
1) What was covered in detail, in this chapter?
2) What was of most interest to you and why?
3) What would be 1 or 2 actions steps, relevant to the information in this chapter, that you
could take right now to help you to focus more in life? Be specific, and also put the exact
day and time that you will take these steps.
Copyright © 2012 David Essel
 The Power of Focus

Chapter 10:
Final Thoughts on The Power of Focus
”You are worthy of every goal you desire.”

I want to end this book with just a couple of thoughts to prepare ourselves for what is
ahead. If we are not prepared, it will be very easy to once again fall off the path of focus
and accomplishment, joy, success, and happiness, and back into our old way of living. As
we try this new attempt at living a highly focused life, there will be fears that will rise
into our mindset. There will be resistance. The resistance will say things like, “This may
be good for other people, this concept of focusing on one goal, but I am wonderful as a
multitasker. I am going to keep doing what I am doing.” Even though it is not giving you
the end result you want. These excuses will rise up daily. “I don’t have the time or the
money to really focus on making money,” “to really focus on finding a relationship for
my love life,” “focus on recovery,” or, “to focus on losing weight.” The excuses will go
on and on and on, and that’s why I’m bringing it up right now. I want you to understand
that all of this is normal. Saying that I don’t have the support system that someone has, or
I don’t have the education that someone has, are just excuses we use to stay safe and
comfortable, even though our safe and comfortable life is not giving us what we want.
Remember back when we talked about canceling negative thoughts? Right now, I want
you to revisit that principle, that when doubt comes up, insecurity, jealousy, resentment,
anger, rage, or excuses come up, immediately cancel those thoughts. Go back to your
focused approach to accomplishing the one major goal in your life that needs your
attention right now. As you do this, you will consistently exceed your own expectations.
There is another trap that comes into play that can also sabotage our success. We might
say, “Yeah, I’m struggling financially, but now that I’ve read this book, and there are
other books I can pick up, I’m going to figure this out on my own.” Or, “I know that
alcohol is not a healthy thing in my life, and it actually might be holding me back in my
career or my love life, but I think I’m just going to moderately drink on my own,” or,
“I’ll get sober by myself.” The list goes on and on and on. I am going to tell you to stop
the thoughts right now. We need our accountability professionals or partners to help us
make these major changes. It’s easy to fall into the trap of denial by thinking we can
make these changes, and accomplish these goals by ourselves. This is an important
statement: You have the money you have right now because you’ve done the best you
can by yourself. If you want more money, you need more help. You have the body that
you have right now by doing the best you can. If you want a better body, you need more
help. You have a relationship with God, or your higher power, that you have right now,
by doing the best you can by yourself. If you want a deeper relationship with God or your
higher power, you need someone else to help you along the way. I think you get the
picture. We need to be held accountable.
I also want you to focus on this book. It is a short book. It is a small book. Reread it every
week. Make a decision that for the next thirty days you will read this book once a week. I
say this to you openly and honestly, not just because it’s my book that I want you to
reread, but this principle of rereading the same book for thirty straight days, once a week,
has helped me when I’m trying to integrate new changes, philosophies, and education
from other authors. Reading it once through is not going to do it. Reading it once a week
for four weeks, I promise you, will help you on your path to exceed all of your
expectations.
Next, we need to share the message of hope and success with others daily. There is a way
to exceed our own expectations in life. Use this book as an opportunity to practice new
karma by sharing it with everyone you know. Take the link and send it to your friends;
send it to your classmates, your old schoolmates, your co-workers. Send it to people that
you don’t like. Send it to people that don’t like you. In other words, get the message out.
Be the bearer of good news. Let people know through your actions that you want them to
succeed. Go back and read the chapter on karma. By helping other people, we help
ourselves, even if that isn’t our sole intention. You can help change the world by
spreading this message with every person you can think of. We are blessed to live in the
age of the Internet, where you don’t have to print this off and put it in an envelope and
mail it. A quick, simple click could send it to everyone in your database. Spread the love,
the hope, the freedom, the joy and success that comes from a system that has years of
experience behind it, validating its effectiveness.
Lastly, if you follow everything that we have written about, you will find in a short
period of time that you are totally worth this new existence, that you yourself are worthy
of exceeding your own expectations. That you yourself are worthy of a life with a
beautiful body, free of addictions, and more money than you need, money that you can
share, to give away, to help others with. You can feel worthy of experiencing deep love
with a partner, of forgiving those people in the past who have wronged you, as well as
forgiving yourself for anything you have done harmful to yourself or anyone else. In
other words, the purpose of this book is the purpose of your life. To find your life’s
purpose can be done by exceeding our own expectations. As you follow the principles
given here, I only have one wish for you: That you will experience life at such a high
level, a free level, a level where you are falling deeper in love with yourself every day.
You awake every morning and go to sleep every night knowing that the next day brings
you one more chance to make a difference in your life, as well as a difference in others’
lives. I pray that you will take the seriousness of this message into your heart and soul,
and experience what I and thousands of other people have experienced: You are worthy
of all you desire.
If I can help you in any way whatsoever, contact me via our websites,
www.davidessel.com, www.talkdavid.com, or www.lifecoachuniverse.com. I want what
you want for your life, and even more. Have an amazing day.

Chapter Review
Take a moment right now, without going any further, to slow down and focus on what
was in important in the previous chapter. These writing exercises are the absolute gems
of this work, which when done will help you to get the most out of your time and this
book. Remember, do not trust your brain to be able to recall this life changing
information.
The act of writing allows you to delve deeper into your mind, and to focus on what was
important to you in the previous pages that is relevant to your growth at this time in your
life. As simple as these exercises are, I think the act of filling in the questions here could
be one of the most powerful steps that you can take, right now, to create the life you
desire. These questions are so powerful, that they are the same ones that I have used since
1991 in my work with clients as a Master Life Coach.
Slow down, focus, write, then act upon your answers to become who you truly want to be
in life.
1) What was covered in detail, in this chapter?
2) What was of most interest to you and why?
3) What would be 1 or 2 actions steps, relevant to the information in this chapter, that you
could take right now to help you to focus more in life? Be specific, and also put the exact
day and time that you will take these steps.
Copyright © 2012 David Essel
 The Power of Focus
"In just one month of working with David, my life has changed in ways that I never
imagined it would. My career path is clearer and my body and my health have started
improving considerably. But even more importantly, an indescribable joy has settled on
my spirit. I now have the tools to obtain true peace of mind. If you are lacking insight
and inspiration in your life, coaching with David is your answer. I have grown in
strength and quiet power, I have learned to trust in giving, to live in a state of beautiful
peace. I could rave on and on, but to put it quite simply and sincerely, calling on David
to be my life coach was the best decision I have ever made in my life."—Ailie Holland

Appendix 1:
Where do we go from here?
Focus. Now is the time to really focus on what you will do next in life. Today is the day
to take the action steps necessary to create the life you desire and deserve. Your next
move, to truly get the most out of life, will include any or all of the following:
1. Sign up today for our online course, “The One Thing Theory™: Find the One
Thing That Will Radically Change Your Life Forever!”
This course will help you find Find the ONE THING, that is blocking you from the
success you desire, and help you create a specific action plan to finally achieve what you
deserve in life!
Includes: (A) 2.5 hours of video instruction; (B) a 21-page manual, plus at the end of this
online course, you will also (C) work with David 1-on-1 for a 30-minute Life Coach
session. Full course only $197 at www.davidessel.com or www.theonethingtheory.com
2. Or, Sign up for our online course, “Life Mastery: How to Unlock the Secrets to Life
Long Success"
This course offers a detailed look at the master success secrets in life and how to use
them right now!
You will receive a detailed understanding of why we do what we do in life, even if it is
not working. You will delve into the basics of human behavior, the psychology of
change, and receive a road map that will show you how to let go of the past, to leap into
success, in every area of life.
Includes: (A) David’s top-selling book, “Slow Down: The Fastest Way to Get Everything
You Want” (Hay House); (B) the 3-Hour CD Series, “Slow Down”; (C) a 40-page
manual, plus (D) 6 hours of audio instruction, taking you step by step through the process
of “Life Mastery,” as well as (E) work with David 1-on-1 for two 30-minute Life Coach
sessions! Full course only $497 at www.davidessel.com.
3. Or, Get our “The Power of Focus 1-On-1 Life Coaching Package”
includes ALL OF THE ABOVE + Four (4) 1-On-1 private phone coaching sessions with
David. That’s both courses, “The One ThingTheory™: Find the One Thing That Will
Radically Change Your Life Forever!” ($197 value) and “Life Mastery: How to
Unlock the Secrets to Life Long Success” ($497 value)—plus his book, Slow Down:
The Fastest Way to Get Everything You Want”, plus the “Slow Down” 3 CD series,
AND 4 private 1 hour phone sessions with Master Life Coach David Essel. His only
desire is to help you accomplish the most important goals in your life and this is an
unstoppable value for only $997! To sign up Visit www.davidessel.com
4. IF You Know You Are Truly Ready Today, to reach the highest level of success in
your life, and are willing to commit the next 52 weeks to do just that, join David’s
"MASTER MENTOR PROGRAM.”
For 12 straight months, you will work with David 1-on-1, two days per week, 30 minutes
each session over the phone, to help you create the life you truly desire! Daily
accountability emails between you and David help create a passionate and exciting
partnership. From creating a pathway to the career of your dreams, healing an addiction
or dependency, creating the body you’ve always wanted, finding a deeper spiritual or
religious path leading to inner peace, to developing a deep, honest, meaningful love
relationship. You will work with David every week to make this your reality!
***
PRODUCTS Included in the Master Mentor Program:
A) "The One Thing Theory™: find the One Thng That Will Radically Change Your
Life Forever!" Online Course (Value $197, included in this program at no charge.)
Which also includes : 2.5 hours of video instruction plus a 21 page manual! See
Course Description Above.
B) "LIFE MASTERY : How to Unlock the Secrets to Life Long Success Program."
Online Course *** **( Value: $497, included in this program at no charge.)
See Course Description Above.
PLUS, in the "Master Mentor Program", you'll also get David’s top-selling book, “Slow
Down: The Fastest Way to Get Everything You Want” (Hay House), and (B) The 3-hour
CD series, “Slow Down.”
AND remember, one solid year of weekly, 1 on 1, private phone coaching sessions with
David!
The full course, 52 straight weeks working with David 1-on-1, is only $9,997 one-time
fee, or a payment plan of $1500/month. (You save $8,000 during the course of this
program with the one-time fee payment option.) You are worthy of any goal you desire,
and David can help you get there. To sign up or find out more about our Master Mentor
Program, visit www.davidessel.com.
For a look at the various certification programs available, from Life Coach Certifications,
to Holistic Addiction Recovery, Advanced Spiritual Studies, or Public Speaking and
Communication, please visit www.lifecoachuniverse.com.
And don’t forget to tune in every Saturday, 6-9 p.m. EST, 3-6 p.m. PST, for “David
Essel! Alive!, America’s Positive Talk Radio Show,” on XM Satellite Radio Channel
168, or streaming FREE via www.davidessel.com. Celebrating 21 years in positive talk.
“I look forward to helping you create the amazing life you truly desire today.”
Love and Success,
David Essel
Author (7), National Radio Host XM Satellite Radio, Master Life and Business Coach,
Inspirational Speaker
www.davidessel.com
www.lifecoachuniverse.com
Email: [email protected]
Voice: 941-266-7676
 The Power of Focus

Appendix 2:
Resources to Help You Stay Focused in Life and Exceed Your Own
Expectations
The following is a list of resources and courses that can help you to maximize your
potential, exceed your expectations, and move forward in life at lightning speed.
Remember, there is no need for us to do this on our own. As a matter of fact, if we try to,
we will probably end up right where we are today.
***
BOOKS
Karmic Management: What Goes Around Comes Around in Your Business and Your
Life
Geshe Michael Roach, Lama Christie McNally, and Michael Gordon
The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Managing Your Business and Your Life
Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth, T. Harv Eker
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
The Virgin Diet, JJ Virgin
Power vs. Force, David Hawkins
Practicing the Presence, Joel Goldsmith
Body for Life, Bill Phillips
Awakening the Buddha Within, Lama Surya Das
The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace Wattles
Feng Shui for Dummies, David Daniel Kennedy
***
WEBSITES
www.jjvirgin.com Dietary changes and exercise ideas for long-term weight loss.
www.millionairmindintensive.com Financial independence.
www.peakpotentials.com Financial independence.
www.addictionalchemy.com Addiction recovery & Spiritual Emergence
www.brainstatetech.com Brainwave optimization/brain balancing.
www.naturesway.com Exceptional nutritional supplements.
www.enzymatictherapy.com exceptional nutritional supplements.
www.drjenniferlanda.com For help with energy levels, sex drive, mood and more, for
both men and women.
***
DAVID ESSEL’S PRODUCTS
Slow Down: The Fastest Way to Get Everything You Want (Hay House)
Heaven On Earth: God Speaks Through the Heart of a Young Monk
Rock Star: Finding God’s Purpose for Your Life
Phoenix Soul: One Man’s Search for Love and Inner Peace
Language for the Heart and Soul, Book One: Powerful Writings on Life
The Real Life Adventures of Catherine “Cat” Calloway the 1st
For more info visit www.davidessel.com
***
DAVID ESSEL’S COURSES & CERTIFICATIONS
Life Coach Universe™—Life Coach Certification Level 1, 2 & 3 (Master)
Holistic Addiction Recovery Certification
Advanced Spiritual Studies Certification
Public Speaking Certification Courses
The One Thing Theory™ Online Course
Life Mastery Online Course
All courses available at www.lifecoachuniverse.com and www.davidessel.com
David also offers over 400 free videos on personal growth at
www.youtube.com/superslowdown
For 30 years, David Essel, M.S., has inspired millions from around the world as a
National Radio Talk Show Host (XM Satellite Radio), Author (7), Master Life and
Business Coach, Adjunct Professor, All Faiths Minister, Holistic Addiction Recovery
Coach, and Inspirational Speaker. David spends his free time on the beach, or pursuing
his passion of 50 years, basketball. He supports all pet adoption agencies, as well as
organizations that help the homeless, as well as abused children.
 The Power of Focus

1 MILLION E-BOOK GIVEAWAY CONTEST

We are giving away 1 million free copies of The Power of Focus e-book. ($19.95 value)
Each month we will randomly choose a winner that will receive,
The One Thing Theory™ online course ($197 value)
At the end of 12 months a single lucky winner will be chosen to receive the
GRAND PRIZE
of a
$10,000 Life Coaching Package with David Essel!
To enter the contest or review the contest rules visit www.davidessel.com/focus

HELP US REACH ONE MILLION PEOPLE!

Our mission with this book, is to inspire millions of people from around the world at no
charge, to use the tools within in order to experience the life they desire to live. To
exceed their own expectations in life.
We ask you to help us to do just that, by forwarding this book to everyone you know!
Your family, friends, co-workers and even old classmates could benefit from using the
information in this book to change their lives.
Please share and forward this book freely. Together we can be a positive force for change
in this world!
Copyright © 2012 David Essel