Total Focus

Make Better Decisions Under Pressure

By: Brandon Webb, John David Mann

Narrated by: Johnathan McClain, Brandon Webb

What do you do at work when a hundred crises seem to be happening at the same time? Do you pick just one priority or try to put out every fire? How can you stay composed, figure out what really matters, and act decisively?

When former U.S. Navy SEAL sniper Brandon Webb transitioned to civilian life, he struggled to get his first startup business off the ground. He raised millions for his new venture, only to lose it all as problems spiraled out of his control.

In the wake of that failure, Webb realized that successful entrepreneurs need a skill he had already mastered: total focus. SEAL snipers define it as the ability to filter out noise and chaos so you can make life-or-death decisions under the extreme conditions of combat. If he could maintain total focus while staring through crosshairs at a man who might (or might not) be an Al Qaeda terrorist, surely he could do the same in the business world.

So Webb started over, applying total focus to a new startup, a media company called Hurricane Group. His approach was so effective that in just five years, Hurricane grew to have a staff of over fifty, an audience in the tens of millions, and a valuation of more than $100 million.

In this book, Webb teaches us to make better decisions under extreme pressure by emulating the habits of his fellow warriors, as well as other skills he learned on the job and from great friends and business leaders like Solomon Choi of 16 Handles, Matt Meeker of BarkBox, and Betsy Morgan of the Huffington Post and TheBlaze. For instance, you’ll discover:

· The difference between total focus and tunnel vision is developing total situational awareness: the ability to spot opportunities and threats without getting distracted from your goal.
· You can overcome indecisiveness and hesitancy by accepting violence of action: a decision to move forward with an imperfect plan, knowing that even the best-laid plans go wrong.
· Entrepreneurs must learn to embrace the suck, refusing to quit when the going gets brutal, and recognizing that unexpected challenges may reveal your best shot at success.

By following the tactics and wisdom of a generation of legendary snipers and business leaders, you’ll find the clarity of mind you need to accomplish your own mission—whatever it takes.

Critic reviews

“What an incredible ride! Watching as a former Navy SEAL sniper approaches the challenges and complexities in growing from start-up to $100 million–plus in five short years is a master class in business and leadership.”
—David Bach, author of The Automatic Millionaire and Start Late, Finish Rich

“What do the training, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills of a Navy SEAL have to with running a successful business? As it turns out, just about everything. And you won’t find a better guide and mentor than Brandon Webb, former Navy SEAL sniper turned hugely successful CEO. In Total Focus, Webb and Mann provide a game plan based on the mind-set and skill sets that will result in a business that you’re passionate about, that is lucrative, and that provides extreme value to those you serve.”
—Bob Burg, coauthor of The Go-Giver and author of Adversaries into Allies

“The most engaging, exciting business book you’ll ever read.”
—Marshall Goldsmith, author of Triggers and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There; Thinkers50 #1 Most Influential Leadership Thinker in the World

“Brandon Webb’s transition from Navy SEAL to CEO provides inspiring insights on how leaders lead. Reading this book challenged me to raise my own personal leadership bar!”
—David Novak, author of Taking People with You

“Brandon has done a spectacular job at paying forward proven principles that will help you achieve greatness in your personal and professional lives. I highly recommend this book!”
—Jairek Robbins, performance coach; author of Live It!; recipient of the Congressional Award Gold Medal

“Brandon has done a spectacular job at paying forward proven principles that will help you achieve greatness in your personal and professional lives. I highly recommend this book!”
—Jairek Robbins, performance coach; author of Live It!; recipient of the Congressional Award Gold Medal

very good hard to stop listening.

narrator very good, great book, learned alot from it . I will listen to it again I'm sure.

Reinforcement and Belief

A book worth listening to. It has great stories and great perspectives. Realistically a lot of information is already out there, but reading, hearing different stories of struggles and successes and having the information continually into your reinforcement is what makes the difference. 500 people can say the exact same thing, using the exact same words, but it might also take those 500 people before you change your perspective.

A Bit Unfocused

Based on the write ups and intro the book, I had expected this to be a book about eliminating distractions. While it certainly talks about the importance of that, and discusses how critical complete focus is, there is very little in the way of practical methods used to develop said focus other than recommending we practice. It's a total miss from a practical standpoint if learning how to focus is your goal with this book. THAT SAID....

It's a good all around entrepreneur book. It covers a wide variety of entrepreneurial topics including a number of leadership elements, and covers them reasonably well. It's a worthy read within that context.

Great tips to entrepreneurial life

i really liked the book. Gave me good tips to take into account in the future when I'll start my own company.

an excellent listen, even better the second time

it kept my attention the first listen, it changed my approach to many tasks after the second