The one meta-skill that improves anything


SIMON RILLING

THE ART OF CREATING

Dear friend,

Do you know decision fatigue? Overwhelm? Analysis paralysis?

Nothing is wrong with you. But your focus is.

Let me explain.

What's the one meta-skill that makes or breaks your life?

Focus.

"I'm constantly shifting focus."
"I'm overwhelmed by options".
"I don't know what decisions to take".

Sound familiar?

You either wilfully force decisions — or timidly avoid them.

You cope instead of acting strategically from your natural rhythm.

Why?

Because you lack focus:

You either don’t know your priority — or can’t stay with it.

Both are a function of focus.

It's the prime ingredient to your life experience — in the past, present, and future.

Focus creates reality.

"The all is mental" – The Kybalion
"What we think, we become." – Buddha
"Awareness creates through perception" – Advaita Vedanta
"Our thoughts influence the development of reality" – CIA Declassified

Not money, but focus is your most precious asset.

It directs your attention and projects your energy.

The battlefield of today's attention economy

  1. Platforms, products, influencers, and ideologies compete for your attention.
  2. ↳ Then, your attention is captured and monetized.
  3. ↳ Afterwards, your mental fragmentation is normalized.

You end up believing it's normal to:

  1. Procrastinate.
  2. Manage time poorly.
  3. Feel overwhelmed easily.
  4. Make impulsive decisions.
  5. Be easily distracted and forgetful.
  6. Have difficulty organizing and prioritizing tasks.
  7. Fidget and be unable to sustain attention for hours on one topic.

It seems normal (ADHD, anyone?) in today's mindless world, but it's neither what's possible nor natural.

The truth:

If you can’t direct your focus — someone else will.

The sad consequence:

You end up feeding someone else's dream and pockets instead of yours.

Imagine this:

A laser focused on one point can cut through steel.
The same light scattered in a room? Barely visible.

Your attention works the same way.

When you scatter your focus, you dilute your genius.
When you master it, you enjoy your freedom.

The good news: Focus is trainable.

Some are naturally more focused. But anyone can develop the skill.

Try this Mini-Exercise:

  1. Focus for 5s on a dot on the wall – imagine these are your distractions.
  2. Shift and focus for 5s on a dot on the ceiling – imagine this is your priority.

Could you shift and stay?

That's how easy it fundamentally is to focus on what truly matters, even in conflict or under pressure. Of course, your ability to do this grows with practice.

Focus mastery goes deeper.

It's not just holding one, but two points in your focus:

  1. 🏁 Your Vision – what you want to create (your goal).
  2. 🚩 Your Current reality – where you are now (your starting point).

The discrepancy between these two points creates creative tension, an organic pull toward your vision.

It's the engine of creation and leads naturally to clarity on priorities.

What most get wrong about the Pareto Principle:

When I first came across the Pareto Principle — that 20% of your efforts generate 80% of your results — I treated it like a formula for efficiency. I analyzed every action, behavior, and choice, trying to control my life into perfection.

But here’s what I missed:

It’s not about control — it’s about focus.

When you wake up from scattered focus and mental fragmentation and learn to direct your energy toward what truly matters:

You return to your natural ability.

Pareto simply reflects nature. When you master focus, the 80/20 magic happens by itself—no forcing, no productivity hacks, just easing into the simplicity of life.

Focus: The one skill that improves anything.

Family. Business. Meditation. Friendships. Creativity.

No one taught me how to focus until my mid-30s.

Lost in an existential crisis, paralyzed and spiraling inside what felt like an insane mind — I had no choice but to learn.

It clicked.
And everything changed.

Now, you can see why I am so passionate about sharing these discoveries with you.

In fact, that's why I created The Art of Creating.

It’s the life school I wish I had.

Want laser-sharp focus to create the life you love?

Learn from my mistakes, join our next cohort — and accelerate all areas of your life.

Sounds too good to be true? Put it to the test here — see for yourself.

I'm curious: what would you create if you had laser-sharp focus?

Let’s create together,
Simon

Bändlistrasse 54, Zurich, Zurich 8064
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Simon Rilling

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