Your 20s Are Wasted If You Can’t Focus on One Thing

Bishal Lama

Most people are addicted to distraction. Not because they want to be — but because the world profits when you scatter your attention.

Apps profit. Advertisers profit. Fake gurus profit. But you? You lose.

You lose time. You lose mastery. You lose the chance to become someone who commands results instead of chasing shiny objects.

So let’s get brutally clear today.

If you want mastery and real results, pick one thing and focus on it until it works. Period.

That’s it. That’s the lever you’re ignoring.

The moment you scatter your energy across too many “opportunities,” you rob yourself of the only compounding advantage that separates amateurs from masters: depth.

Let’s break this down. I’ll show you exactly why focus is the game-changer, why you keep losing it, and the step-by-step playbook to reclaim it.

Why focus on One Thing matters more than you think

There are three brutal reasons why focus decides your future:

1. Depth wins over breadth

Dabblers stay shallow. Masters go deep.

When you spend real time on one thing, you discover truths invisible to casual players:

• The hidden rules.

• The shortcuts that only reveal themselves after 1,000 repetitions.

• The mistakes everyone else repeats because they never stay long enough to notice the patterns.

  
  

Depth is rare. Rare becomes valuable.

If you only skim, you stay in the pool of mediocrity. And mediocrity doesn’t sell.

2. Your resources are limited

Here’s the math:

• You have 24 hours.

• You have limited energy.

• You have limited attention.
  

That’s all.

Early in life, you don’t have the capital, the team, or the leverage to juggle five businesses.

When you spread those limited resources across multiple projects, none of them reach escape velocity. You waste years starting instead of finishing.

3. The world lies to you

Social feeds are highlight reels.

You see someone making money from crypto or from a random side hustle. They flex their win. They never show the sleepless nights, the failed attempts, the emptiness behind the “success.”

Envy tricks you into leaving the work that’s actually building — for the next shiny thing.

Here’s the secret: The people you envy are not as happy or steady as they look.

Don’t buy the lie.

The focus playbook

Theory is useless without practice. Let’s make this practical.

Here’s the system I am trying to implement, inspired by Robert Greene's works— broken into 10 clear steps:

1. Choose your axis (the real one)

The biggest mistake? Starting from the world instead of yourself.

Trendy ideas, “sexy” opportunities, or fast-money schemes might work short-term — but they won’t sustain you.

Ask yourself: What lights me up for years, not days?

Here’s how to find it:

1. Write down five things you’d do even if you failed the first year.

2. Circle the one that connects naturally with at least two other interests.

3. Write one line that describes the through-line.

   
   

   Example:

4. “I help people design healthier habits.”

5. “I turn complex ideas into stories people understand.”

   
   

If you can’t find a through-line, don’t invent one from what’s trending. Start from you.

2. The 36-month focus rule

Commit to one thing for 36 months. Not 3 weeks. Not 3 months. Three years.

Why? Because skill and credibility need time to compound.

In those 36 months:

• You’ll get bored.

• You’ll get frustrated.

• You’ll be tempted to quit.

• Then you’ll get better.

  
  

That cycle is how mastery happens.

Split those 36 months across multiple projects?

You lose the compounding.

3. Build a focus contract

Write a one-page contract. Sign it. Post it where you work.

Rules can look like this:

• No launching new projects until this one hits X metric (e.g., 12 months of consistent growth, $50k revenue, or 100 weekly outputs).

• Idea time is limited to 1 hour/week. Write. Don’t act.

• One deep work block daily (90–120 minutes, no distractions).

  
  

It sounds simple. That’s why it works.

4. Kill comparison envy

Comparison is poison.

Remember these truths when envy shows up:

• You see the highlight, not the whole story.

• Their “success” cost them sacrifices you don’t see.

• Many of them are miserable behind the curtain.
  

Example: the rich young guy with crypto, a media company, and a fitness brand. Looks amazing. But his attention is split. He may be wealthy, but he robbed himself of mastery.

Don’t copy someone’s surface. Build your foundation.

5. Make curiosity a side-hobby, not a second job

Curiosity isn’t the enemy. Acting on every curiosity is.

Rule: collect curiosities, don’t commit to them.

How? Keep a “Curiosity Notebook.” When a new idea excites you, write it down. That’s it.

Don’t act on it until your main project is stable for 12 months.

6. Connect your interests with a through-line

If you already juggle multiple projects, try this:

• Write each interest on a sticky note.

• Ask: What audience or problem do these overlap with?

• If you find a real link, build one brand around it. If not, cut ruthlessly.

  
  

Example: crypto + media + sports + fitness. The through-line could be “celebrity/film media.” That umbrella can absorb all those interests.

But if the through-line feels fake? Trust that feeling. Kill the noise.

7. The whip story

When you get tempted to split focus, remember this.

An 18-year-old entrepreneur emailed his investor with a new idea. His investor replied like a whip:

“If you don’t focus on one thing now, you’ll never be successful.”

Brutal. True.

Mentors and investors have seen the pattern: Scattered attention = scattered results.

Learn from their scars. Don’t collect your own.

8. Tactical habits that protect focus

Protect your attention like a fortress:

• Time blocking: two deep work blocks daily. Non-negotiable.

• Idea hour: one weekly hour for brainstorming. Nothing more.

• Social boundaries: max 20 minutes/day. Delete triggers during work.

• Accountability: one person who calls you out weekly.

• Minimum viable practice: the smallest daily action that moves you forward.
  

9. When can you diversify?

Diversification isn’t evil. It’s just often premature.

Here are the signals you’re ready:

• You’ve sustained results for at least 12 months.

• You can explain in one sentence why it works.

• You have time margins (team, capital, or systems) that allow expansion without killing the core.
  

If you don’t meet these signals? Don’t diversify. You’re not ready.

10. Recovery if you’ve spread thin

If you’re already juggling too much, here’s how to recover:

1. Audit. List every project.

   
   

   Score each 1–10 on love and impact.

2. Kill or mothball the bottom half. Be ruthless.

3. Double down on the top one for 90 days. Track one metric only.
   

If you skip this? You’ll be the person saying, “I had a chance, but I never claimed it.”

Quick checklist

• Pick one thing. Write it in one sentence.

• Sign a 36-month focus contract.

• Block two deep work sessions daily.

• Start a curiosity notebook.

• Share your focus sentence with someone who will hold you accountable.

Here’s the catch

Pick the one thing that, if it worked, would make everything else easier.

If you can’t answer in five minutes, you’re not listening to yourself — you’re listening to the world.

The world sells distraction because distraction is profitable. You are the product.

Stop selling yourself short.

Focus is selfish in the right way. It’s how you build something that lasts.

Be boring about the process. Be ruthless about distractions. Be patient with results.

That’s how you win.

Now pick one thing. Then do the work.