Focus is an active state of mind committed to grasping the facts of reality. A goal-directed mind engaged to understand, comprehend, and know with the most clarity possible the facts of reality according to one’s ability. An example is when I play soccer. I am 100% in the present, fully aware of where the ball is going, where I should be running, watching, analyzing each move consciously, and actively observing reality. This helps me to enjoy and have a good performance to the best of my ability.
In the same way, one must configure one’s consciousness fundamentally to deal with life as well as possible in every aspect.
On the other hand, to be out of focus is a state of drift, driven by one´s subconscious or semi-conscious, without any direction. For example, I noticed something odd when I went to the store and spoke to the salesperson. He wasn’t paying attention to me because he responded as if I wasn’t there. He answered me out of inertia as if the job he was doing was a boring routine. I realized that he was doing a bad job since he didn’t even know the price of the products.
The act of focusing on one’s consciousness is volitional. Focusing is the precondition of thought. A person can decide whether he wants to focus or not, that is, whether he wants to have control of his consciousness and as a corollary of his mind. Focus is essential for the Objectivist theory of volition because it is the basis and the first volitional act a person does by choice. Without a choice to focus, there could be no consistent theory since everything depends on that first step. Because a person can focus, he will be able to think, analyze, grasp, understand, and direct his life in the best way. Focus is key to validating the fact that a person is a being of free will and a self-made man.
Anyone who wants to live as a conceptual being must think, but first requires the precondition of thinking- focus. Focus is a requirement for the theory of volition, but simultaneously, the whole Objectivist system depends on it. Focus is the focus of rationality and, therefore, the foundation of the Objectivist approach to virtue and knowledge- as virtue and knowledge are the product of rationality.
