Could one simple practice give you the tools to achieve your loftiest goal in 2024?

The Four Hour focus principle

On The Proof with Simon Hill, geoscientist and entrepreneur Chris MacAskill recalled the advice he heard in a lecture during his sophomore year of college. MacAskill recalled the lecturer telling his audience, “‘If you want to graduate in the top 2% of your class, I promise you can do it, and here’s how you do it.’”

MacAskill, whose turbulent childhood had left him with significant educational gaps and lots of worry that he wouldn’t succeed in college, listened up.

Here was the formula, MacAskill recalled:

Go to the same place for four hours, six days a week. No eating, no distractions, just study. “‘You’ll learn to focus for those four hours, and that’s all you need to do and you’ll get in the top two percent of your class,” the speaker said.

MacAskill followed the advice — and graduated in the top 0.1% of his class, earning a graduate scholarship to Stanford.

applying The four-hour focus principle in your life

Could this four-hour focus principle work for you?

Maybe you’re a student wanting to get top grades, like MacAskill was. Or maybe you’re practicing law, or starting a business, or competing in sports. Whatever your goal — if it’s a big one — you’ll need focus to realize it.

I suspect that this four-hour rule might yield even more dividends today than it did when MacAskill heard it. Learning requires tuning out distractions, and when it comes to distractions, the 2020s are hard to beat.

My New Year’s Resolution

Personally, I’m writing a book. A big, sweeping, ambitious biography about a man who made our immigration laws and the times that shaped him. This goal scares the crap out of me. I know I’ll finish the book, but I don’t know if I’ll end up with a book worth finishing. The quality of my performance could make all the difference.

And one thing’s for sure: Writing a book requires no less focus than mastering a college curriculum.

In the process of writing and pitching and promoting this book, I can’t control everything. But I can control my own effort and focus.

In 2024, I resolve to put the four-hour focus principle to work. Every working day, I will go to the same place, eliminate all distractions, and focus on researching and writing for four hours. On Sundays, holidays, and scheduled vacations, I’ll step back and engage in active recovery to rejuvenate my mind and body so I can repeat this deep work.

Every Saturday on How We Got Here, my Substack publication on immigration law and history, I’ll report on what I learned in researching and writing the book that week. I hope you’ll join me on that journey by subscribing to How We Got Here (which you can do here or in the footer at the bottom of this blog)

And, if you apply the four-hour focus principle yourself this year, I hope you’ll share your journey with me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024!!!