"One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular"
About this Quote
The specific intent is motivational triage. By reframing underachievement as an attention problem, Robbins collapses a messy tangle of structural constraints into a single lever you can pull today. "Concentrate our power" is doing heavy rhetorical work here. It treats willpower like a resource you can aim like a spotlight, implying that success isn't about having more of it than others but about wasting less. That metaphor is classic Robbins: agency, energy, and a touch of heroic individualism.
The subtext is a cultural critique disguised as personal coaching. "Most people" is a convenient foil; it sets up an in-group of strivers who will choose mastery and an out-group of drifters who won't. It's also a quiet jab at modern distraction: option overload, fragmented careers, the constant itch to keep doors open. Robbins came up in an era when American self-making was booming, and this quote echoes that 80s-90s ethos: commit, specialize, win.
Still, the sentence dodges the cost of mastery: narrowing your identity, tolerating boredom, and choosing one thing means refusing many others. That's where it bites, and why it sticks.
Quote Details
| Topic | Goal Setting |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Robbins, Tony. (2026, January 17). One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/one-reason-so-few-of-us-achieve-what-we-truly-26414/
Chicago Style
Robbins, Tony. "One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/one-reason-so-few-of-us-achieve-what-we-truly-26414/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/one-reason-so-few-of-us-achieve-what-we-truly-26414/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.











