FOCUS Method FAQ

FOCUS is a decision and execution system for limited resources, developed by Ilja T. Gull, founder of Leverage by FOCUS. The five steps are Facts, Outcome, Constraints and Cost, Upside and System. It helps a founder, leader, or team decide what deserves their finite time, attention, energy, and money; accept the cost of that choice; act where progress creates momentum; and repeat the right actions until results compound.

F is Facts (establish reality, evidence, patterns and finite resources), O is Outcome (choose the one result that matters next), C is Constraints and Cost (remove noise and drag; make opportunity cost explicit), U is Upside (find the highest-leverage action and create momentum) and S is System (build habits, feedback, repetition and compounding). Each step ends with a tool: the Evidence Check, the Target Choice, the Cut List, the Leverage Path and the Operating Rhythm.

For founders and leaders who carry too much alone: owners of established businesses, CEOs and managing directors, owner-operators who have become the bottleneck, and executives in transition or under pressure. They have real revenue or real responsibility, too many opportunities competing for attention and few trusted counterparts for important decisions. They want practical thinking and execution, not motivational talk.

Most productivity methods and coaching add something: new goals, tools or motivation. FOCUS starts with what is true and which resources are really available, then makes the cost of each choice explicit: every meaningful yes contains a no. It ends in a system of habits, feedback and repetition, so progress builds on itself instead of depending on motivation.

FOCUS was developed by Ilja T. Gull, a Swiss founder with more than 25 years in sales, business development and leadership in technology and B2B software (SAP, IBM, Microsoft, iLovePDF), who has studied human behaviour and decision-making since 2009. It grew out of one repeated pattern: capable people with real results who lose momentum because their energy is spread across too many good options. Its foundation, Quiet Weight, goes back to 2012: first a beta called the Mindset Index, from 2013 the Mental Weight Index, renamed Quiet Weight in 2025.

FOCUS is neither therapy nor medical treatment. It is a commercial, strategic sounding board: structured reflection and decision support for business and career growth. Anyone dealing with a mental-health condition should see a qualified professional.

Both use the same five FOCUS steps. Founder-Led FOCUS applies them to a business: revenue focus, offers, pipeline and follow-through. Executive FOCUS applies them to a career: choosing and executing the right next move. Both start with a short call and a tailored proposal.

The investment depends on the option and scope and is set out in a short, tailored proposal after a first call. Programs are billed monthly in advance and you can cancel anytime. The checks are free.

Yes, as a set of questions. Work through the five core questions on the FOCUS Method page and take the FOCUS Check to see where to start. Applying the tools with an outside view is what the 1:1 programs add: most people are too close to their own results to see the pattern.

Quiet Weight is the foundation of FOCUS. FOCUS works above the waterline: the conscious steps from Facts to System that bundle and concentrate your activity on the outcome that matters. Quiet Weight sits below it: the limiting beliefs and negative emotions everyone carries to some degree. If, after a while, you keep getting in your own way although you know what to do (distraction, not acting, the next shiny object, goals that are more extrinsic than intrinsic), that points to more quiet weight than you would like, and the work moves below the surface to identify, qualify and resolve it. The free QWI Light check shows where the weight sits across nine areas of life.

FOCUS is an acronym for its five steps: Facts, Outcome, Constraints and Cost, Upside and System. F-O-C-U-S is only the stylised spelling used in the logo; both refer to the same method.

We talk for 20 to 30 minutes about your situation and your check result if you have one. If the fit is clear, you receive a short, tailored proposal and a payment link, and your first session is scheduled. If it is not a fit, you still leave with one concrete next step.

Billing is monthly in advance and you can cancel anytime, effective at the end of the current month. You pay through a secure Stripe link by card, TWINT, SEPA debit or bank transfer; invoices are in EUR. The investment is set out in a short, tailored proposal after your first call. Details in our Terms.

Start with the FOCUS Check on the homepage. It takes about 3 minutes, needs no email and shows where to start. If you want to talk it through, book a short call via Discuss Next Move.