"keep one's eye on the ball" meaning in English

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "take one's eye off the ball"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From general sporting advice to look at the ball when playing it, particularly a golf ball on the tee.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "keeps one's eye on the ball",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "keeping one's eye on the ball",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's eye on the ball",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's eye on the ball",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "keep<,,kept> one's eye on the ball"
      },
      "expansion": "keep one's eye on the ball (third-person singular simple present keeps one's eye on the ball, present participle keeping one's eye on the ball, simple past and past participle kept one's eye on the ball)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2006 Feb 18, Michael Holden quoting Sir Alan Sugar in The Guardian, You can call me Sir Al\nMy ethos has always been to be very straight with people, tell it as it is. It doesn't often make people happy but I found that over a period of time it's better to be that way. So being straight, also being very focused on your objectives, keep your eye on the ball and not get deflected away from it."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To maintain one's concentration fixed on one important theme."
      ],
      "id": "en-keep_one's_eye_on_the_ball-en-verb--kzPJruH",
      "links": [
        [
          "concentration",
          "concentration"
        ],
        [
          "important",
          "important"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To maintain one's concentration fixed on one important theme."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-keep one's eye on the ball.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5b/En-au-keep_one%27s_eye_on_the_ball.ogg/En-au-keep_one%27s_eye_on_the_ball.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/En-au-keep_one%27s_eye_on_the_ball.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "keep one's eye on the ball"
}

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "take one's eye off the ball"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From general sporting advice to look at the ball when playing it, particularly a golf ball on the tee.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "keeps one's eye on the ball",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "keeping one's eye on the ball",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's eye on the ball",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's eye on the ball",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "keep<,,kept> one's eye on the ball"
      },
      "expansion": "keep one's eye on the ball (third-person singular simple present keeps one's eye on the ball, present participle keeping one's eye on the ball, simple past and past participle kept one's eye on the ball)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2006 Feb 18, Michael Holden quoting Sir Alan Sugar in The Guardian, You can call me Sir Al\nMy ethos has always been to be very straight with people, tell it as it is. It doesn't often make people happy but I found that over a period of time it's better to be that way. So being straight, also being very focused on your objectives, keep your eye on the ball and not get deflected away from it."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To maintain one's concentration fixed on one important theme."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "concentration",
          "concentration"
        ],
        [
          "important",
          "important"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To maintain one's concentration fixed on one important theme."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-keep one's eye on the ball.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5b/En-au-keep_one%27s_eye_on_the_ball.ogg/En-au-keep_one%27s_eye_on_the_ball.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/En-au-keep_one%27s_eye_on_the_ball.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "keep one's eye on the ball"
}