Hey guys, and welcome back to another episode of your Brains Coach podcast. My name is Angela Shurina, I'm your host, I'm your Brains Coach and it is my job here and my pleasure to bring to you, share with you, discover for you all the amazing, applicable, effective, fascinating and life-transforming brain-body tools so you can take better control of your thoughts, of your emotions and, most importantly, of your actions, so you could shape the life experience that you absolutely love living. And today we are talking about controlling something else controlling our focus, which defines our thoughts, our emotions and our actions. A lot of what these days we are talking about when we are talking about mindset management or mindset mastery, growth, mindset a lot of it has to do with your skills, your ability that you can develop, you can strengthen your ability to control your own focus. And there is the other side of focus which people think of when they think about mastering, improving, strengthening their focus, when they think about mastering, improving, strengthening their focus.
Speaker 1And the other side of this coin is distractions. We feel like we are bombarded and that is probably objectively true that we are bombarded with more and more distractions, things that take our focus away from the main thing, take our focus away from the main thing technology, opportunities, choices, people, things on our plate we need to take care of work projects, personnel projects, health projects, relationships, all the news, information, ai and the list just keeps growing and, from what we can tell, it's not going to get any better anytime soon. But how, then, some people are able to navigate this noisy place space that our world became and stay focused on things that matter to them, stay focused while working amidst all of the possible distractions which are common to absolutely all of us, how some people seem to navigate this space seemingly so easily, and why some people struggle so much with that. Are there more and more people with ADHD and just some people's brains are not capable of filtering out distractions? It actually seems not to be the case at all, but what seems to be the case and the cure is something else, something else that you're about to discover and experts have been known for quite some time and there are books written about that. It's not something that's super new. Most people and great writers and scientists and entrepreneurs, and all these successful people who are able to focus, to zone in on their goal and navigating this distracted space easily and effectively those people they know something that well. Sometimes they know it, sometimes they don't think that much about it, but they all use this knowledge to their advantage and that's how their focus is so strong, no matter what kind of brain they got, whether it's an ADHD brain or some other neurodiversity kind of brain, it doesn't matter. You have the same ability to focus amidst all of these distractions, no matter what. Just some of us. Yes, we'll have to organize our environment a little bit better, train the skill a little bit more, but I mean, I'm not going to say every single brain, because there are some brain disorders, issues that are harder to navigate than others, but most people, most people, are capable of having great focus and achieving everything they need to achieve and staying productive as they need to be amidst all of the distractions. So what is it? It's not a distractions problem, it's a filtration problem.
Speaker 1Let me read you something from Cal Newport's blog. Cal Newport, the author of deep work be that good that they can't ignore it or similar to that title, slow Productivity, among other pieces of his work, all dedicated to being your best, developing mastery, harnessing focus, which is an absolute must, which is an absolute must if you want to achieve anything worthy of mentioning in our world, in this life. So something from Cal Newport's blog the difficulty of maintaining focus in a distracted age. And, like everyone else, I've noted, along with the prohibition, sermons imploring me to limit my information diet, stop multitasking, turn off the devices at least once a week, and, like everyone else, these sermons have had no effect. What's interesting about this column in Briggs' solution, which articulates a point that I finally believe?
Speaker 1The lesson, then, is that if you want to win the war for attention, don't try to say no to the trivial distractions you find in our information space. Try to say yes to the subject that arouses a terrifying longing and let that terrifying longing crowd out everything else. So I love this piece, which has a little bit difficult, complex language. But I love this piece which has a little bit difficult, complex language. But I love this piece from Karl Newport's blog, which he develops further in his work, author of Deep Work, slow Productivity, among others. It reminds me of this insight that I had quite a while ago while going through Tony Robbins' coaching methodologies and also neuroscience research confirming what he was teaching right. It reminds me of this insight I had a while ago also that I remembered presenting at PwC Innovation Day. So the insight people struggle with distractions, not because distractions exist they always existed, believe it or not but because people lack clarity around their priorities, the priority puzzle.
Speaker 1So a client of mine asked me recently Angela, how do I stay focused long-term on my goals, on my priorities, versus thinking about what others are doing or whether I should jump on another opportunity and do something else, switch my path? How do I stay focused long-term and stop worrying about everything else? To which I want to ask you a question Do you know the difference between an opportunity and a distraction? So the difference is your purpose. The same thing can be an opportunity for someone and can be a distraction for someone else, depending on what goals and priorities they have. Questions what are you trying to achieve short and long term? What's your number one priority? It can only be one. What are your values In the next three to six months? Or by the end of 2024,? What one thing must you achieve In the next five years? Where do you want to be? These questions create a filter to sift through all the possible activities and find the ones that align with your goals, with your purpose. This filter helps you to know the difference between a distraction for you and an opportunity About knowing your destination.
Speaker 1Some quotes, folks If you don't know where you're going, any road will lead you there. Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland Most people don't get what they want because they don't know what they want Opera. You know, folks, the true difference between you and your heroes, whether that's an Olympian, olympic champion or Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg or Sarah Blakely or whoever that might be. So the difference between you and your heroes, who achieved a lot, more, probably, than you do by now, is that they know exactly what the most important thing is and what they need to optimize for in their life. So the first step to battling distractions and winning the war on attention, so the first step is not trying to figure out the best filtration, the best way to not stay distracted, like how do I manage my devices or how do I manage my environment. The first step actually is clarifying your purpose.
Speaker 1The first step actually is clarifying your purpose. What's your purpose? Small and big Work, relationships, health? What are your goals to get you there? What values will help you navigate bad choices from good ones? What will you give up to say yes to your priority? What are you not willing to compromise on? Okay, what are you willing to give up?
Speaker 1People who excel in focus, decision-making, time management, aren't free from distractions or have some brain superpower or super brain. They simply know what they want and who they are. The more clarity you have around those thoughts, those things, who you are and what you want at any given moment, the stronger your focus is going to be. You know how I can drop into focus, zone, zoning in almost immediately. You know how I can do that at the airport or in nausea escape. I know that is not the ideal environment for my brain and it's going to make it a little bit harder to zone out all the noises, because it does take your brain additional work to filter out additional noise, for example.
Speaker 1But the reason why I can zone in and write anywhere is because I first create a very clear definition of my destination. What are you trying to achieve here and why is it important? I'm trying to write this blog bringing at least one practical value to the person on the other side, and I'm doing it because I'm Because of a few things actually because I want to get much better at writing, at communicating practical takeaways that improve people's lives, work and their goal achievement. It's important for me because my purpose is to help more superheroes to use more of their superpowers. So I have a very clear definition of what I'm trying to achieve here, what the end destination is for this piece of work and why it's important for me to show up right now and do it now. A lot of clarity before any work even begins, and that's what's been my superpower, which allowed me to not necessarily put the most amount of work but achieve pretty good damn results. And I'm yet to switch it on fully. The clarity dial around my mission, around my purpose and where I'm going. And yet right now I'm dialing in that dial to get even more focused and obsessive about the end destination. And then, just like Cal Newport wrote in his blog, distractions become irrelevant. When you're so obsessed, longing for this one pursuit, it's like the rest of the world doesn't even exist.
Speaker 1A bit of neuroscience that my clients also love. So this principle works because you have something which is called reticular activating system in your brain. It's a complex network of nerve pathways located in the brainstem extending into the higher parts of the brain, like your prefrontal cortex. It plays a crucial role in regulating various functions related to consciousness, wakefulness, but specifically attention and the filtering of sensory information. And reticular activating system is activated ta-da folks, by goal setting and knowing what it is you're trying to get. The reticular activating system is responsible for several key functions attention and focus. Including the ret Activating System, or RAS for short, helps filter out irrelevant or unimportant stimuli and directs your focus toward things that matter. It's what allows you to concentrate on a specific task or conversation while tuning out background noise. So you have this beautiful system that is already designed to keep you focused on what's important, no matter how many distractions you get in the outside world. Just, nobody really taught you how to use it properly. And that's the most important insight for today, which, again I want to read something from Lewis Carroll's book, which has quite a lot of insights for adults, not just for kids.
Speaker 1So Alice came to a fork in the road. Which road do I take? She asked. Where do you want to go, responded the cheshire cat. I don't know, alice answered. Then said the cat, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1So the first step to become a master of your focus and be a Jedi of eliminating distractions, the first step to winning the war on our attention, isn't try to control your devices better, but to know what your purpose is, what your goal is, what your vision is and who you are, having your values, helping you to navigate the myriad choices that the world will be presenting you more and more aware. So, today's Monday, what do you want to achieve by the end of this week? Let's make it super simple. What do you want to achieve by the end of this week? Let's make it super simple. What do you want to make happen by the end of this week and why is it important to you? Answer at least those two questions in writing.
Speaker 1Be as clear as you possibly can be. Have one goal, one priority, and understand why this thing is important and see what's going to happen to your focus this week. And, by the way, I recommend restating this goal, this focus, rating it in the morning, at night, to really power up your focus, muscle and see what's going to happen with your ability to say no to distractions, whether those distractions come from other people or other sources like your technology. So figure out your purpose, your destination, where you want to go, first, and then see how better your focus is going to get. So have an awesome, focused week. Figure out what you want. Re-state it in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening. See how masterful you're gonna be getting with your focus. Share your insights, share what's gonna happen to you this week, the successes with your focus that you're going to have.
Speaker 1Email me, angela at brainbreakthroughcoachcom. Angela at brainbreakthroughcoachcom. Also, if you'd like to work on this skill together and all the other cognitive skills, from learning to memory to emotional regulation to make better decisions, if you'd like to work on it together, then schedule a session the link is available in the show notes or maybe share it with someone who you care about, who might really need it, and thank you for it. And don't forget folks. I share this podcast with at least one other person. The more superheroes using all of their superpowers we have in this world, in the more amazing world we're all going to live, so share, reach out, angela at brainbreakthroughcoachcom. By the way, I can train your team to also strengthen their focus. Angela at brainbreakthroughcoachcom, until next time. Folks stay focused and get the important stuff done. Talk to you soon. Have an awesome Monday.