Laser-Like Focus. Do You Have It?

This is the fifth installment of the six-part series on factors preventing you from achieving what you want from life. In this fifth installment, we are going to explore what happens when you lack the focus you need to get what you want.  

Let’s delve into what may seem like an insignificant issue for many, but in reality can be just as damaging as the other factors mention in this series so far.

Transcript

 | Visit fullrliving.com/community to comment and become a part of our community.

Laser-Like Focus, Do You Have It?

This is the fifth installment of the six-part series on factors preventing you from achieving what you want from life. In this fifth installment, we are going to explore what happens when you lack the focus you need to get what you want.  

Let’s start with what it means to lack focus?

It’s the inability to concentrate on a task or goal long enough to complete it. For a lot of us, lacking focus means we delay doing the things we need to do to accomplish goals and task because we become distracted and lose sight easily. For some of us, the decisions we make while distracted are not formative ones because we don’t allow ourselves to focus long enough to make sure we know what we are doing when we are doing it or simply to see a task or goal through to the end.

I should also preface this episode by stating that there can be a medical reasons why some people can’t focus. If you suspect that your inability to concentrate or focus on what you are doing goes beyond what I will mention in this episode, then you should seek medical attention. An inability to focus can be life defining and sadly life threatening.

The potential medical consequence of this aside, the ability to focus is a valuable asset because when we can focus on our what we want to accomplish, we are not only more productive, but we can achieve our goals and see the results of our hard work.

Let’s delve into what may seem like an insignificant issue for many, but in reality can be just as damaging as the other factors mention in this series so far.

Here we go

I hope one of the message you are getting as you listen to each part of this series, is that in order to achieve what you want from life, regardless of what you want from life, you need to take consistent steps towards making it happen and you have to remove obstacles or factors that’s keeps you from your goals. 

Understanding what is standing in the way and slowly, yet consistently eliminating anything that’s keeping you from your aim, is the purpose of this series. 

The inability to focus on what you want is yet another factor worth mentioning. Because when we lack focus, it can also be one of those components that is so ingrain into your life that you don’t even realize that there is a self-imposed roadblock, or impediment that’s keeping you from the progress you crave. 

Let’s use two scenarios to make my point. The first one is an example of how we can easily lose focus, and the second scenario is the result.

Here is the first and probably a typical one I’m sure most of us recognize:

Peter has a side business he hopes to turn into a full-time business that supports him because he wants to work for himself and not others one day. All week, Peter has been telling himself that on Saturday, he is going to sit down and create a marketing plan for his business. Saturday comes, and he sleeps in a little, because he wakes up really early during the week, so he deserves one day of having a few extra hours sleep. Eventually he gets out of bed, did his usual rituals, exercise, breakfast. He tells himself while out for his morning jog that after breakfast; he is going to work on that plan to market and promote his business. 

Breakfast is over and it’s time to focus on building that plan, but his best friend calls just as he wakes the computer. She told him she thought she had to work, but now she doesn’t and she wants to meetup, go shopping, then go to this great restaurant everyone is talking about. She ask him what’s his plan was for the day, and he tells her about amping up his business visibility and how he needs to create a plan to make it happen. His best friend tells him he can do that tomorrow, and to come with her, let’s go, she says, it will be fun.

Peter thought about it, tell his friend that he can work on his business tomorrow, and he will meet her. They had a great time!

What do you think happened the next day? Do you think Peter sat down the next day and work on ways to market his business? 

I say no, something else probably happened the next day that was considered more important. And if Peter did work on his business, most likely it wasn’t with the focus and attention it deserved because, let’s face it. It’s Sunday, His 9to5 job is the next day. Can you think of a scenario that happens on a Sunday when you work a 9-5 and you know you have to go to work on Monday? The possibilities are endless.

One of my favorite Sunday activity is just relaxing because I have to go to work on Monday, or doing the chores I didn’t get to on Saturday because I was out with friends having a good time. 

Chances are the last thing on most people’s mind is things they need to do to advance their business. Unless, of course, you are super focus and then this episode is a moot point for you.

When we want to accomplish something, yet, we allow ourselves to be easily distracted, or we become preoccupied with doing other things that have little to do with what we know we need to do. We are never happy in the end. Worse, we shift the blame from ourselves to excuses.

What excuses do we tell ourselves?

Excuses like, I didn’t have time because I had a lot of family obligations in the past few weeks, months. Or, I had to do xyz, you fill in the blank. Or that business or opportunity wasn’t for me.

The excuses are relevant only to you and it’s easy to find one.

Here is the second scenario - it’s the end-result of choosing to hang out with friends over achieving the goal Peter told himself he wanted. 

Although he may not realize it yet, down the road, the question of why will become relevant. Why wasn’t he able to accomplish xyz? 

Not only will he question what he could not accomplish, he also loses sight of the reason he wanted to accomplish that goal or task to begin with. No, it doesn’t happen right away, but if he allows himself to become distracted often enough, he will wonder what his initial aim was. That’s why I love this saying I read online by inspirational speaker, author, Topsy Gift. She says, Distraction is a killer of of dreams, vision and goals. 

Here is the thing: If we want to accomplish our goals, we have to remove the distractions. Let’s be real, no one will focus on something 100% of the time. That’s an unrealistic expectation. And you could easily explain away Peter’s decision to spend time with his friend under the guise that he can and should. 

And you know what? You would be right. He should. We should all take time for ourselves to enjoy and live life. 

Where the problem ensues is when we let distractions happen repeatedly. Or we don’t structure or time and choose when we should allow ourselves to have fun, or be with family and friends and when we should focus on our objectives.

If you are constantly allowing others, example of others being friends and family. Events, examples of events being a game, a movie, a party. Things. Examples of things being social media such as TikTok, Facebook, email, get in the way, then you have a problem and your goals or intentions are as unreachable as the day it was nothing more than a thought.

So, what’s the best approach for decreasing distractions or a lack of focus?

First notice I didn’t say end distractions or end a lack of focus. It’s important to restate that it’s normal to be occasionally distracted or wanting to not focus on a goal. What I think most of us don’t pay attention to is how many times and the different ways we allow distraction to invade our efforts. To where it interferes with our intentions.

I want to share six ways to reduce the amount of times you allow distractions or a lack of focus to control your efforts to achieve the things you want from life

Before I share them, I want to share some news.

In the next episode, which will be the sixth and final installment of the series, I am going to tell you about a new resource I will be offering. It’s called The Self-Development Toolbox or SD Toolbox for short and it will be a portal that will offer resources you can use to support your efforts to achieve the things you want. Much of the information you will find there will be free and I hope you will take advantage of it.

Here is the great part. Because you listen to Evolving Life, I am going to give instant and free access to this resource once it goes live.

It will go live once I publish each post in the committing to success series I mention in episode 3. The series is in thirteen-parts, each introducing a component of SD toolbox as the series unfolds.

I will make this resource available to you for free. In the next week episode, I will share the link where you can sign up to receive access immediately again, once SD toolbox goes live.

Okay, so let’s continue with the six ways you can reduce distraction, focus more, and accomplish your goals.

#1 Write down and display your goals, incentives and achievements

When you can visually see what your goals are, the reasons you have that goal, and what you’ve achieved so far in reaching for that goal, it is a perfect counterbalance for distraction.

The fact is, written goals remind you of the reason you have the goal. And this improves your focus. There are other advantages to writing your goals. You can read more about SMART goals on fullrliving.com and in the upcoming commitment series if you want to know more.

Here is another fact to consider. When you can acknowledge the achievements made towards a specific goal, and see visually what the incentive will be, it also serves as motivation to keep going and to not stop. To stay focus.

#2 - Another way to reduce your distraction and increase your focus is to regulate your time effectively.

When you effectively manage your time, you ensure that there is enough time for staying on task as well as for doing other things. Back to Peter. Imagine if Peter had told his friend that he would love to go shopping and out to dinner, but in a few hours. If Peter had not just said to himself that he was going to work on his marketing plan, but actually put it on a calendar, and build his day around the timeframe he allotted to work on his marketing plan. I think it would have been more likely that his response to his friend would have been that he would meet up with her after the time he initially set aside to work on his marketing plan.

There are quite a few time management techniques to use for staying focus. While I will not elaborate on them here, I can say that some of them are quite effective at ensuring that you stay focus.

#3 Consider where your productivity happens or your surroundings.

I strongly believe that your work environment, whether you are sitting in an office or at home, reflects your state of mind and your willingness to stay on task. If you feel comfortable where you sit, where your computer is, if you have a scenic view of the mountains, or the city, if you feel comfort from a tv showing the latest sport event or music playing in the background. What about if your desk is full of stuff that should need to be organized or even if you thrive on a messy desk? It all matters.

If your desk is a mess and you have the type of personality that believes everything has a place and should be in its place. Then on the day you are supposed to be focus all you see is what’s not in its place, you are going to do one of two things: You are going to organize, or you are going to say I’ll do this later and go do something else.

Yes, it’s likely that you will organize then proceed to what you originally intended, but let’s be realistic here. You organize the desk and it’s like a domino effect. You hit one and they all start tumbling down. Meaning, your entire house will probably get organized next, and you will not have done a thing towards your original intent.

Your environment matters if your intention is staying focus.

This is a great Segway for #4. Don’t multitask.

Multitask is trying to do 2 things at once, or going back and forth with a task.

Multitask involves shifting your focus from one task to the next. You are organizing, but you are also on your computer watching a YouTube video on marketing strategy. 

What going to happen in this scenario will be you missing relevant information, not remembering everything that was mentioned in the video. The fact is, your brain needs the time to assimilate information. If you want to make a smart decision, that’s based on facts, if you want to organize your desk effectively the first time and not wonder why you put something where you put it. Then don’t multitask unless you really have to.

#5 - Review your goals often

When you set a goal, it’s important to visualize it. Similar to what I’ve already mentioned in number 1, but taken to the next level. It’s important when you set a goal to not just make sure it’s a SMART goal but to use a tool to visualize it.

I’m a big proponent of mind-mapping. I use it to turn my thoughts, my goals, into a step-by-step process. When you use a mind map, you can clearly see how your goal will unfold. If you want to know more about mind-mapping, let me know. I will do an episode just about this really effective tool for helping to visualize and actualize goals.

Finally #6 - Turn your goals into small steps

I talked about this in episode 4 to offset a perfectionist mindset. You can also use this same technique to manage your ability to stay focus.

It’s so easy to lose focus if all you see is the big picture of a goal. You need to see your goals as manageable. Saying you want to promote your business and make it more visible is a broad goal. But if you document how you are going to promote your business and steps, you are going to take to make your business more visible, then you are using a step-by-step approach that is effective. Using this technique is not only easier, but you avoid factors such as being a perfectionist, and stay more focus on each step you have to take.

Going back to the mind-map. This is a perfect way to use this approach. The result will be that you are more focus and your goal or objectives will seem more achievable.

I want to conclude by saying this: We are all guilty of being distracted or not focusing on the thing we sometimes should. These days, it’s really easy to allow ourselves to lose sight of what we want to achieve.

Because of technology, daily events in our public and private lives, it’s easy for our minds to wonder and our attention to diminish. One minute we are watching the news and caught up in politics or some other newsworthy event. We get an email or a phone call that leads to another email and phone call. Then there are social media. Facebook, Twitter, TikTok. I can advocate to the addictiveness of TikTok.

I can share with you time and time-again that I’ve sat to write a blog post, or research for this podcast and a notification appears on my screen alerting me I have a new follower or a new post by someone I’m following, and the next thing I know I’ve lost track of time and it’s an hour or two later and I didn’t accomplish a thing. 

Distraction is not unusual. How we deal with it, and whether we allow it to control the things we want, is the issue. If we want to achieve a goal, we have to learn to remove the things that’s keeping us from that goal. We can get rid of email notifications, or fully avoid TikTok, but we can find alternatives that will keep us connected to the world while allowing us to focus on our intentions. Bruce lee said it best when he said, “The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus.”

Next week we are ending the series by exploring a question: Are you hungry enough? Hunger motivates and inspires action. Could it be the reason or factor preventing you from achieving your goals is that you are simply not hungry enough?

Join me as we explore this question, recap the series and share more about the SD toolbox resource. See you next week.