We live in an age of uber distraction. In fact I believe that after fear, it’s a lack of focus that gets in the way of people accomplishing what they are capable of over the course of a day, a week, a year or a whole lifetime. I mean, just imagine what you could do if you weren’t constantly distracted from the task at hand.
Researchers have found that the average attention span today is 40% shorter than it was 20 years ago leaving most people with some version of Attention Deficit Disorder. I know I often struggle with keeping my focus on any one task for long and am my most productive while sitting on a plane 35,000 feet up where my phone can’t ring, email won’t work and there’s little to pull my attention elsewhere.
Given that all the distractions that exist around you won’t ease up any time soon (and you can’t spend your life on a plane!), learning how to focus your attention is probably your number one biggest tool to getting more done. So on that note, let me get to the point of this blog post:
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO FOCUS ON IN 2014?
I challenge you to choose 5 core goals or areas of your life to focus your attention and time and resources on in the year ahead. You may feel that you only want to focus on 2 or 3. That’s okay too. But limit it to five, write them down, stick them up in places you will see them and then use them to guide your decisions about how you will spend your time, who you’ll spend it with and what you will commit (and un-commit) to over the year ahead.
Your top 5 may be professionally focused, or personally. I recommend that you balance them out with one or two of each.
So go on, write now… write them down.
1. ………………………………………
2. ………………………………………
3. ………………………………………
4. ………………………………………
5. ………………………………………
Now caste your mind ahead 12 months from now and imagine how you will feel if you’ve accomplished these five goals. Pretty good right?
Of course achieving them will demand that you say no to lots of other ‘good’ things that come along. But keep in mind that in order to achieve really great things, you have to be willing to say no to the good – whether scrolling through friends Facebook updates or other ‘low value add’ activities that can suck hours from your week and fulfillment from your life.
So get to it… write down your Top 5 for 2014.
Research shows that when you write something down it dramatically increases the likelihood of doing it. And if you haven’t read the final chapter of Stop Playing Safe focused on setting yourself up for success, then I suggest you do. It’s all about creating an environment around you that lifts you up, holds you accountable and ensures you stay the course when the going gets tough.
