Have you ever lost enthusiasm after a period of time over a goal you were initially excited about? Did you get distracted or excited about another opportunity to realize later on that you did not complete the goal or project? Well, here are some tips for you to use, so you can gain focus:
Gain Focus: Reasons Why You Are Not Getting it Done
To gain focus is to think about things differently, staying motivated, and adjusting when things are not working. We do not live a cookie-cutter life and obstacles can derail your attempts to gain focus. You only have so much control and you cannot plan for every possible obstacle.
After a period of time I start to ignore the to-do-list, the reminders on the phone, and my calendar. Sometimes these tasks are hard and take more time than I have to offer some days. Maybe you are experiencing fatigue, or would rather spend time outside playing with the children, or want to go to a social that popped up last minute. Another opportunity comes along and the reward is shinier than the previous.
After a while you only see a laundry list. Tasks are not fun any longer, they start to pile up and drag you down. Instead of wanting to gain focus, instant gratification stimulates the brain like a drug and the long awaited reward goes by the wayside. Some experts say to-do-lists are a bad idea, because we bounce from one idea to the next and things start piling up.
Gain Focus: Do You Have Purpose and Vision?
“Where there is no vision, there is no hope.”
– George Washington Carver
To gain focus on a daily basis you need to define purpose, goals, and to find fulfillment. You have to separate your life into 7 areas, which is found in this post. Once you have these 7 overarching life goals, you can understand why you are doing these things.
Steven Covey has a great idea of how to incorporate these 7 areas of your life in First Things First with a weekly planner. Before you plan any other part of your week make sure you plan these areas first, then schedule everything around it.
Each day reflect upon your successes and accomplishments. How do these things make you feel, how can you replicate that event, who can help you make this happen, and who was affected by your success or failure? These questions will help remind you why you are chasing these goals and identify obstacles along the way.
Try to gain focus on 2-3 main goals and use the rest as bonuses. If you can delegate tasks or get support, you will start thinking differently. Getting other people to help you or behind your goals will help in motivation and accountability. Sometimes letting others down or loss aversion can motivate us and help get others behind our cause. When other people get inspired by our goals it can give us that extra boost. The more excitement you can generate, the easier it can be to gain focus.
We cannot gain focus on too many things at once which is why 7 goals should be the max and you should gain focus on 2-3 main goals each week. Trying to multi-task is defeating. Unclutter your brain and gain focus on a few things to do them efficiently and effectively. Quality is always better than quantity.
“Like the marathon that my friends ran, every life race has periods of extreme discomfort interspersed with excitement and joyful enthusiasm.”
– Dr. Gary R. Collins
Rewards are a great way to gain focus. I talked about my Twizzler addiction two weeks ago during our conversation about the pomodoro method. Rewards improve efficiency and help us gain focus. This is one way for unfocused people to gain focus. Small victories can build up and snowball us into larger victories. We are enticed by gratification and pleasure. Who likes to do something painful? Even those fitness enthusiasts who tackle incredibly difficult obstacle courses and challenges by enduring physical pain are experiencing a reward that pushes them through all the pain and torture.
If you are seasoned when it comes to focus or you completely lack focus, we all experience similar obstacles. The key is to look at things differently if it is not working. If you are not having any serious problems with focus but just hit a plateau, an accountability partner like a coach or mentor could help you see things differently. In order to change your future you have to change the way you do things in the present moment. Change involves shifts in thinking, attitude, perceptions and behaviors.
Adam Smith says
Great post, Kirby. Love this quote – “The key is to look at things differently if it is not working.” So true, yet so many people don’t do this… This post on focus reminds me I need to answer some emails.
Kirby Ingles says
Thanks Adam. Change is the hardest thing for all of us. When we change we are admitting something isn’t working and that can challenge what we believe is true. That can be hard to see and accept.
Erik Tyler says
I’m with Adam. The biggest takeaway for me was the quote he’s reposted in his comment. I think one of the biggest set-backs for people is that they don’t allow for obstacles when they set their goals. They DO plan their goals as if life is cookie cutter. For instance:
“I’m going to write two pages a day for 6 months until I’m done with my book.”
“I’m going to increase my weights by 10 lbs per month at the gym until I can bench 350.”
“I’m going to pay off my credit card debt within two years.”
And those are all completely reasonable goals — if life were perfect. But, as you point out, Kirby, it isn’t.
We get a two-week flu. Or our grandmother dies. Or our company closes. And so our goals are interrupted. Now what?
Most people’s first reaction is to either give up on the goal altogether, or to try to “catch up and get back on track.”
We miss those two weeks due to the flu, so we say, “Well, now I need to write FOUR pages a day for the next two weeks to catch up.” In the case of the gym goals, the flu actually causes our body to be weaker; but we try pushing ahead anyway, being unsafe — and probably injuring ourselves, causing further set-backs.
A very wise friend of mine, whose advice I feature in three chapters of my book, “The Best Advice So Far,” was famous for saying this: “You have to start from where you are, not where you wish you were.” I’ve lived by that advice and passed it along often. If we are unwilling to adjust our goals in good conscience over those unpredictable and inescapable obstacles, we will only set ourselves up for failure.
Setting realistic goals and focusing on them is essential. But we should also be “expecting the unexpected” as part of our plan and not get derailed or discouraged when real life happens. Being willing and able to adjust goals realistically is a key part of keeping on track with them.