| “The disciplined become the free,” says James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. The paradox of freedom and having “a lot of time” is that it becomes too easy not to have restraint and thereby fritter away your time. The answer? It’s FOCUS. Yesterday, we talked about deliberate practice and how it can reel us in from boredom and giving up. Focus is the switch that creates the energy for deliberate practice. • Focus on form and getting in the reps at the gym to create PHYSICAL freedom. • Focus on saving to create FINANCIAL freedom. • Focus on learning to achieve INTELLECTUAL freedom. • A purposeful use of time, deliberate practice, and consequent results are all because of FOCUS. We create FOCUS by directing, redirecting, or creating something that checks the box of our attention: We SEE – Our vision board, Quote Deck, and Journal entries. We HEAR – especially our own voice and name: use the Voice Memo on your phone to record voice notes for yourself, do “Clap Clap Kitchen’s Closed” to signal your brain that it’s time to stop eating. We FEEL-using a rubber band on your wrist or clapping as a reminder. We SMELL – the roses if we’re present, and healthy food cooking. We TASTE – the result of our labor in the kitchen. What I know is this – energy flows where attention goes. What you focus on expands, what you dwell upon becomes your destiny. The more we focus on something, the more we get of it. If you keep dwelling in the negative world, you’ll keep getting more of the same. Focus is focus- it doesn’t care what you want to focus on, it goes where you direct it! And the paradox of focus is that you get more by focusing on less! Focus means “a point of concentration.” A point, not many points. Here’s how to get focused: 1. Brain dump on paper with a pencil. We do this to get to the meat of the matter – to make actual goals. Doing a brain dump frees up space in your head so you can focus. 2. Multitasking is for the indentured servants (your washer, dryer, and dishwasher!), not thinking or focusing. Know the difference! 3. Think about what you want to achieve rather than what you want to get done. For example, cleaning the kitchen after a meal is a task. Creating mis en place (both ways) creates a HABIT out of cleanup. 4. Create big projects instead of huge task lists. For example, cleaning out the garage: create an event, invite people, get all the supplies, and THEN add in all the tasks. 5. Focus is the framework for any project, just like a puzzle. • look at the big picture • find the edges first (framework) • keep going The paradox is moving boldly in the direction you want. |
