Getting to Focused

I struggle a whole lot with this concept of focus. I THINK I am focused. I am working in a focused manner. I am saying all the things focused people say like "I can't go out in the middle of the week because I am 'focusing' on my work," or "I would love to take the weekend off and go hiking but I am 'focusing' on organizing my closet this weekend." But often I look at what I am focusing on and find that I am moving in the WRONG direction. I never really took the time to lay out what my plan was so I did not have anything to refer back to when I got off track. It is soooo easy to get off track too. Just a little rabbit trail here and a squirrel hunt there and WHAM you are off track again. So what can we do to stay focused? Well, plan to be focused.

Planning to stay focused takes a lot of discipline and time. However, if you look at the time that you save compared to the time that you waste chasing bunnies and squirrels then you really come out ahead every time you take the time to plan. Start by looking at where you wish to be when you are all grown up. What does "all grown up" look like to you? Are you living in a little house in the woods? Or are you living on the waterfront? Do you still work in someone else's business or do you own your own business? Are you wealthy or do you live on a fixed income? What do you want GROWN UP to look like? How old are you when you are a grown up? I am 55 when I am all grown up. I live in a beautiful but modest home in the woods. I am living with my wonderful husband and we are completely debt free. We live within our means and give a ton of money away to the people we love and that God tells us to give to. We are looking at retirement and either passing down our company to a child or their spouse or possibly selling it. I am writing books full time and my husband is a motivational speaker. We live our lives a whole lot like right now in that we give the first part of our day to God and each other then we give to the other people and responsibilities This is my picture and in order for this to come true I have to put together the plan and then focus on it.

Once you know the Grown Up age and all the factors surrounding that, next you need to look at where you are today. How far away is your goals? What do you need to do in 5 years, in 3 years, in 2 years and then look at one year. Then look at what your foundation looks like. Does it need to be ripped up and put down again? Or does it just need a few cracks filled in? Then look at the "clutter" in your life. What are you tripping on all the time? Can you let it go? What would it take to do that? The key is to create an environment that fosters grown and creativity. Create a plan with room for adjustments as you go along. But have a core path that you can follow so you do not get too far off the beaten path. Most importantly... WRITE THE PLAN DOWN! A plan that is struck in your head is not a real plan. It is much to easy to abandon the plan when it is in your head. Mostly because if you are like me, there is an awful lot going on in there. The plan could get lost if I left it there. Then once the plan is down on paper or in your computer set yourself tasks to complete to get to the goals or dreams you have.

Task setting, goal setting, time management, scheduling... it all seems so huge to so many people. Well... it is huge, however it can be done. I think the most important question you have to ask yourself is " What do I have to loose?" Nothing. You can loose money, you can loose the clutter, you can loose things and trinkets, but ultimately if you plan and then you focus on the plan, if you put in the effort and are willing to make the sacrifices, then you can see your dreams come true. The best part of all this is that at the end of the day, or year or your life, you have something that you accomplished. It is worth it...getting to focused.