Tag: procrastination

Mastering Focus: The Key to Unlocking Success, and Abundance

In the pursuit of success and abundance, the ability to maintain focus emerges as a fundamental cornerstone. Let’s examine the detrimental impact of distractions, the power of focus in achieving goals, and practical strategies for cultivating this essential mindset. Supported by real-world examples and psychological insights, we delve into the transformative potential of honing one’s focus.

The Pitfalls of Bright Shiny Objects:

Bright, shiny objects or distractions often distract individuals from their path to success. Despite possessing various essential traits, the article posits that focus is the driving force behind them all. Real-world examples, such as the experiences of successful entrepreneurs, underscore the impact of focus in navigating challenges and achieving remarkable outcomes.

The Fear of Success:

Contrary to the widely acknowledged fear of failure, the fear of success is a powerful and subtle force that operates beneath the surface. Many individuals unknowingly grapple with this fear, preventing them from reaching their full potential. Understanding the fear of success requires delving into the comfort zones people construct throughout their lives.

Comfort Zones and Resistance to Change:

Individuals naturally seek comfort and familiarity in their lives, establishing routines, income levels, and social circles. The fear of success arises when the prospect of leaving this established comfort zone becomes daunting. The article highlights how ingrained habits and lifestyles create resistance to change, hindering personal and professional progress.

Procrastination as a Sabotaging Mechanism:

Procrastination often serves as a self-sabotaging mechanism fueled by the fear of success. Individuals may find themselves distracted and delaying crucial tasks, ultimately hindering their progress. The article draws attention to the paradox where individuals desiring success inadvertently sabotage their journey by succumbing to procrastination.

The Power of Unconscious Fears:

The fear of success operates at a subconscious level, making it a formidable obstacle to overcome. Many people remain unaware of this fear, complicating efforts to address and conquer it. The article underscores the significance of awareness, acknowledging that half or more of the battle lies in recognizing the hidden fears that impede personal and professional growth.

Rooting Out the Fear:

To combat the fear of success, the article advocates for heightened self-awareness. Individuals are encouraged to identify and confront the subconscious barriers that prevent them from embracing success. By recognizing success-related fears, individuals can dismantle the mental roadblocks and pave the way for transformative personal and professional development.

Identifying Long-Desired Goals:

Take a moment to reflect on what you have yearned to do or learn for an extended period. Whether it’s acquiring a new skill, pursuing a hobby, or mastering a particular subject, this exercise encourages individuals to delve into their aspirations that have lingered in the background.

Examples:

Learning a Musical Instrument: Perhaps you’ve always wanted to play a musical instrument, such as the guitar or piano. Despite the desire, the lack of focused effort might have hindered progress in acquiring this skill.

Mastering a Programming Language: For those intrigued by the world of technology, mastering a programming language could be a longstanding goal. The exercise prompts individuals to consider whether the lack of focused learning has been a barrier to achieving proficiency.

Learning a New Language: Many individuals aspire to become fluent in a new language. However, the absence of concentrated effort in language learning may have impeded progress.

The Power of Focus:

The exercise emphasizes that the inability to accomplish these desires is not due to inherent limitations but rather a lack of focused dedication. By redirecting attention and energy toward specific goals, individuals can unlock the potential to achieve remarkable outcomes in surprisingly brief timeframes.

Data and Supporting Evidence:

Research indicates that focused learning enhances skill acquisition and proficiency. Studies have shown that concentrated efforts on a single task or goal lead to more effective learning outcomes.

Moreover, successful individuals often attribute their achievements to unwavering focus on their goals. Examples include entrepreneurs who mastered a specific skill through dedicated focus, demonstrating the correlation between concentration and success.

The Need for Strategic Time Management:

In the hustle and bustle of daily life, assessing how time is allocated can be a revelatory exercise. This reflection brings attention to the often unnoticed moments spent on non-contributory tasks, urging individuals to consider the impact on their progress, success, and overall income. Examining this phenomenon unveils the necessity for strategic time management to enhance productivity and achieve meaningful outcomes.

Uncovering Time-Consuming Habits:

This exercise prompts individuals to introspect and evaluate the daily activities that may not contribute significantly to personal or professional advancement. Common culprits include:

  • Excessive email checking.
  • Extended Skype conversations.
  • Scrolling through social media feeds.
  • Indulging in humorous videos.

While these activities may offer short-term entertainment, they can become significant time sinks, hindering overall productivity.

Examples:

Social Media Engagement: Studies show that the average person spends a substantial amount of time on social media platforms daily, with the potential for it to impact productivity negatively (Reference: Insert relevant study on social media usage and productivity).

Email Overload: Excessive email checking and prolonged engagement in email correspondence have been linked to decreased productivity in various professional settings (Reference: Insert relevant study on email-related productivity challenges).

The Toll on Overall Achievement:

Continual engagement in non-contributory activities throughout the day has a cumulative effect, resulting in exhaustion and minimal accomplishment by the day’s end. The prevalence of these habits can impede personal and professional progress, ultimately hindering success.

Data and Supporting Evidence:

Studies on time management consistently emphasize the importance of focusing on tasks that contribute to long-term goals. Research indicates that strategic allocation of time to meaningful activities enhances overall productivity (Reference: Insert relevant study on time management and productivity).

The concept of accountability further reinforces the need for strategic time management. Engaging with an accountability partner has been proven effective in maintaining focus and achieving specific tasks within set deadlines.

The Time Audit: Evaluating Productivity:

Conduct a time audit, tracking daily activities contributing to progress, success, and income. Note your tendency to engage in unproductive tasks like checking emails or browsing social media. Be more accountable to yourself and, consider an accountability partner, focus on tasks that genuinely propel you forward.

 

Put Off Procrastination

Why do today what you can put off tomorrow?

In my line of work, I am blessed to find myself among the movers and shakers of the world. These people are visionary masters who take action and see their dreams burst into vibrant life before their very eyes. To you and I, it looks like magic, but in real life, the only difference between these abundant leaders who manifest miracles and the rest of us, is their propensity to do today what they could have put off tomorrow. In other words, they have an impeccable ability to do.

It doesn’t mean their doingness comes easy. In fact, in many cases it comes at great sacrifice, but they do it nonetheless. They are the doers, and you see their fruits of labor as they continue to take action and help to make the world a better place. Even if their personality is more subdued, their answering to a higher calling precludes and trumps their inclination to hesitate or procrastinate.

What about you? Do you have a tendency to put off until tomorrow what you can do today?
Procrastination is rooted in complacency and lack of motivation. Some people might label such a person as lazy, or a couch potato, if they are more apt to be reluctant to take action. But isn’t that the common vibration all across America today? In general, people just are not as motivated to take massive action anymore. Hell, they’re not even prone to think for themselves anymore. It’s just easier to let someone else deal with it and enjoy what’s left over.

I mean, life in America has gotten a lot easier that it was only a hundred years ago. It’s hard to imagine a world without planes, trains and automobiles. It wasn’t that long ago to suggest living a life with media, computers, instant communications technology and online shopping would have been considered witchcraft or science fiction, and if you persisted, possibly an invitation to change your address to the loony bin.

So it’s easy to hang out with Jack and Diane and get high and watch the tube, two American lovers with nothing better to do, or surf the web, spend countless hours scrolling through social media, or whatever other pastimes might be distracting you from your opportunity to do something.

You have things you want to accomplish, but it seems like it gets harder and harder to get things done, because it seems like there’s just not enough hours in a day anymore. There’s just not enough time to get done, the things that you might like to accomplish. It seems like you’re always in a rush to get things done at the last minute. In fact, if it weren’t for the last minute, you might not do anything at all (and there’s nothing wrong with that).

You look around and think, “What’s the big deal?” as you notice that no one else you know is doing anything, either, so it just must be normal, and it’s good to be normal.
Lucky for us all, there is an amazing example of normal people accomplishing amazingly significant things every day, that they are not able to avoid doing. If you’re not one, find a woman who has given birth to a child, and you will be in the presence of such a person.

This is the ultimate act of creation, to see life magically burst before your eyes.
Was it fun? Hopefully parts of the process was enjoyable, but much of the process was challenging and in those final moments before birth, excruciatingly painful. But she pursued, pushed through, and so did the baby. And in that moment of success, when creator holds her creation in her arms and looks that baby in the eyes… There is no more meaningful moment in this life.

Moments, like this, are experienced by the doers who take action and do the work necessary to see their projects come to life, too.

So what’s keeping you from getting from here to there?

You might begin by looking around at ways in your life where you can tweak your life to create more opportunities to do something noteworthy of significant; maybe something you’ve felt compelled to do, but just thought putting it off would be easier.

If there’s something welling up inside you, and you’re thinking about taking action, maybe start with a simple to do list. This is an easy way to get your feet wet in the arena of productivity. Just by making a list of things you might like to accomplish today. You can ramp up your productivity by assigning a numeric value indicating how important an item is on your list by using a scale of 1 to 10, or 1 to 100, whichever feels better for you. And be diligent about getting the most important things done.

The next step to further improve your list’s efficiency is to take a moment to review what might be involved in accomplishing the things on it. How long will it take? Set aside the time necessary to accomplish specific tasks. The better you get at estimating and making time for things, the more time you will have for other things throughout the day.

As you begin to make changes in your life, you will notice things falling into an organizational arrangement, allowing you to adjust and make changes to maximize your time. The more tidy you are able to keep things around you, the more efficiency will be realized as you continue to streamline your daily activities. At this point, you may want to use some of your newly acquired free time to further streamline your environment. Then make time to reward yourself for doing so.

You are no longer a victim of the ticking clock as you begin to create time for activating your goals, dreams and desires. You’re making simple adjustments and creating more time for you to take the action necessary to prepare for the birth of your dream. If a particular task seems overwhelming, break it down into smaller steps which can be taken a bit at a time. Before you know it, you will have conquered the seemingly impossible as you move closer and closer to your goal and you find yourself on the other side of procrastination, leaving it far behind for those who are more “normal.”

You are accomplishing the most important things earlier in the day, so that you are being able to enjoy the easier tasks as the day goes along, so that you can enjoy more peaceful evenings, and find yourself sleeping better, knowing that you have made progress today.

You are dealing with the issues as they arise. You’re finding ways to take action over feelings of inadequacy, second-guessing, and varying states of emotional stress. Every day, you are better than the day before, and you are emerging as the confident, take charge person you need to be, to make your best contribution to a world waiting to hear your voice.