Saturday Journaling Prompt:

Where do I need to be to maintain FOCUS on my goals?

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Meet Simon Miller

Who doesn’t love Simon Miller? He’s the life and soul of the party, always cracking jokes and making you laugh. He has the kind of personality that most people just enjoy being around.

He’s clever too. He’s always on the Internet learning about stuff and taking different courses. He hardly gets a chance to finish one course before he signs up for a new one.

But Simon struggles at his job as a salesman. The last time he hit his target was almost a year ago and he’s getting more and more paranoid that he’ll soon be fired. It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy his job, he actually made top salesperson of the year but that was a long time ago. Now Simon is just content to tick along doing the bare minimum and staying under the radar.

He gets into the office at 9.00 and his first port of call is usually to say hi to the girls in accounts. They’re always happy to see him even if it is because he makes the best coffee and buys them the most delicious bagels for breakfast.

He starts making sales calls around 10.30 but his phone has been pinging all morning and so he spends almost an hour responding to his fans and followers. But once he gets online, there are so many headlines that grab Simon’s attention, he barely knows which one to get to first.

And so Simon’s day continues. He bounces from one thing to the next, if he’s not texting his friends, he’s sneaking in a quick game of Candy Crush. By the end of the day, he’s cleared a lot of candy but made fewer calls than everybody else on his team.

It’s pretty much the same pattern when Simon gets home only this time there’s no one looking over his shoulder so he can game to his heart’s content despite an inner voice nagging him to finish up with at least one of those courses he started last month.

You probably know a Simon, or can relate to some aspect of him in yourself. Living aimlessly from day to day with no clear plan or focus. Being pulled in various directions by anything and everything that comes your way.

The Trappings of the Internet

It’s no accident the internet was set up to suck you in and keep you distracted. Tech and social media companies spend millions of dollars in marketing to keep you clicking from one page to the next, then the next, then the next not because they’re interested in your personal growth or intellectual advancement. They want your attention and your money. They’ll click-bait you with colorful adverts, outrageous noise, and yummy magic beans that play to your weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

The truth is, these multinational technology giants know you. They know your every move. They know how short your attention span is, so they’ve only got a few minutes to entice you with hot-off-the-press hyperlinks. They know how to indulge your senses and so cleverly engage every susceptible pleasure point leaving your mouth watering, for more. They know how motivated you are by vanity and greed and so reeling you in with all kinds of treasure and trivia is a piece of cake. They prey on your gullibility, your lack of discipline, and idleness. They know you’re either strung out from over-stimulation or numbed out from the news, Netflix or from some other never-ending mega-drama that you’re caught up in, so they sprinkle pieces of temptation everywhere knowing you’ll take the bait.

But as cunning as their game is, you really can’t blame high-tech or anyone else for alienating you from your goals and aspirations. Your life vision is in your hands and you alone are responsible for the action or inaction you take or fail to take. You must get focused and refuse to succumb to the titillation and traps around you. Learn to set firm boundaries and say no when temptation comes your way. Get clear about what you want, set goals, take action and develop a solid sense of mission.

Without focus, your life is just a blur, a hope-for-the-best stab in the dark. Full of half measures that never quite hit the mark. You dabble in this and dabble in that but don’t seem to see anything through to the end. Failure is inevitable without a strong commitment to staying focused.

Success is not so much about skills and knowledge but FOCUS, determination, and perseverance.

Here are 5 questions to ignite the power of determination and focus in your life.

1. I am most focused and determined when…(Make a list)
2. My top five priorities in life right now are:
3. What benefits would I experience in life if I focused more? (Make a list)
4. What are my barriers to being focused? Where do I distract myself and get in my own way?
5. Some ideas I have to help me to be super-focused include: (Make a list)

Ponder these questions over the week ahead then choose one action to move forward with.

JOURNALING

Journaling is your friend. It’s a trusted companion to share your deepest thoughts and feelings with. When your inner or outer world feels chaotic, overwhelming, or lonely, Journaling is a sounding board to process and to make sense of it all. It can help improve your mood and general outlook which is a plus for your mental health, well-being, and stress management. Journaling is the perfect place to celebrate your successes and accomplishments and where better to celebrate YOU. Make a commitment to regular journaling and most of all, make it fun!

With grace and gratitude

Michelle

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