Distractions: Enemy To Your Best Life
In order to excel in any area of your life, focus will be a major requirement. You must have single-minded focus on the dreams and goals you want to accomplish in life. What exactly is focus? Simply put… focus is anything that consumes your time, energy, finances and thought: the central point of attention, attraction or activity. It is intense concentration, which helps to bring your desires into alignment. Precisely because what we look at the longest becomes the strongest — what we give our attention to is so vital. The acronym I like to use for focus is, Forever On Course Until Successful! Constantly pre-playing your dreams and goals, using the lens of your imagination, will keep you forever on course… until successful.
What we spend our time focusing on affects many aspects of our lives, including our energy level and how tenaciously we’ll pursue our deepest desires. Couch potatoes are a prime example of the result of wrong focus. They are focused on nothing stimulating, and as a result, have no energy to do anything other than steal oxygen from the “living”. When we focus on positive, exciting things, our physical, mental and emotional energy increase and energy is essential to reaching our goals. Even the first two letters in God, are Go! You must keep moving with massive energy.
The # 1 enemy to focus, and to your best life is, unquestionably, distraction. Distraction is defined as the diverting of the attention of an individual or group, from the chosen object of attention, onto the source of distraction. We become distracted for various reasons, including — lack of ability to pay attention, lack of interest in the object of attention, or a greater interest in something other than the object of attention (i.e. Thinking The Grass May Be Greener On The Other Side). As Greg Provanzano reminds us, “The grass is greener wherever you water it.” Above all others, I have found no distraction that can cripple your dreams and get you out of the “FLOW” for your best life, like a relationship gone bad. Financial challenges are a huge distraction, as well, but relationship distractions affect you deep in your heart. Remember when you broke up with your first true love? It probably hurt to the core of your existence. You may have stopped eating, or even stopped taking care of yourself altogether, because the pain was so great. Please understand that the heart is the only organ that can function when it’s broken but there’s no escaping the pain of a wounded heart. You can usually tell people who have relationship distractions. Productivity falls to an all time low, appearance drops off, and their attitude is just one of gloom and doom. Relationship distractions cause tremendous stress and consume mental energy that is better applied focusing on your dreams, goals and visions. That is why harmonious relationships are so critical.
Essentially, a distraction is attractive for two reasons: it gives us pleasure and/or it takes away pain. When we indulge in a distraction, we’re choosing to focus our time and energy on something that is, seemingly, more pleasurable than what we are currently engaged in.
For example:
Solving that problem is so hard… I’ll just check my email instead.
Finishing this document is going to take forever… let me squeeze in a call to my BROKE Buddy because my focused friends are too busy.
Making the call to that prospective customer will be challenging… let me get something to eat first.
Does any of this sound familiar to you? The reason these things are attractive is because they either give us pleasure and/or take some pain away. In the moment, the distraction may seem pleasurable but it is crucial to recognize that any type of distraction is, in fact, an enemy to our dreams. There is power in understanding that truth, as “an exposed enemy becomes defeat-able”. Distraction is a major cause of another ruthless enemy to our best life — procrastination. If allowed enough time, both will damage our performance and enviably disrupt any growth or progress in our lives. In a nutshell, distractions are so dangerous because they have the ability to get you off course, robbing not only you but everyone who would benefit from your greatness.
There are many things that could be labeled as a sin. Sin is defined as missing the mark. Personally, I believe, going through life, without ever living your dream, is a sin. It’s one thing to try, yet miss the mark, but it’s inexcusable to miss the mark because you failed to try, or got distracted along the way. To live a life without bearing fruit, is an indictment. Scripture reminds us that ” Herein is my father glorified that you bring forth MUCH fruit.” Failure to make some adjustments to your thinking and a true commitment to strengthening your focus, will only allow distractions to rob you of any possibility of bearing fruit in your lifetime.
So How Do We Win The Fight Against Distractions?
1) Stay in your Strength Zone!
Immerse yourself in your dream, goal or vision! Let those things consume your time, energy, finances and attention. Your focus on the right things will protect you from the agents of distractions.
2) Listen to CDs on Focus and other positive messages, on a daily basis!
This will strengthen you in this fight to maintain focus. Visit www.ChrisGloss.com/focus.htm to pick up the powerful 2 Disc Focus Collection. Play these audios over and over throughout the week. Each time you listen to the message, your resolve will be reinforced. They will build up your confidence, momentum, and inspire you to step out on faith. Our motto is “Feed Your Faith and Starve Your Doubts To Death!” Make the investment in yourself, your dreams, goals, and future.
3) Protect Your Environment, By Simplifying Your Life!
Make your environment conducive to staying focused. Turn off the email notification, clear off your desk to avoid unnecessary visual stimulations, eliminate the sounds of TV or radio, turn off your cell phone. Schedule a set time to check your email, talk on the phone, watch TV, or chat with your friends or coworkers. Be disciplined about following your schedule.
4) Visualize The Outcomes!
See yourself living your best life, with the people you choose to be with. When you visualize yourself in this wonderful place, I want you to really feel the joy. Put a smile on your face, wiggle your toes and get excited. Experience the emotions as if you were already there. Those feelings and emotions will be strong motivators to keep moving forward.
The fantastic news is that even when we become distracted, lose concentration, or make a mistake… we have not, in the least, lost any of our skills. We’ve merely lost our focus! This means we’re able to get right back on track, by simply re-adjusting what we are focusing on. Always remember that a “Set Back, is A Set Up For A Comeback.” Yes! You have comeback power operating on the inside of you right now. So, swiftly make a decision to become relentless against distractions that come to get you off course. Resolve to keep the main thing, the main thing — neither looking to the left, nor the right, instead focusing and pressing straight ahead to the awesome vision you have for your future!
Chris Gloss, a.k.a. “The Possibilitarian” is a Motivational Speaker, Author, & Success Coach. For more info about booking Chris for your event, please visit www.chrisgloss.com or contact Chris directly at chris@chrisgloss.com . Sign up for free weekly coaching at www.ChrisGloss.com .
Copyright (c) 2009 Chris Gloss All rights reserved. Feel free to publish this article or send to other people as long as this article is sent or used in its entirety without deleting or modifying the anything including the contact information.
