Only 3 days into a new year, and I found myself starting to drift already! Being a creative sort, I have hundreds of ideas floating around in my mind at any given moment. The one thing that makes this less than wonderful is that they are all competing for my attention.
I decided to address one of my most difficult personal challenges in my first blog this year. In order to make an intentional change, one has to focus.
To change the game, you have to change yourself. To change yourself, you have to focus. So how can we focus?
1. Decide which game to play.
If you walk onto the soccer field carrying a golf club, you are going to be disqualified. Likewise, if you head into a game of hoops in hockey gear, after the roasting and laughter ends, you are going to be left standing on the sidelines. You can't bulk up like a sumo wrestler and expect to excel in MMA. You have to pick the sport first so that you can choose the right coach, training, and equipment. If you haven't picked the sport, you have no way of knowing if you are even in the right arena.
2. Create a support system.
Think about a game of Tug of War. If you are playing with one other person, the stronger person wins unless they fall, slip, or have some other mishap. However, if additional players join the game, the outcome suddenly becomes far less predictable. Life and business can be the same way. You will encounter big, strong, powerful obstacles throughout your journey, but having other players on your team can provide you with additional strength and strategy when needed. No matter how smart or fortunate you may be, there will times when you need information, expertise, advice, encouragement, or brutal truth. Figure out who can help you be your personal best.
3. Prepare and train.
You might just get lucky and win a game or two, but luck comes and goes. You will never compete on a professional level if you do not develop your strengths. Natural talent comes into the equation, but raw talent gets wasted by the hour. The number of people with raw talent who are addicted, imprisoned, or hostage to apathy and confusion is staggering. Balancing physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual strength improves endurance. Seek out people who demonstrate what you admire. Tim Ferriss @tferriss, has a website, fourhourworkweek.com that will energize you and make your head spin! Peter Voogd accomplished more in his twenties than many do in a lifetime. Check out his book Six Months to Six Figures on amazon.com @PeterVoogd23.
4. Discipline yourself.
You can consider this a reality check: no matter how many dreams and ideas you have, and no matter how much you love yourself, if you have no discipline, you are not going to accomplish what you set out to do. You have to act on a consistent basis to make progress. You have to measure and evaluate to know if you did what you set out to do. You have to correct yourself if you are on the wrong path or failed to act. It is necessary. Brendon Burchard's book, The Motivation Manifesto gives some compelling reasons why this matters, and he also has a multitude of practical steps to use in your journey.
5. Practice.
Once you understand the game, learn the basics, and prepare yourself to compete, it's time to practice. There will be coaches, promoters, fans, reporters, trainers, teammates, and competitors watching. Part of your mental conditioning as a professional will be learning to deal with the whole. Act, and then use your senses. Observe, listen, feel, smell, and taste the victory. Or, maybe this time there was defeat. Practice more.
6. Play the game.
Play your heart out! Act on what you know. You have your sport, and your support system. You prepared, trained, and disciplined yourself, and you practice consistently. Now get in the game. Go hard or go home. You know all the slogans and mantras. There is truth in them. That's why they last. That's why they are memorable.
Change is going to happen whether we want it to happen or not. Nothing ever stays the same. Our world, our surroundings, people, expectations...the list is endless. Wishing things would stop changing is like wishing we did not need water to survive - a waste of time and energy. Focused effort can often create or modify change. Focus your energy this year to create the changes that matter to you.
2016 © by RKersey- Pensights™
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