APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | AMAZON | STITCHER
Episode #59
To listen to the full episode and hear more stories and insights, click on the play button above!
When I look back at my journey out of the corporate world to becoming my own boss, one of the hardest things I came up against was where to put my focus at any one time. I wanted to focus on my business idea because all my dreams for the future were wrapped up in it and it was my passion, something I enjoyed doing and really wanted to succeed in. But equally, I had a job I needed to fulfil, expectations of me there and it had so many more immediate and pressing needs for my focus of attention. I also needed to fit my relationships, family and friends into my life and give attention to them too.
I felt like I was being pulled in so many directions and not doing anything right because nothing got my full attention. Until I discovered how to manage where, when and how I focussed my attention, which really helped me move forward and keep my long-term business plans on track.
WHY ARE FOCUS STRATEGIES IMPORTANT?
When you first decide to finally go for your dream everything is exciting and focussing on it is easy. You are full of energy, motivation and optimism for your future. It’s such an empowering and fantastic feeling to finally be on your way! But then you actually need to complete the plan, you have to take the actions and meet the project goals, all while working full time. Perhaps you have setbacks along the way and it just isn’t as plain sailing as you thought it would be.
You start to wonder if it isn’t just easier to stay where you are even though you know its not right for you, or you get attracted to other potential business opportunities because a “friend of a friend" knows someone who was really successful doing something else and maybe you should consider that. Your family and friends, because they love you, start to ask is this really what you want, wouldn’t it be better to just be content with what you have? It then becomes harder to keep your focus in check.
Focus is your ability to centre your attention and energy on a specific task, object, or activity, for a sustained length of time. Keeping focused is easier when the goal is in sight and you know how much attention and energy you will need to reach your goal. But if your goal is not in sight, if you have a lot to do before you can reach it, focus does become harder and you can get distracted from what you originally set out to do or even give up entirely.
So you need to have some strategies in place to help you reach that big, bold audacious goal.
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE
This has two meanings for me. The first is when you are having a down day or you feel you are losing focus on what's important, you need to think about why you wanted to make this transition in the first place. You need to remember all the things you want to change and all the things you want to achieve. But you can’t do this by just thinking about it. You need reminders to look back on to tell you why you need to keep working towards that dream life, that it is possible and that you believe in yourself.
So at the start write out your big goal, the one you want to happen more than anything. Then write down all the reasons why you want to reach it, why leaving your job to work for yourself is important, who it will impact positively, all the things that will be possible if you can make it happen and what it will mean for you and your family. Then using these reasons use one or more of these tools ...
- Record one or a series of voice notes to yourself when you are feeling optimistic, motivated and excited about the challenge, saying why this is so important to you and talking through those reasons you have listed. Listen back to them when you need a boost
- Write about what a perfect day in your life in the near future would look like. So the time when you are loving working for yourself and all your lifestyle goals have been reached. Read it regularly, weekly or monthly, whatever frequency you need to keep on track.
- Write a few motivational emails to your future self, and put them on delayed delivery to be sent at different intervals throughout the length of your planned escape project time.
- Design screen savers for your phone and personal computer reminding you of that ultimate goal.
- Create a ritual you repeat every day. Write your ultimate goal and the life it will bring you like it’s already happened on a piece of card and either first thing in the morning or last thing at night or whenever works for you, read it out loud to yourself. You do this to trick the brain into thinking the goal has already happened and therefore it is not something to doubt or be scared of or hold you back from, it becomes achievable.
The second meaning of ‘keep your eyes on the prize’ is to avoid distraction. Distractions will come up, that is inevitable. So you need to be prepared to deal with distractions when they arrive.
If you are doing something that is not related to work or business, or relationships or self-care, then ask yourself: “Is what I’m doing right now taking me towards or away from my goals?” By asking yourself the question, it helps you go from your primitive brain when you are reactive and impulsive, to your conscious brain which allows you to reason out if you want to do what you're doing or not. Try it the next time you find yourself doing something you hadn’t planned to do.
Another thing to watch out for that can distract and confuse you is listening to too many experts and gurus in the business influencer space. There are lots of amazing experts and specialists that can advise on all aspects of starting up and running a business, but although some will have similar methods and advice, others may take a different view or have a different way of doing things. Both are valid, they are just different.
My advice to you is, to listen to or read the books of as many people as possible in the beginning then choose just a handful of those whose personality, strategies and approach to business you most resonate with to continue to listen to and learn from going forward. You don’t have to forget the others but maybe leave their advice until you have actually launched your business and maybe would like some new ideas. Otherwise, you just become overwhelmed with options and differing advice which really can lead you off track and disrupt your focus and ultimately can lead to you giving up altogether.
FIND SPACE FOR FOCUS
Finding space in your life to focus on the things that are important and most care about is probably the most important thing I learned. As I said earlier, I felt like I was being pulled in so many directions and not doing anything right because nothing got my full attention. So I needed to find a way to focus my attention on different parts of my life. To do that I needed to use a technique called time blocking.
Time blocking is where you fill out your full calendar (including your weekends and evenings) in blocks of time in which you say what you will be doing at every time of your day. It works better than the standard to-do list which none of us actually get to the bottom of. This technique allows you to avoid the guilt that you should be doing something else when you are surfing the web or scrolling through Instagram or watching TV. If you have blocked the time to do it you can be guilt-free.
Remember that chill-out time with a glass of wine and a book I mentioned earlier? Well, you would not feel guilty or distracted by that need to have that time to yourself, because you could have time-blocked that time for ‘me-time’ and it’s ok to be there. Time blocking allows you to make time to focus your attention on all important aspects of your life, it helps you to use your time on what’s important to you, so it doesn't get frittered away on things that will not help you move forward or do you any good.
When you have decided that you will use your time for a certain thing, that is a pact with yourself. Don’t let yourself down, keep your promise to yourself, unless there is an emergency. There is something so great in saying you will do something and actually do it. So whether you choose to take one hour a day to work on your business or that every Tuesday night is date night, stick to your commitment.
I’ve only really touched the surface on time blocking here. If you want to learn more about it and how to get started then I 100% recommend Nil Eyal's book Indistractable, where he goes into detail on the what, why and how of using this strategy and also gives other great content on how to avoid distractions.
TAKE IT STEP BY STEP
As much as it’s important to keep your big bold goal in your mind, it often can seem far away, and as you know it’s easier to focus your attention on shorter terms goals. So as part of your planning, it’s important to create mini goals or milestones to hit so you can feel some sense of reward and have that feeling of accomplishment and pride.
When things are difficult, and the big goal does seem impossible, then sometimes just focussing on the next mini-goal is the best thing to do. Tell yourself you will get that done. Nothing else. Then when that is done, you can move on to the next mini-goal and the next. With no thought of if it will be a success, if it's the right thing to do or what the result will be, just do the next thing.
GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK
I mean this in two ways. The first meaning is don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t stay focused if you don’t work on your escape plans for a while because life or work got in the way. If you have planned a 1 or 2-year runway to escape your day job and become your own boss, it will be challenging to keep focused on it the whole time. As the saying goes, it is a marathon, not a sprint and you need to realise that there will be highs and lows along the way.
You will find that other parts of your life take over for a while and you may start to doubt if you can make it to the finish line or even if you are making the right decision to go it alone altogether. But it is never too late to get back on track.. Don’t waste time or energy on any negative self-talk about how you have no willpower or aren’t good enough to make things happen. Just tell yourself it’s normal and ok to have had a wobble, that you forgive yourself for falling behind and you are back and focused and ready to go
My second meaning is to actually physically give yourself a break. If you are constantly trying to focus on lots of different important things, then you will burn out. You need to have a rest from focus! If you are planning to leave your job in say a year or two years, you need to factor in times when you don’t think about either your job or your business. Where you can just be and enjoy the moment, where your brain can rest and recharge. Then after the break, your mind will be clearer and rested and more able to focus on what is needed in all parts of your life.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS…
To keep focused when you want to exchange your career for your own business, you need to be prepared and have strategies to cope with things that may pull your focus from what is most important to you to achieve. The strategies I’ve just shared worked for me and I know have worked for others.
So set yourself up for success and arm yourself in advance with tools and strategies that you think will work best for you. Then when you start to lose focus on that business goal which will give you the freedom, fulfilment and lifestyle you crave, you can get back on track straight away and keep moving forward.
To listen to the full episode and hear more stories and insights, click on the play button above!
Links mentioned in this episode:
Why you can’t multitask https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/creative-leadership/201811/why-you-can-t-multi-task
Indistractable book by Nir Eyal
