In the hustle and bustle of our world where everyone wants everything yesterday and the static noise around us never seems to subside, distractions can be one of the hardest obstacles to overcome. Distractions are everywhere and they can keep you running around in circles never accomplishing anything unless you are able to screen them out of your field of focus. But, being able to screen out distractions can be much easier said than done. How many times have you set out to do something and stopped many times along the way by something that attracted your attention that you had not even thought of before.
Just think about a simple search on the internet on a subject that you are curious about. How many ads and unrelated topics do you have to filter through to find out information on the subject you were searching for? Did you even find the answer you were looking for or did the ad for Facebook cause you to browse over to their website to see what your friends were up to. Worse yet you wind up purchasing the latest, greatest kitchen gadget that you don’t even need thanks to a pop-up window. Does this sound familiar?
In this last article in our series of Five Steps To Get You Started In Living Your Ideal Life, we will give you a few tips on how to end distractions or at least keep them to a minimum when you are working towards building your ideal life. Your time is precious, especially if you had to rescue some of it from your busy schedule (see our previous article on rescuing your time by clicking here). Ready, set, (don’t get distracted now) GO!
• Eliminate your distractions. I have frequently heard the quote “A man with a toothache cannot be in love” from Dan Miller on his 48 Days podcast. While this quote has been attributed to Shakespeare, the meaning is clear, you cannot focus on what’s important while you are distracted.
Distractions can be a formidable threat to accomplishing your goals in life. Distractions can come in many forms and sizes, some major that can completely and immediately take you off the path to your goal. and also in small bright and shiny things that pick away at your focus until you are left disoriented and discouraged with your results towards reaching your goals.
• The key is, as much as possible, to eliminate your distractions before you engage in major work towards achieving large goals in your life. For example, if you have tasks to perform around your home, on your vehicles, or any other work that could take time away from to trying to achieve, it is best to quit procrastinating and push your way through the things that you need to do before you start work on your on your major goals.
Tasks are not the only thing that have the ability to take you away from what you working on. While life is meant to be lived, there is a time and place for everything. Social obligations, dinner with friends, unplanned events, and last-minute celebrations, all have the potential to blast large holes in the time you dedicate to achieving your goals. The best way to handle these situations is to look to your plan that you have created and see what type of schedule it entails.
Ideally, you have planned specific times for specific important tasks. If so, you may want to contact your friends, your relatives, and your acquaintances that could try to lay claim to your time and let them know what you have planned and why you may be out of pocket for a while. You can let them know that while you would love to be involved, the project you are working on must take precedence temporarily. You can also tell them that you would be happy to get together with them as soon as these projects are completed.
A person that values your relationship with them will understand because they have priorities in their own life that must take precedence every now and again.
The point is, anything that is less important at the time than what you are working on is a distraction. By preemptively eliminating distractions from your schedule you are eliminating time-consuming detours. That way you can stay on on the road to your ultimate destination which is the realization of the life that you dream of.
If there is one last tip I can offer, the only things that are never distraction is taking care of yourself, your relationship with God, and your family.
Thank you for following us on our five part series on “Five Steps To Get You Started In Living Your Ideal Life”.