Distractions never take a day off. People are distracting, the internet is distracting, even positive things can be a bit too much.
When you remove everything that is taking away from you and your goals, what’s left? All you have is your mindset, but don’t let it trick you into falling into a place of comfort and complacency.
Distractions = Comfortable Interruptions
As mentioned, distraction can come in many disguises. The aim is to recognize it, while still maintaining forward movement.
Whenever we see something that gets our attention, we stop and look. It’s the easy and simple thing to do. It frees us from thinking for ourselves or gives relief from what’s currently in front of us.
Distractions are a time-kill. Once you start scrolling, it’s hard to stop. After you sit down and watch one episode, it’s hard to get back up. Small talk from your co-worker turns into a long, dramatic conversation.
Comfortable interruptions occur often throughout the day, but you must learn to do your part and get past it. If you don’t stop giving your time and energy away, you’ll never get anything done for you. Your entire day will go towards listening to everything and everyone else. After a while, you forget what you needed to do.
Focus On The Bigger Picture
There are situations that happen out of our control and circumstances we didn’t invite into our lives. How do you deal with that, if it had nothing to do with you in the first place? After all, it wasn’t your fault.
Once again, it’s easy to get stuck and fall into the trap of blaming and complaining. It’s one of those things that comes naturally, especially if you’ve been exposed to it for most of your life.
Something happens, you complain. Someone didn’t do it right, so you blame. Things like this happen, but did you do your part? Are you satisfied with your effort and input? In the end, you may not get anything out of it, but all you can control is what you do.
You can plan a pretty picnic, but you can’t predict the weather…
Andre 3000 of Outkast, Ms. Jackson
When things are out of our control and we are the recipient of the consequences, don’t get mad, angry or defensive – respond constructively. Have a positive way of acknowledging it and be practical. Most of all, know that you are doing your best and don’t allow it to stop you or distract you from the bigger picture.
This is something that a lot of people have to practice because, in our minds, complaining and blaming seems to make things better. It allows us to let go of stress and put the responsibility on something else. Hours or days pass by before you realize that it really didn’t help anything. Now, your focus has been misplaced and you have to figure out how to get it back.
Focus And Do Your Part
Keep your power. Use your energy for the things you can control. Everything may not turn out the best way, but controlling your focus and attention puts you at a better advantage, as opposed to just giving in.
In a perfect world, people wouldn’t get fired from their jobs, no one would get into car accidents, or everyone would always greet you with a nice and pleasant attitude. Although everyone wishes life was this flawless, we have to accept the fact that it’s not.
All we can do is play to the best of our ability and keep moving. No, it may not be your fault, but it is your fault if you stop and give it your focus and attention, while losing yourself in the process.
Don’t let distractions steal your time. You can get your energy back, but you can’t get your time back. Distractions are the gateway to procrastination and that’s certainly a habit you do not want to enhance.
It’s important to do your best at all times and to keep moving forward. See the distraction for what it is, but by all means, keep making progress.
#BeGoalden