I’d like to think that I am a pretty focused person. That I can concentrate easily, and work quickly and efficiently to get tasks done. I pride myself on being organised, able to complete challenges, and meet deadlines, having put in a maximum amount of effort toward the job at hand.
And I’m sure that compared to some, I am rather organised and focused. To others however, I am aware that I fall far short of the mark.
And I think it comes down to priorities.
You see, although I do have priorities, as I wrote last week that I haven’t been great at planning for them. They have been wishes in my head, goals for me to try to make, without concrete plans to follow to achieve them. And without concrete plans, distractions easily get in the way.
Fear can also breed. Because I am often afraid that I won’t actually achieve what I have sent out to achieve. I’ll be a failure. A failure in my own eyes, and – even worse – in the eyes of others. I guess this concerns me, because I hate the idea that others could laugh at me, or think less of me, because of my lack of significant achievement.
So I keep my goals close to my chest, don’t speak them out, so that I can’t be accountable. That way, if I fail, I only have myself to blame.
Failing in public is far too much pressure for me.
I’m not entirely convinced of the wisdom of this, however. Being accountable to others – like setting myself a Goodreads challenge of 156 books read in 2018, for example – is a motivator in and of itself, I’m thinking. So perhaps I should view fear as simply a tool to be harnessed, a strategem which can assist me in achieving the goal I’ve set myself? Turn the idea around; make it work in my favour?!
And then: distractions. They make life so much more interesting, don’t you think? The shiny new idea that tries to take you away from the focus that you have. That’s so much more fun to follow than gritting your teeth when the work is so dry and repetitive, when it’s drudgery to persist in doing the hard yards and remaining dedicated to the job you have set out to achieve. In my mind, I equate distractions like Frodo trying to get to the Mount of Doom, but stopping off to ride a pink fluffy unicorn because that ring he was carrying just got too heavy and too demanding.
And distractions are easy to blame as well. An out! Yippee!
But I choose today to not let the distractions get to me. To remain focused on the goal I have set myself. To plan it out, as much as I’m able, so that things don’t get too overwhelming, and so I can succeed in what I’m planning to achieve.
How about you, dear Reader? Are you, like me, easily distracted? And is this a problem for you?
And, as always, have a great week yourself, dear Reader!