Focus on Priorities will keep you on track to Objectives
In Nick D’s column today he quoted me as stating “you focus on simply surviving”. When his article came across my desktop, I felt the urge to explain this piece of advice in more detail, especially since I’m often bombarded with requests for advice and opinions. Even last night I was asked for advice on what seems to be a scam at first glance, one on which I will report at a later date, when the entire scenario has played out.
In order to be able to focus on survival you need to be able to instantly and accurately assess your situation at any time.
At the risk of sounding too simplistic, here are some pointers:
1. If you’re already in the hole, stop digging. It’s wasted energy, wasted time and wasted resources, UNLESS…you have been slacking, lazy and wasteful, which got you into the hole in the first place, and now you feel you have a great chance turning the tables if you refocus energy and resources.
But if that’s not the case and you’ve given it your all, get out without a hesitation while you still have means and resources to build a new existence. (This is advice from local Amelia Island attorney Robert Peters, who faces situations like this on a daily basis.
2. Make an absolutely rigid work schedule for yourself that starts out the day with CPM (critical production mode). This is the time slot of the day that you isolate yourself from anything around you (wife, kids, phone calls, emails, TV, radio…any distraction from your focus) and PRODUCE. Whatever field you make a living in…this is the time you absolutely focus on making money. I set aside 2 hours a day in CPM and everyone around me knows and respects my isolation. You’ll be amazed what you can accomplish in 2 hours.
3. Never procrastinate important decisions and actions. The longer you wait, the more time it’s going to take to correct a problem situation or benefit from opportunities.
4. Always try to be aware of shifts that effect your circumstance. Education and preparation are the essential to base your actions on. Without them, your focus will lose clarity and you will get distracted from your objectives. A while back I wrote a column about the dilemma between a compass and a clock. The compass is a long term setting of your goals, in which the clock offers short term options. Don’t let the short term take you off the compass course.
5. Last week I posted a story about the misnomer of IQ)and compared IQ with the strength of a light beam. The higher the IQ, the stronger the beam. The thing is however that if the beam is lighting up the wrong scene or scenario it’s not going to help you solve the problems at hand.
Focus is more than the sum of priorities
Focus requires a clear understanding of where you are and where you want to be.
Nick used the following scenario as an example: Falling off a cruise ship in the middle of a storm, in shark infested waters.¬† Which task would you focus on first, keeping your head above water while combating the high waves or keeping the sharks away from you?¬† I shared this scenario with him and his answer was “you focus on simply surviving” .
Here is my answer to this:
Every life situation has a before, during and after episode.
The before episode in Nick’s scenario would be: Am I a strong swimmer, or just average or can’t swim at all? If I’m a weak swimmer, why am I on the top deck of a cruise ship in the middle of a storm? And since I am a weak swimmer, did I put my life jacket on?
The during episode assumes that I am a good swimmer (we love happy endings!) and actually have a pretty good idea of where I am, which is about 6 miles out of port, when I fall overboard. I am prepared for eventualities and wear my life jacket. I even have a GPS system on me.
Falling overboard in shark infested waters is not a walk in the park, but I’ve prepared to survive and being able to focus on the task at hand, which is priority 1. keep the sharks away since the life jacket will keep me afloat;¬† step 2. move myself 6 miles into the direction of the port, where I will arrive exhausted and hungry, but since I was prepared for the scenario I was able to focus on the immediate dangers as they were pressed upon me.
Being real and honest with yourself in any type of situation allows you to focus.
Being prepared and educated (aware) about your circumstances, allows you to focus and make solid decisions.
Being connected makes you stand a much better chance to survive when the “weather” gets bad.
Having the mental ability to stay focused depends a lot on preparations and education and learning how to dance¬† with the sharks will help you to keep moving, because let’s face the reality of Nick’s example:
“If you only know how to tread to keep your head above water, you’re most likely going to drown eventually and dance with the sharks.”
Unless you prepare, learn, get connected and take action, you will not be able to focus, set priorities and stay on course.
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