Do It - Now

Thomas Huxley said many years ago, Do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. Good quote to start the new year.

Write this quote on a piece of paper or a 3 x 5 card and hang it on your bathroom mirror. This is a great reminder to stay focused on your goals and purpose. It is so easy to live a busy life without focusing on those things that matter most to you - whether you feel like it or not.

Remember there is a difference between being busy and being productive. Mary O'Connor said, It's not so much how busy you are, but why are you busy? The bee is praised. The mosquito is swatted.

How's Your Focus?

We hear so often that people are unable to focus on their most important things. In fact, it seems to be the goal of the distracted, distraught and disgusted who are tired of always "juggling elephants."

A few weeks ago I came across this quote from Dr. David Jeremiah that speaks to the importance of focus:
'Take a good hard look.' In other words, focus. In optics, focus is the point toward which light rays converge. In geometry, it's a special point used in describing conic sections. When we concentrate our attention, we are focusing. When we do it with others in an organized way, we're in a focus group. The Navy has a missile named Focus, and Ford has a car by the same name. In sports, lack of focus is often the reason given for defeat; and players in a slump try to regain their focus. When we take a blurred picture, it's because we didn't focus the camera on the right object.

In a few days most of us will be reminded of the power of focus. We will stop (or at least minimize) the number of acts in our work ring and focus (there's that word again) on our relationship ring and our self ring. What could you glean from those experiences to help you better focus (promise-last time) at work when your "holiday intermission" is over?

A Clean Desk

We have talked a lot in the past about removing distractions when you are trying to focus on a project or an important task. It is helpful to remove distractions like the phone, email, email notification, cell phones, texting, instant messaging, etc.

But what about your desk? Is your desk one big distraction? It is easy to be distracted by memos, post it notes with reminders written on them, your inbox, your planner and your computer. When you need to focus on a task or project, consider clearing away and/or cleaning off your workspace. Remove all the distractions. Put them on the floor or behind you. Better yet, file everything away in an organized manner that enables you to regularly review these items when you determine to add them to your lineup. With uninterrupted focus on your most important projects, you accomplish more, the turnaround time is faster and you deliver higher quality work.

Keen Insight From A Program Participant

Here's an insight from a participant in a Juggling Elephants keynote that we thought was brilliant. It helps explain the value of focusing on purpose in ALL areas of your life:

I attended your recent Juggling Elephants keynote. It was absolutely fantastic! I've known that we all must have balanced lives. I've also known that we all have a purpose here. Without realizing it, I thought that I had to take care of all of the separate areas of my life IN SPITE of my purpose. In the discussion of 'Juggling Elephants' and reviewing the acts to make sure they contribute to the overall purpose of the circus, that's when I realized that all areas of my life are actually connected to my purpose. Truly a light bulb moment for me! It gives meaning to the thousands of daily details called life!!!

-Debbie Morrison, US Navy CNIC

Bravo, Debbie. You get a big standing ovation from us.

Focus on Key Values

Focus. Our lives are full of distractions. There are so many opportunities and so many demands on our time. Typically it isn't a matter of not having anything to do but of making the decision of WHAT to do.

Organizations create mission and value statements, tag lines, buttons and badges with a few key thoughts or concepts of what is important and what they want employees to focus on: "Customer First", "DIRTFT" (Do IT Right The First Time), "Save Money," "Clean, Fast and Friendly," "Safety Now" to name a few. When decisions need to be made or some action needs to be taken the organization typically measures the potential response to the organization's focus. Thomas J. Peters & Robert H. Waterman, Jr have said, Excellent companies focus on only a few key business values…. The focus on a few key values lets everyone know what’s important.

Apply this strategy to your life. Do you have a personal mission statement that you measure against your focus? Does the mission statement include each of the 3-rings of your circus? Are you measuring your daily activities and focus against that mission statement? What if we change the Peters/Waterman quote to say, "Excellent individuals focus on only a few key values…The focus of a few key values lets everyone know what’s important". Maybe we need to go as far as creating a button or a badge to remind us: "Super Dad!", "Results Driven", "I Choose to Be Happy", "Physically Fit", "Friend." What would your button say?