Do you ever:
All the while, it ends up taking you…
… Further away from where you wanted to go in the first place?
We all distract ourselves once and awhile.
I can literally spend hours researching tools, tricks and tips.
But it’s the people who quickly re-focus on their goals who will succeed in life.
If you feel like you spent 2018 like this:
It’s not just you.
We like to call it “shiny object syndrome.”
And just to be real, it happens to everyone, I included. But more on that in a moment.
The problem is when you let it control your life.
So instead of returning to the focus of your business, you let the distractions rule your day, your week, your month, your year.
Or even worse, your friendships or relationships.
That’s when you need to watch out for these common issues I hear about from clients.
Not achieving what you want.
Keep your eye the prize, so the saying goes.
Well, there are literally thousands of distractions waiting to trip you up from staying on the path every day.
From email pop-ups to new technology to magical, supposedly ‘fail-proof’ schemes.
Today it might be that a customer is unhappy with an order. Tomorrow a computer glitch causes files to be lost. Friday your admin gives notice.
There’s always something that can take away from your focus on your long-term plan for the company.
You just need to figure out how to quickly identify when going off track and bring it back.
Social media makes it look easy.
Let’s be honest: Social media isn’t an accurate representation of real life.
We generally only portray our best selves (or our business or personal “movie reels”) on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and all the other avenues we post updates on.
And even though we all know this…
It’s easy to feel like everyone else achieved more than you did this year or made more money or had more sales. They look happier, fitter and philanthropic.
Their businesses seem to be thriving across all platforms, they are adding new staff, they are at the gym or running marathons, they constantly seem to be on holidays and, of course, they look perfect in every shot.
But remind yourself to take everything you see with a grain of salt and run your own race.
Everybody has a behind-the-scenes story.
The only person you should compete with is the person you were yesterday.
Not excited about where you’re going.
It’s hard to reach your goals if you forgot to define what those are.
Running a business sucks up time everywhere you look, from billing to employment issues to keeping the lights on.
But like we’ve said before, thinking big is an important skill of being a good leader.
Spend the time to write down your goals—specifically, what do you want that will make you happy personally and professionally.
Make sure you take it even further by mapping out exactly what you need to do to achieve them.
The team isn’t productive.
Expecting a team to stay focused and on their game without giving them a purpose isn’t sustainable.
It’s easy for a team to lag behind and have a slow month, especially if they just met a year-end goal.
So it’s super important to refocus and set expectations for a new goal as soon as one is achieved.
If you don’t define the vision of the team and company, then it’s hard for team members to stay on task and continually be connected to what you are trying to achieve.
So, if this resonated with you, stay focused with me in January, and let’s keep shiny object syndrome at bay.
Action item: what’s the one action you’ll commit to after you read this?
P.S.
Feel overwhelmed by all those pesky office distractions? Need help getting back on the path?
Get in touch with me in one of the following ways:
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