Is there a secret to staying focused, getting more done, and steaming ahead full speed?

Do you ever have days when you think, “Wow, I’ve got to the end of the day feeling like I achieved everything I set out to do and wasn’t distracted by anything?”

Or is it more likely the opposite, where you get home, tired frustrated and fed up and think; “that’s yet another day where I achieved none of the things I needed to do and was distracted all day long by stuff that’s neither important nor urgent”

Is there a secret to finishing your day feeling good about the work you’ve done and the steps you’ve taken in business and life, knowing you’ve moved forward?

It’s not magic, we know that. It’s focus or more specifically a lack of distraction. You could even say it’s the ability not get pulled into the distraction.

Because there will always be distractions. There will always be something going on to test your ability and determination to complete the task in hand.

Jack Black says when you set a goal for yourself, the universe will give you an offer to test how easily you will be side-tracked – to see how much you really want it. And I agree. Try it. Say to yourself that you’re going to eat healthily and watch how fast the desire to eat junk food rises up. Or tell yourself you’re going to get up early to start work on a new project and notice how you don’t go to bed early, read later, wake through the night, all things designed to stop your desire to get up early before it starts.

There are times when I’m getting on with something that needs to be done, but something far more exciting pops up and before I know where I am, I’m off, away doing that something else. Not even having consciously thought about the consequences of my actions.

Maybe it’s a phone call, the doorbell or even the desire for a cup of something hot calls, regardless what it is, the distraction has won and I’ve lost my way with whatever I was doing.

I think we live in three worlds, each with a different agenda and I call them miworld, your world and nature’s world, here’s what I mean.

In miworld. I set my goals and intentions for what I want to achieve in every area of my life. I make a plan of what to do and when to do it and I work steadily and continuously towards them. I know why it is important for me to achieve these things and I stay focussed. I think it’s like a single track, I know where I am going and the tasks that I do are like putting one foot in front of the other to progress along it.

When I’m in your world, I am helping you achieve your goals. This is the place where everyone else lives. There’s my family and friends, my work colleagues and even the cold calling brigade. Together, they have one mission and that mission is to get me off my track. When I stay motivated and determined, perhaps when I am clearing up to go on holiday, I don’t budge, but as a curious individual who hates to miss out on something, there are times when I am easily distracted. And it’s not just me, its human nature, this

desire to not miss out. And when this happens, I have an excuse as to why I didn’t get my goals finalised! These people are very good at what they do.

Finally there is nature’s world, the place where we have no control; the sun shines, the moon lights sky at night, the seas ebb and flow and the rain falls. The plants grow, the animals reproduce, and there is a balance where, if we look after it well, it is a place where can all grow, survive and thrive together. But it can be an excuse provider too, it was too cold…it was raining…. it was sunny today…far too hot to work.

I can set my intention for each day, however just staying in miworld to complete these can be another challenge altogether.

And only four percent of the population actually sets goals to begin with, and since their day is void of intention, it’s easy for them to be pulled into someone else’s world and they want to bring you along with them.

Now there are times when a friend needs help and I go to them, and that’s a conscious choice I make to do so. That’s about decisions, not distractions. That not what I’m talking about, I’m talking about when you get pulled into another person’s stuff because you haven’t committed enough to sorting out your own.

The secret to finishing the day content you’ve done all the things you set out to do?

Set your intentions for the day, give yourself a deadline and work like you are going on holiday tomorrow. Choose your distractions wisely and you might just fly through your tasks. You’ll be going home with a feeling of achievement knowing your tasks today are moving you closer to your goals.

And every step closer is a joy, feel that joy and allow it to power your focus and determination. And the more you do so, the easier it gets.