Let’s face it; we all want to be more focused because that way we can get more things done, right?
Your time is valuable. Not being able to focus can have a negative effect on how successful we are at work and in our personal lives.
So, let’s look at some ways you can dial in your focus so you can be more productive and hopefully more successful in whatever you are trying to achieve.
And this is especially important for those who have found themselves working from home and aren’t used to having all the homely distractions around them. If that is you, this is doubly important for you to grasp.
The first thing to look at is how you are spending (aka wasting) your time.
Before you can begin to learn how to concentrate better on the tasks that you need to accomplish each day, you first need to know where your time goes.
There are a number of time killers that destroy your focus without your knowledge.
As yourself this question and answer it honestly:
Do you pick up your phone every time that you receive a notification?
If you answered “yes” to that question, then you’ve identified our first time killer. By picking up your phone repeatedly throughout the day, you are destroying your focus.
There are several other important time killers to identify.
Some of these may sound familiar:
In order to identify the time killers that are destroying your focus, you need to spend a day observing your activities. Write down everything that you do, keeping a running list on a piece of paper on your desk.
Yes, this can be a time killer in and of itself, but it will help you see where your time goes.
For example, you might notice that you spent 30 minutes on your personal Facebook account, or that you stop what you’re doing and pick up your phone every time that it goes off.
By tracking your time and activities, you’ll know what you need to eliminate in order to improve your concentration.
The problem with these distractions is that they destroy your focus. Constantly starting and stopping an activity is no way to succeed.
You’ll spend more time getting back into the proper mindset than you do working on the task.
As a result, your list of projects will just end up getting longer.
Next, let’s look at a few powerful tips and strategies that will help you quickly improve your focus.
Improving your focus isn’t as difficult as you may think.
By now you should have identified some of the things that are killing your concentration. It’s time to learn how to overcome them by hacking your mind.
You need to hack your mind in order to become more productive.
Once you have put these tips to work, you will be able to accomplish more in less time! Don’t be put off by the simplicity of some of them; try them and you will be pleasantly surprised.
Not everyone is at their most productive in the morning. Some think more clearly at other times of the day.
By adjusting your schedule to coincide with your peak brain activity, you’re setting yourself up to get more done.
So do what fits your preferred schedule, rather than trying to force someone else’s onto yours.
The Pomodoro technique is a time management tool that requires you to break your day into specific 20-minute periods, called Pomodoros.
This is a well-known technique and has been shown to work, so give it a go.
The internet is a major time distraction. Put your computer on airplane mode so that you can’t go online.
Don’t underestimate the draw of social media; it will draw you in if you let it, so ensure you won’t be distracted by any notifications.
This is very closely linked to the tip above. Every time your smartphone goes off, it draws your attention to it, not what you’re working on.
This is one of the most important tips to get a hold of and can instantly increase your focus.
Multitasking has negative effects on the brain. Studies have shown that it lowers your IQ. It also forces you to take longer to finish your tasks and makes you 40% less productive overall.
The multitasking myth has been around for many years, but the most successful people are laser focused on one task at a time, and if they are doing that, shouldn’t you?
It takes at least 21 days in order for a new activity to become a habit. Begin these new habits now, and before the month is out, you’ll be more productive than ever.
As you can appreciate, a lot of this is dependent on the way you think and if you want to know more about developing a good mindset for success, please click on the featured resource below for a free Strong Mindset report; download, read it and take action 😊
If you look at the profiles of wealthy people, you will find they have a different mindset than others. They know the value of money, and they know the fundamental factors of how to make their money grow. If you are not yet wealthy and feel you are struggling, take some tips from these wealthy people.
An age-old idiom of money is to use compound interest in your favor. Benjamin Franklin was a big proponent of this principle. He was quite wealthy for his time, so it is likely he knew what he was talking about.
The situation is a bit more complicated today with government taxing the growth of money. But, you can invest in an IRA or 401K and have that tax deferred until some future period. Speaking of taxes, make sure you work with a qualified accountant and a financial planner to ensure you are paying the least amount of taxes possible. Wealthy people do this.
Another principle wealthy people adhere to is creating multiple income streams. The more income streams you have working for you, the quicker you will become wealthy. When you have multiple income streams, pump up the ones that are working well and dump the ones that aren’t.
After you are financially well off, make sure you never touch the principal. Set up your principal so that it earns the most it can earn and live only within the means of the earnings on that money.
The final tip is to stay out of debt as much as possible. The debt will drain your savings and your portfolio. There can be smart uses of debt as long as the result of using that debt brings in more money than the debt itself. But, most debt should be avoided to keep your financial outlook stable.
It’s one of the most fundamental skills for people to have, i.e., learning about proper money management. If kids don’t learn it early on, how are they expected to take on a money mindset later in life? When they set out on their own, this is when it will be needed most.
The truth is, they know kids will run up a huge balance and not be able to pay. Parents don’t want to see their kids start out with negative credit, so they end up paying for the kids.
There is a responsibility for parents to teach their kids about money. But, if some parents are not good at money management, how will they be able to teach that to their kids? If the parents are running up high debt, how will that set an example?
Kids also need to learn the proper techniques of portfolio management and how the stock market works as well as other financial vehicles available. This foundation could help the kids make better investing decisions at a time when it is needed.
Too many people are under the false belief that young people first starting out can take on more risk. Bear in mind, these same young people make much less money when they first start out. So, taking on those higher risks means it will take much longer for them to recover financially.
Another problem is both teachers and parents are not trained on how to teach about money. It’s a much more complicated subject than it appears on the surface.
When kids get to college, they often don’t have a clue about money management. This could be a large reason why subjects like their countries’ national debt are low on the priority scale. If they are informed, they may not be as willing to accept the government spending in the manner that it does.
If these college kids get into politics themselves, their training could help them in reducing this debt and keep a fiscal order with policies.
A budget is a great way to get and keep people on track with their finances. It lets you see what money is coming in and what is going out. Obviously, you want the inflows to be greater than the outflows and the bigger the spread, the better.
Credit cards make it easy to buy and defer payment. So when the urge to buy is strong, people justify that they have time to pay it off later. However, do this enough and you’ll find your balances on the credit cards to be much greater than you can manage.
There are people who make budgets but then cheat on them. They end up using all kinds of excuses as to why they spent above what the budget allowed. This is a big reason why people fail with budgets. After they cheat once, it becomes easier to do so in the future.
The key to staying on track with a budget is to focus on why you have a budget in the first place. When you do that, you can say to yourself anytime you get the impulse to buy that it will ruin that future goal. Once people start to see their balances grow due to budgeting, it helps to reinforce and motivate people to stay on track.
If you create a budget and find that the outflows are greater than the inflows, you will need to cut back on expenses or increase your income somehow, or a combination of both. Increasing income has become a bit easier with the internet.
Many people find they prefer working in this sharing internet economy and choose to do it full time. As long as it brings in the necessary cash to stay within the parameters of your budget, you could choose to do this yourself. Just make sure you factor in everything that you are giving up working for someone else.
Whatever you want in life will require discipline to achieve and being good with money and becoming successful is a small part of this. And if you want to know more about harnessing the power of self-discipline, then check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 🙂
I’m sure we have all had to overcome obstacles of some sort in our lives, whether they be personal, career based, or business based.
Obstacles are just a fact of life, aren’t they?
However, there are plenty of instances where success can get in peoples’ way as well. In fact, it can be more debilitating for some.
When people succeed in whatever they are trying to accomplish, they have proved that they can do it. Sometimes, once that happens, they revert to the situation before success.
Since they have shown themselves what is possible, why bother proceeding and going further with that success? This can become pretty demotivating when you start to think this way.
Another reason why success can be an obstacle is that the excuses are no longer valid because you have already accomplished something.
It’s easier to use excuses. When you get to the point where you are almost succeeding, you may find ways to sabotage that success so that you can go back to using excuses. You’ll find plenty of people who will support your use of excuses, but it won’t get you where you truly want to be.
Some people don’t achieve their goals because they believe others don’t want them to succeed. It’s a strange phenomenon and usually is a result of a miscommunication.
For instance, you may be speaking to your parents about your accomplishments, and they question you in a way that on the surface seems like they are disapproving of what you are doing. In fact, they were proud and excited for you. This could cause you to give up on the venture because of you misreading their intentions.
If you find yourself in a position of fearing success, think about what you will gain when you push through to that stage. You will satisfy your goals and your chances of living a better life increase. Further, what you accomplish may help others. It could be a product or it could simply be a technique that frees up those people from a problem they may be facing. They will be grateful to you and you may even turn what you are doing into a business and earn money.
Once you can get past this, you have the tools to accomplish anything you want. You can use that point where you felt like giving up as motivation for future endeavors.
OK, so we have looked at the possibility of success being an obstacle, but what about failure? Can that be an obstacle too? You bet, and logically it appears to be pretty obvious, so let’s take a look at that now.
People hate to fail. It associates them with losing which makes them believe they are losers. Society doesn’t look favorably on losers. When failure does happen, people tend to give up too easily instead of using the experience as a way to learn and grow.
Some obstacles may require professional help. For instance, if you have lost a limb, you may need physical therapy to get used to life without that limb. If you are using an artificial limb, you will need therapy to become familiar with living with that new limb.
If it is a traumatic experience, it could affect your mental capacity. In such cases, you may need to seek a counselor or psychiatrist to help you deal with the situation you face. Many feel it’s better to get help as soon as the traumatic experience occurs as it will be easier to come to grips with it. Although, it is possible to get help at any point in time.
When your failure isn’t severe (where you’ll need some extra help), you need to reach within yourself and recognize failure for what it is, a learning experience. Read profiles of most influential people, and you will find they have all failed multiple times. The difference is they kept going and did not let those failures deter them.
You need to believe in yourself and what you are doing. When that happens, you will become unstoppable. For example, suppose you have been thinking about creating a business based on something you are good at. You know that you can make it work and also know that others will be receptive to the idea when you do.
As long as you keep your focus on that belief, you will do what it takes to make it work. It won’t matter how many failures happen. Your belief system is in place, and you will analyze your failures to see how you can make changes.
What do you think about the opposing ideas of success and failure both acting as obstacles in your life? It may sound paradoxical, but the human mind is rarely straightforward is it?
I’m sure many people can see failure as an obstacle, but success? Well, I hope this has made you think about it at the very least.
Whatever you want in life will require discipline to achieve and overcoming obstacles is a small part of this. But if you want to know more about harnessing the power of self-discipline, then check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 🙂
Fear can be an effective catalyst for motivation. For example, if your boss tells you to get your project done on time or you will lose your job, you can be sure you’re going to do everything in your power to get that project done. You may resent your boss for doing this, but you are probably going to do as he or she wishes unless you are looking to get fired.
Another situation where fear will motivate you is when something crucial breaks in your home. It could be the furnace giving out in the middle of winter. You are at a point where you have no choice but to call for expensive repairs. If you don’t, you’ll risk the pipes freezing and being uncomfortable.
But, in the case of your boss harping on to you, is there a better way for him or her to handle the situation? Can you continually work in an environment based on that kind of fear?
It’s questionable whether motivation based on fear is sustainable. If you are an employee and there aren’t many jobs available as alternatives, you may feel like you have no choice but to comply. But, sometimes, this kind of negative working environment gets people more motivated to get out of the situation.
In other words, the motivation tactics may work in the short-term, but eventually, employers may experience a high turnover when those employees recognize there are other choices. The internet is a great equalizer in this regard as more people can choose to freelance on their terms.
Unfortunately, these managers don’t learn this until it’s too late. And even then, will they make any changes? Often, they make the justification that it’s the employee’s fault and they decided to leave.
Think about the impact you have if you are a manager trying to motivate your employees. If you have used fear as a motivator, is it something that has worked for you in the long-term? Or, did you simply set an environment where people couldn’t wait to get away?
Do you find you get more done in the morning? Or are you one of those types of people who like to work during the mid-part of the day? There are also those who are night owls and do their best work in the evening or night.
Is there an optimal time for your motivation or does it vary from day to day? People who claim to be morning people say they love that time because it is serene and gives them time to think. During the early morning hours, before 6:00 AM, for instance, the phones aren’t ringing. The rest of the family is asleep unless there is another morning person in your family. But hey, they get it too! They’ll both leave each other alone.
The night owls wait for people to go to bed and then they are in their sanctuary. It’s a long wind-down period for them, and in fact, many of them will fire up the coffee to make it last even longer. These are usually the light sleepers who believe they can get by with only three or four hours of sleep.
None of this is scientific. People seem to naturally give their best at the time of day they feel the most comfortable in. But, it seems like there is something to it, science aside. Just think about the people you live with. Which periods do they excel? Ask your co-workers which period they prefer? How about the people that live in their homes?
Whether there is statistical evidence to support this is not the point. Most people find the period that works best for them, and they tend to stick with that for a good portion of their lives. This is the one time when going outside your comfort zone may not be a good idea. If the time of day is right for you then just go with it and don’t fight it.
People love memes. There all over the web. They are a sort of mini billboards if you will. They can tell a story in one shot with some text thrown it to help the message.
Many of them are created with the intent to motivate. For exercise, they show people in fantastic shape with a message stating, “This could be you,” or something like it. You see the message, and you get excited that it is possible. But, then the phone rings, and you are once again dealing with your routine.
You have to be careful of the message, though, especially when you are dealing with important subjects. Too many people pass off political memes as fact, and they usually are far from that. No one challenges these messages, and people tend to accept them as is. There have been instances of sayings associated with people who never said the sayings. The practice of not fact checking these memes is quite dangerous and leads to an increase in propaganda. This happens across party lines.
It does depend on the subject. Memes that try to motivate people to work out probably don’t need to be fact checked. They simply give you a vision of what you could look like if you were to exercise.
You also must be aware that many memes are created for marketing. Ultimately, they are trying to get you motivated to buy their products or sign up for their newsletter (which may eventually lead you to buy something). It’s not that there is anything wrong with this nor is it illegal or unethical. It’s just something you should consider when you view the memes.
Some people hate memes and want nothing to do with them. They believe they are manipulative and also because of the political reasons described above. These are probably not the people you want to target if you decide to use memes.
As you can appreciate, changing the way you think can have a huge impact on your life, and if you want to know more about developing an inspirational mindset for success, please click on the featured resource below for a free Strong Mindset report; download, read it and take action 😊
I’m sure that you all know that the way you think can have a dramatic impact on how you live your life. Developing a growth mindset should be a priority if you really want to get the best out of life.
Want to give your mindset a kick up the backside and put it into 5th gear?
These ten tips will help you shift your paradigm into a success mindset.
Here goes…
1 View failure as a learning opportunity
Don’t view failure as a crushing defeat but rather as a chance to learn and to come back stronger!
2 View obstacles as challenges
Likewise, try to view problems as challenges to be overcome. This will just make your victory all the sweeter.
3 Don’t choose between two things
When trying to choose between two things that you really want, the best answer is always to find a way that you can make them both happen.
4 Don’t let others define your success
Too many of us have one set view of what success looks like and we struggle to see it in any other way.
5 Invest in yourself
Investing in yourself is the most important way to start achieving more. This is the best way to spend money and the best way to spend time. Develop your skills, buy a suit and fix that hair!
6 Act like you’ve already won
Acting like you’ve already won is the best way to empower yourself to be stronger and more successful. When you do this, you give off an aura of success that makes others gravitate to you!
7 Know yourself
Know yourself and be honest about what you want, who you are and what your strengths and weaknesses are.
8 Avoid toxic people
Avoid the people in your life who are constantly telling you what you can’t do, who are making you feel bad about your dreams…
9 Surround yourself with positive people
Likewise, surround yourself with positive people and surround yourself with people who share your vision and can help it grow!
10 Do what you are most passionate about
The simplest way to be successful in life, is to put more effort it. That means being willing to get up earlier, to work harder and to work smarter toward that goal.
These ten tips should come in really handy to set up your mind for success, but can this stuff really help you change your life? Let’s find out…
A lot of people claim they know the secret to success. They will claim it is motivation, ambitiousness, positivity, conscientiousness and all sorts of other abstract nouns.
However they are missing the true vital ingredient, the real key that will get you started on the road to success to begin with: desire.
It is obvious really, but if you are going to be successful in any area of your life then you need to want to be successful and develop a positive mindset and attitude. It does not matter how hard working you are, how much time you spend at work, but if you do not particularly want to climb to the top it just will not happen.
Anything along these lines is a competition essentially, and if you do not truly desire success then you’ll still be going against a whole lot of people who do. You cannot really have motivation without desire, but even if you could, where would you be directing that motivation?
And as you do you’ll find that you subconsciously even help to navigate through the mire of challenges and that the world just kind of steps out of the way.
Of course not all desire will work. Firstly your desire needs to be realistic, and secondly your desire needs to be concrete. A desire to fly for example probably is only going to end with disappointment unless you are from Krypton, and a desire to ‘be more successful’ is an abstract aim that’s really quite subjective.
Some people though do not seem to have any desire at all however, and these people can be quite aimless in their lives. They aren’t going to progress because they do not know how they want to progress, and they do not know what they want from life.
The thing is though, everyone has something they want, it is just a matter of finding out what it is.
Maybe you have got a big house and kids, or a small house and great artistic job, or you are a movie star, or a high-flying businessman. Now you know what your desires are, write them down and break them down into smaller steps and priorities. Suddenly you have direction and motivation. Good luck!
So now you are changing your destiny by harnessing the power of your mind. Everything is going well until you start running into criticism and the way you deal with that is really important.
Having a success mindset means taking risks and it means putting yourself out there. It means taking chances and being willing to fail.
And when you do all that, you’ll find that sometimes you do fail. Sometimes people laugh at you. Sometimes you lose a lot of money.
And this can hurt a lot. Sometimes, it feels as though you will never be successful, and that other people seem to have it all figured out. But let’s take a step back for a moment.
The only difference between those people and the ones you never hear about, is that they got back up, they shrugged off the criticisms and they went for it anyway.
And if you dig a little deeper, nearly every ‘success story’ is actually made up of a thousand little failures, rejections and humiliations. Look at JK Rowling who had her book rejected countless times before it made her into one of the richest people on the planet. Look at Arnold Schwarzenegger who was told that he could never be a movie star with his thick accent and physique.
And yet.
The key to remember is that you’re at a point in your story where there’s challenge and upheaval but if you take this in your stride, it will actually make you stronger.
And when you fail and lose your money, do you give up on starting your own business? Or do you make a note of everything that you did wrong and then endeavour not to make those same mistakes again?
This is the difference between successful people and the rest of us. You must start developing a success growth mindset today. And look at it this way: if you treat every single failure as a chance to get better, then every single time you try, you will slightly increase your chances of winning big.
And that means that if you continue trying, the odds will eventually be stacked in your favor!
If you want to more about developing a good mindset for success, please click on the featured resource below for a free Strong Mindset report; download, read it and take action 😊
