It’s so easy, isn’t it? We all have moments where our good intentions take us down a road that seemed good at the time, but has taken us far from the results that we seek. Difference Maker, you, my friend, probably find yourself on this road all too often. A friend in need, our children, our job, our church . . . they are all good, and fulfilling their needs is a noble task, but is that where you are supposed to be? Is that need you’re filling what you are supposed to be doing right now? Why then do you feel so conflicted inside? Why are you stressed out, fatigued, and feel like you are spinning out of control? Are you really living true to yourself, focused on the things that matter most? 
There are three simple things that you can do to regain focus and live with less stress and more satisfaction and fulfillment.
- Create a Life Plan. If you don’t have a plan for your life, everyone else will. It’s as simple as that. A life plan helps you take inventory of where you are and where you want to be and then creates the steps for closing the gap between the two. There are a number of options available for creating a life plan. It doesn’t have to be super elaborate. Simply make a list of the people, things, or dreams that are important to you and look at this list daily. If you are interested in creating an actual detailed plan, one that will keep you focused on what is important and drive you to achieve your goals and dreams, I highly recommend the book Living Forward by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy. Their system is the easiest to implement and most compelling tool that I have used for life planning purposes.
- Before saying yes, look at your life plan. Even if all you did was create the list of people and things that are important to you, you can still do this step–and it’s a critical one. As a difference maker, you love to help people. Saying no is difficult and may not even be part of your vocabulary (yet). From this point further, when you are asked to help with yet another task, make it a policy to respond, “I would love to, but I need to check my prior commitments first.” Then, look at your life plan (or your list) and ask yourself to which you will say yes. Keep in mind, every time you say yes to one thing, you are inadvertently saying no to another. Be honest with yourself and make sure that everything that you say yes to is truly important to you and know why you are saying yes.
- Start ever morning with $100 in your focus account. Author and leading sports psychologist, Jim Afremow, advises athletes, “Let’s say for a moment an athlete has $100 worth of focus and he or she can spend it in any manner. A dollar spent on an internal/external distraction during performance is a dollar wasted because you are not getting the full value from your abilities.” In the same way, time spent on tasks that are good, but not inline with your dreams or God-given purpose, is time not invested in your real reason for living. Be mindful each morning that you have $100 in your focus account and pay attention when you “spend” time versus when you “invest” your time. Time spent will leave you feeling stressed and unfulfilled. Time invested in the people and tasks for which you are ordained by your creator will leave you feeling purposeful, fulfilled, and full of joy. [shareable cite=”~Jim Afremow, PhD”]Spend all of your focus dollars efficiently.[/shareable]
As a fellow difference maker, I have personally found these steps to be 3 of the best things I have ever done for myself. I pray you will at least give them a try. Let me know how they work for you. I’d love to hear from you!
Question: Which of these steps will you begin to do? Do you have other things you’ve done to help yourself stay focused on the things that matter most? Please share.
