Distractions lead to procrastination. Procrastination leads to the inevitable awry situation where you are faced with unsuccessful outcomes. Dammit!
As a “modern-day” woman, I have succumbed to my own distractions – be it napping, watching “5” more minutes of TV, or finally realizing that I should have done the dishes last night but now – when I am supposed to be sitting in front of my computer and pounding away at the keyboard – I am standing by the sink. Reading an article recently on the 10 behaviours of unsuccessful people, it really got me thinking about my purpose and where I am on my path. Naturally, it led me to think about some of the reasons I find myself or let myself be distracted by things that really aren’t necessarily helping me reach my goal, which is delivering great content on a weekly basis. And then when I don’t deliver at all, not only do I lose you but I lose a part of me too because I am disappointed in myself for not keeping to my goals. Consistency, Passion, and Delivering Great Content to the cause – my cause – is the only way forward. I know it – I hear it because I have heard people tell me – yet, sometimes I always seem to end up falling short because:
- I sometimes doubt my own abilities and visions of what is in store for me – hence distractions take over and lead me down a completely different path than the one I should and ought to be on.
- I get distracted because I allow myself to. The fact that I procrastinate doesn’t help as well because when I know I could be working on my creative projects, I can be found taking a “break” because I deserve it. But what I have learned, and am learning is that there is no break when you are creating magic. The grind is real and while we might envy others who are “doing it” and have reached a point of success, we don’t have the right to because we don’t know how long it took for them to get there and how much work it was. We scroll through their Instagram feeds, or follow them on various social platforms, but while they show you the glammed up experience from where ever in the world they are, no one can say they didn’t put in the work to get to where they are.
- Superwoman mentality. I think I can do it all by myself, but I can’t do it all – not right now at least. And if I could do it all, I don’t think I’d want to be alone for the ride. Plain and simple. My support system has been so pivotal in the most crucial times and to be anywhere without that would be detrimental to my sanity. Family. I know that I am a proud woman, and it really has to do with my upbringing and my environments. I talk about my mom all the time but she is a woman who I most admire because while she did raise 3 kids while attending university full-time and working (yikes!!), she made sure she was still there for us, and us for her. She is my superwoman. When I asked her how she did it, she told me that she had no choice because the life she had was not the life she wanted for us. That was the driving force that pushed her without getting distracted. Momma PREACH!!!
Personally, I thought I was doing a really good job until a friend sat across from me and got real serious about my work and the lack of it. I almost jumped to the defensive but what he said was making perfect sense. I spend my time on silly nonsense that while I think it important, it really isn’t. Trying to juggle everything – keeping my hand over it all doesn’t seem to be working, therefore, I have to focus. I am choosing a side. This balancing act is damn near impossible because I am not working on things that feed my creative dreams and as a result, I waste time. But no more! I am making my commitment to myself.
My commitment to myself is to focus on the things that feed my goals and creative babies (literally). It’s not an overnight switch, but I am making a conscious choice to work towards it daily. Therefore, my piece of advice to you is this, question yourself before you act on that really bright idea because maybe …just maybe, that bright idea is a really big distraction that isn’t going to help you in the long run.
So … before you act, ask yourself:
- Is it worth it?
- Is it helping me?
- Is it feeding my soul/goals?
- Is it what I should be doing right now?
Maybe it is just me, but I would love to hear how you do it. How do you manage distractions? What keeps you focused?
... S. xo
