I have to admit a single minded focus is not my strong point. I’m more of a “ooh look – shiny new thing” kinda girl. I like to call that ‘curiosity and openness to experience’ on a good day and ‘magpie syndrome’ on a not so good day.
What has come to my attention recently in my practice is that a single minded focus can really have its benefits.
I have two clients in similar positions – similar background, similar reason for coming to see me.
One of them has focused on how the thing has changed them, what it means for their world and life, how that’s reflected in the bigger things that are happening and so on and so on.
The other has the single minded focus of getting better.
Who do you think might be making the most progress?
I bet you guessed it right – the single minded focus person.
The person with the single minded focus is looking for anything that can contribute to:
- their general wellbeing,
- their physical health,
- helping them build resilience, and
- improving relationships (among other things).
There’s a real ‘do what it takes’ attitude for the thing – which in this case is getting better.
Imagine approaching your challenges with that attitude. Imagine having that single minded focus for your goals or dreams.
I think for a lot of us that’s not as easy as it sounds.
I know it’s not that easy for me.
But there are little things that can help us get there.
Here’s a few:
- Have reminders everywhere. My problem is that I have so many interests that I get distracted. Having reminders literally everywhere (in my calendar, at my desk – home and office) helps keep the important thing top of mind. I often do a vision board too – it really helps me to have a visual or symbolic representation of it.
- Find a way to make it really important to you. Link it to your values, focus on how important the outcome is to you, focus on how bad it would be if you don’t achieve it.
- Tell people you’re doing it. Accountability and the embarrassment that goes with not doing what you say is a good way to make sure you stay on track. Plus your friends etc can give you gentle nudges if you get distracted or start slacking off.
I hope that’s gone a little way to helping you get single minded focus on something that’s important to you. Take a bit of time to think about what you would like to have single minded focus on and how you might stay on track with it.
