On a 1-to-10 scale How Ambitious are you?
How many of you wake up rip, roaring and ready to take on the world? You spring out of bed, rush through your morning ablutions and excited and ready to get er…
and then WHAM..
Your first call of the day comes in…
You look at your emails and they’re like bunnies multiplying on a spring day…
Your phone is blowing up with text messages…
Your kids, wife, Mom, Dad or coworkers are excited to see you and to be in your greatness, trouble is they WANT you… NOW.
Do you see a pattern or trend occurring here? Of course you do because at times you’re the one living it. Where did your ambition go and what happened to your goals that you were so fired up to achieve when you first got up and out of bed?
Here are 5 Goal Destroying Distractions that are sure to sap away at your ambition.
How many corrupt you each day? Better yet – What are you doing about it?
1) The Internet – It’s the biggest time waster ever invented. It grabs you by the eyeballs and sucks you in. It can take you to places you never imagined as well as destroy any hope of meeting a deadline. It’s heroin for the non-drug user.
Your ambition will be killed by the internet. It will distract you so learn to manage it.
– Helpful Tip – Turn it off. If you absolutely don’t need it to accomplish your current task then shut the darn thing off. I am a MAC user and I think Freedom is a great product.
2) Clutter – Taking a page from comedian Jeff Foxworthy – If your Inbox is flowing into your Outbox – you might be a Clutterneck. If your workstation looks like it’s ready for the next episode of “Hoarders” – you might be a Clutterneck. If your desk looks more like an “Office Depot” 50% off sale – then you might be a Clutterneck.
– Helpful Tip – Clean yourself the heck up. Remove everything and find a clean, tidy place for it. Stick to one project at a time at your workspace. Too many “shiny bits” in front of you or in your line of sight are sure to become a distraction. One other note if you have one goal that’s great but if you have too many goals they in themselves can be distractions.
3) Noise – It’s everywhere. The “Chatty Cathy” in the cubical next to you or the constant sound of the Barista brewing the next 1/2 cafe Moccachino. Noise is one of the worst distractions out there.
– Helpful Tip – Choose music to play in your headphones or over your home system that is without lyrics. The lyrics make you want to join in and sing along and that can kill your train of thought. As my wife loves to do you can also just put your headphones in without anything playing in them. It makes you look like you are listening to something and appear less likely to want to join in any distracting conversations or interactions
4) Loved Ones – Yup… Those amazing people who make it all worthwhile. Your wife, kids, friends and even co-workers – they’re deadly Ninjas who come in and toss throwing stars into your productivity. You don’t want to interact with them but they are so convincing and stealthy that you can’t resist. They are most likely your biggest distractions.
– Helpful Tip – Set boundaries. You can’t shut yourself into a room for 8 hours at a time and expect to be productive. Most people are only good on any project for a maximum of 2 hours at a time anyways. Set a boundary and let them know that you are not to be interrupted for the next 2 hours. Meet that goal and then go get some love, let them refresh you and pump you up for another 2 hour block to come.
5) Cell Phone – Possibly the biggest challenge of them all. It beeps, it rings, it sings and it vibrates, all the while taking your attention off what you really need to be doing. You need to be focusing on the goal. Do you really need to respond instantly to every one’s whim and request? Turn it off and be done with it while you are in that focus time.
– Helpful Tip – If you have voicemail let people know that you rarely check it and respond much quicker to a text message so please send one rather than a voicemail. If you can’t quite get the hang of turning your phone off completely then make sure that your all important “emergency contact” (your wife or husband etc) has a unique ring tone. Make it stand out so you know that out of all the calls to take, this one is a must.
If you have a sure fire strategy for avoiding distractions and ambition killers please share as I would love to hear and pass on.
For more thoughts on things you can do to change your life or to learn more about becoming your own HERO click here
What’s distracted you today? How did you get past it? Share in the comments below.
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