Fit for Life: Stay Focused

Fit for Life: Stay Focused

With all the distractions in today’s world, it keeps getting tougher and tougher to stay focused. It doesn’t matter if it’s business or fitness, we are human, and it’s very likely we will get distracted and lose focus on the things that are important to us.

The good news is that it’s possible to regain focus when we put our minds to the task and make attempts to get back on track.

The bad news is that the longer that we stay off track, the harder it is to get back into focus.

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I am guilty of this on occasion with my nutrition. I am always focused on the fitness aspect, and getting my workouts in, however there are times of the year that my nutrition goes by the wayside. I eat too much bread and ice cream in the summer, and around the holidays, it is tough for me to resist all the temptations that the season brings.

I recognize this happens and make a conscious effort to NOT let it spiral out of control and turn into weeks or months of destruction.

On a different level, I get distracted when I look at social media. I TRY to only use it for business purposes; however, I sometimes get sucked into the useless nonsense that circulates through the news feed. I always catch myself and limit the damage, however, I am still guilty of wasting time doing this, and I don’t make it a habit.

With business, I go through short spurts when I lose focus on the important things that drive my business forward, and when I do, our membership gets stagnant, and we don’t grow. When I reach this point, it makes me market harder and get on the phone more so we can quickly get back to growing our community.

So, it’s not a matter of losing focus, because we all do it, it’s a matter of recognizing when it’s happening, and recalibrating before it gets out of hand.

 

FOCUS

I created this article using F-O-C-U-S as an acronym so I can lay out the groundwork to regain attention to details and focus on being productive.

For-see that you are slipping off course quickly. Self-awareness & accountability is important on all levels in life, so be real with yourself. Recognize that you are not performing at your full potential and admit that to yourself. We can always do better, so when you lose focus, recognize when it happens and set your sights on correcting the issue.

Obstacles are everywhere, so don’t try to avoid them. Instead program yourself to go over, around or through any setback that gets in your way. These are the things that attribute to us losing our focus. New shiny objects that distract our attention could be anything from a vacation to comparing yourself and trying to emulate your competition. Whatever makes you lose focus is an obstacle that needs to be dealt with before you fall too far out of focus, and it does any real damage.

Correct your bad patterns that are causing you to lose focus. If you realize that you are staying up too late, and it is hindering your performance, start going to bed earlier. Have too much junk food in the house? Eliminate it. Missing workouts? Time to tighten up your schedule. Spending too much time having fun with new toys? Get back to business. Partying and drinking with friends too much? Grow up and dial in your focus on what’s important.

Undermine all excuses. If you want something bad enough, you will find a way. If you don’t, you will make up an excuse. It’s your job to undermine all your excuses with solutions. Only you can do this, so recognize where you are going wrong and own up to it. As I said earlier, self-awareness is crucial to make changes in your life for the better. Excuses are the easy road to nowhere. Nobody cares those things are difficult. Your excuses may be valid; however, they don’t relieve you from your responsibility. Undermine them with action.

Start. Just start doing something that will turn things back around. Don’t let anxiety prevent you from making a move. Regardless of how big of a step you need to take to regain focus, start by implementing small habits, then stack them until you are back on track. We all know what we need to do to be successful, so list the things that you know will bring you back, then check off that list one task at a time.

Losing focus can also be interpreted as being in a slump, temporally losing motivation, or just getting distracted with outside elements. It happens to all of us, however, when we catch it quick enough, we can course-correct before any damage is done. The key is to recognize when it happens and take fast action to correct it.

Don’t let it eat away at yourself or let yourself tailspin out of control. Remember the longer you let it linger and get to you, the harder it will be to get yourself back on track.

Committed to your success,

Coach Matt