My friend Michelle has a saying, “Stay in your lane”. Urban dictionary defines this phrase as meaning “mind your own business”. That is certainly one definition.
Michelle uses it to let people know to stay on target or on point. I take it to mean stay focused. At its basic nature, to “stay in your lane” while driving requires focus.
So how do you maintain focus? Like everything else it requires practice, training, and work. We have become a society of multitaskers; I am as guilty of it as anyone else. Studies show that multitasking does not work.
Start small, a few minutes at a time. I mediate for 10 minutes a day in the morning—it starts me off in the right direction. I also leave my cell phone in the office when I am in our conference room for a meeting (unless there’s an emergency for which I’m expecting a phone call). Yes, that is possible. I am working on staying focused on the task at hand and not looking at the next shiny thing, like email alerts. It takes conscious effort; it takes discipline. Discipline over time becomes a habit. Habits over time allows us to focus on the ONE Thing.
“The successful man is the average man, focused.” —Unknown
Have a great weekend.
—Vijay
About Friday Food for Thought (FFfT)
I frequently attend conferences and retreats on entrepreneurship and leadership and while I am away, the J2 team picks up the slack, allowing me to learn to be better at what I do. I wanted to share what I was learning with my team, so I created the weekly FFfT emails in November of 2015 and have been writing them ever since.
Before long, the J2 staff began sharing the FFfT emails with their friends and family and now other leaders have asked to be included, which led to the creation of this newsletter. I hope you enjoy!