Tag Archives: focus

Take stock in your life.

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Take stock in your life. You always have the capacity to change things for the better. What will you do or not do given this awareness?

—Calm App Reflection

Have you done it yet? Have you stepped or leaped into the new year with boundless energy to better your world?

If not, you’re not alone. Many folks are still digging out of all the e-mails and work that piled up over the holidays and feel they haven’t even gotten out of the starting blocks.

What to do when “the hurried-er you go the behind-er you seem to get”?

Something dramatic has to happen to get your head above water and swim for the shore of the life you envision.

EXERCISE:

Try a brain dump exercise: List all the personal and professional to-dos that fill up and spill over your days.

Keep asking yourself “What Else?” until you get everything down.

Let this list sit for a day and dig some more.

Consider asking those close to you for their additional thoughts.

Once this list is complete, it can be managed, using a sorting strategy using the words More, Less, Start, and Stop.

It’s within the Less and Stop clutter in your world that you can make room for the Mores and Starts that will put you back in the driver’s seat to take your life where you want to go.

Boost the resolution of your thinking

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Boost the resolution of your thinking. Notice the self-talk and images that pass through your mind and watch them come into focus.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by David Travis

I recently visited my ophthalmologist for my annual checkup. Evaluating my sight with eye charts and paddles to cover one eye at a time is a test I always hope to pass.

When I compare my actual sight — which tends to decline with time — to my evolving “in-sights” of thinking, I find it pleasing to know that my focus in many areas of my world is actually improving.

EXERCISE:

In what ways can you boost the resolution of your thinking?  How can the focus on this inner world help you to see beyond your current horizons?

With continuous practice and focus you are bound to be successful

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With continuous practice and focus you are bound to be successful.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Jeffrey F Lin

Prospective coaching clients frequently ask about the success rate of my client engagements.

Many people focus on the coach and the coaching process, and fail to look at their own role in the process of achievement.

As far as I know, coaches and their clipboards must remain on the sidelines.

Although we often point our fingers toward outside sources of success, it always comes down to the athlete or team’s talent, focus, and continuous practice that leads to putting points on the board in both sports and in life.

EXERCISE:

How focused are you in your personal and professional pursuits?

At what level do you strive and persist in your efforts to master your game or your craft?

How do you and will you recognize and acknowledge how far you’ve come and see the signs of success along the way?

The river never drinks its own water. The tree never tastes its own fruit.

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“The river never drinks its own water. The tree never tastes its own fruit. The field never consumes its own harvest. They selflessly strive for the well-being of all those around them.”

—Margaret Wheatley, American writer, speaker, and management consultant

Image from Unsplash by Wonderland

When we reflect on the complexities of our world it’s easy to see that most of it is man’s doing.

Who hasn’t considered the meaning of their life from time to time?

When we strip away all the chaos and delve into the natural world, our burdens become lighter and our visions become clearer.

Maybe life is simply about finding ways to serve and support others and the world.

When we do, everyone wins.

EXERCISE:

To what degree do you focus your daily efforts on serving others?

What would the world be like if we all made this our top priority?

There is no power for change greater than

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“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.”

—Margaret Wheatley, American writer, speaker, and management consultant

Image from Unsplash by Chase Clark

About three and a half years ago we moved from our home in SE Michigan to be closer to our family in and around Philadelphia. Although we moved a few times related to my career in prior years, this move was the most challenging.

After more than 30 years in the same location, moving required more than a bit of uprooting.

We were no longer young with boundless energy, and the release of so much history and “stuff” were daunting and liberating at the same time.

EXERCISE:

What issues and communities do you care about deeply?

How have you and can you embrace these commitments to help make the necessary changes to live an even more meaningful and wonderful life?

Observe your thoughts like water rushing over a waterfall

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Observe your thoughts like water rushing over a waterfall. Watch them as they splash in the river below and flow downstream.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Jeffery Workman

What is your average attention span? How many minutes or even seconds can you maintain your ability to concentrate and remain focused on a specific activity or train of thought?

When was the last time you saw a waterfall? Beyond the water cascading over the edge, how often did you follow it long enough to see the splash below? For many of us, our focus stops there, and our attention reverts back to where the action is.

EXERCISE:

How often do you find yourself distracted and pulled away from people and things that require prolonged attention and focus?

How can you exercise and practice extending your attention to build and strengthen your mental muscles?

What’s the least I can teach that will be the most useful

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“What’s the least I can teach that will be the most useful?”

—Michael Bungay Stainer, author of The Coaching Habit

Image from Unsplash by Kenny Eliason

My first career after graduating college was as a science teacher. My second career was as a pharmaceutical representative working with physicians and other medical professionals.

For the past thirty-two years, I’ve worked as a business and personal coach supporting individuals and organizations to reach higher and achieve more, personally and professionally. I suppose in many ways I’ve always been a teacher.

These days I am still a coach and teacher to my adult children and more recently as Pop-Pop to our two precocious and rambunctious grandchildren. Today’s quote is especially relevant for these little ones with their often limited attention spans.

EXERCISE:

Where in your life do you play the role of a teacher?

How would focusing on quality versus quantity in your wisdom sharing efforts make the biggest difference with the people you serve and support?

Where is it time to zoom in on the details or zoom out on the big picture

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Where is it time to zoom in on the details or zoom out on the big picture? What type of focus is required in your current situation?

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Aaron Burden

Last month, many of us in the United States had the opportunity to see the solar eclipse. A family we know traveled 1500 miles from their home to see this event in San Antonio with their two young boys.

Road trips like these are an integral part of their home-schooling efforts and they took plenty of side trips along the way to zoom in and out to capture many other sights and wonders.

EXERCISE:

Where and how would your life improve with greater focus on more of the details of your world?

How might zooming out to a bigger, broader view of things offer you greater perspective and insight about the world?

Bring yourself to this moment and experience it fully. Where attention goes, energy flows

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Bring yourself to this moment and experience it fully. Where attention goes, energy flows.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Shantung Kulkarni

During a recent holiday gathering I went out of my way to be a more focused observer of everyone in attendance.

Of particular note were the four children ages 2, 5, 7 and 10. Throughout our time together, it was interesting to see how present the kids were versus many of the adults.

With football games in the background and many cell phones in hand, it was obvious that many of the grown-ups could have benefited from some kid coaching.

EXERCISE:

Where are you most focused and attentive in your life?

How energetic do these experiences feel compared to when you are pulled away by competing distractions?

“Just keep swimming.”

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“Just keep swimming.”

—Dory, in Finding Nemo

Image from Unsplash by Tyler Nix

I recently watch the Netflix series Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. During his exploration, author Dan Buettner travels around the world to places such as Okinawa, Sardinia, Singapore, the Greek islands, and even places in the U.S. to discover the secrets of a long and vibrant life.

Among the variety of strategies for living longer, healthier lives is a focus on movement. Unlike many western societies where lifestyles can be fairly sedentary, it is pleasing to see the simple practices of physical daily chores and walking comprise a majority component of their fitness endeavors.

EXERCISE:

Where and how can and do your incorporate movement into your days?

How might a few more laps, a bike ride, walking with friends, or taking the stairs add a few more years to your life and life to your years?