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What is a distraction?

It’s anything that takes your focus away from the thing you should be doing at any given time. It’s anything that takes your focus away from the present moment.

Distraction is the enemy of your goals and priorates.

That bag of donuts is a distraction from your health goals.

That Facebook comment is a distraction from spending quality time with your kids.

You warm bed is a distraction from your morning workout.

The fight you had with your spouse last night is a distraction from this mornings meeting.

That text message is a distraction from the road you are driving on right now.

Next months vacation is a distraction from todays deep work.

And that big project is a distraction from this week’s vacation.

We could go on and on. Almost everything has the potential to be a distraction at some point.

This means that we must sharpen our focus. Learn to work on the thing in front of us and ignore everything else.

This will allow us to get more done AND to be more present in each moment.

Destroy distractions. Remove them from your life. Do it for yourself, your work, and for everyone who loves you.

“To change your life you need to change your priorities.”
– Mark Twain, kinda sorta*.

You can make great progress towards your goals by simply looking at your behaviors and making changes that line up with your goals.

Want to lose weight?

Then make a daily walk, run, or workout a priority. Remove the junk food from your house. Delete the Dominos app off your phone. Do that for a month and see what happens.

Want to be a better parent?

Then prioritize spending quality time with your kids. Turn off your phone and the TV during your focused kid time. Make yourself unavailable to the outside world during that time. Do this on a daily basis. In twenty years you’ll be glad you did.

Want to learn a new skill?

Then buy a book about it. Sign up for a course. Pay attention and take notes. Practice. Get better. A short period of dedicated study each day can improve your knowledge and skill level in no time flat.

The life you live is shaped by your habits. And your habits are a reflection of your priorities.

Change your priorities and you can change your life.

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* Mark Twain never actually said this, as best as I can tell. But he did say something similar to it, and that’s the quote that lives on today.

“The future is not something you wait for. It’s something you create”
– Mel Robbins

You can wait on your dreams to come true. You can hope for good things to show up out of nowhere.

Or you can get off your ass and chase your dreams. You can work towards your goals. You can do your very best to bend the world to your will.

Which one of these options will get you closer to the things you want?

Which one will empower you? Which one will give you agency over your future?

And which one will leave you full of anxiety, sadness and desperation?

You know the answer.

The choice is yours.

Will you wait on a future that will likely never appear?

Or will you go create the life that you want?

“You are exactly what you believe and think about all day long. Constantly monitor your thoughts.”
– Dave Kekich

I’ve always struggled with negative self talk.

My brain has always been full of thoughts like these.
“Your stupid.”
“You aren’t good enough”
“It’s hopeless. Why even try.”

The list went on and on. Those thoughts and beliefs stripped me of any power, any motivation to improve my situation in life.

But a few weeks ago I started monitoring my internal dialogue. I made a point of recognizing and eliminating negative thoughts.  

It’s taken some work, and I’m not perfect. But now I tell myself to “Shut the hell up” several times a day.

It’s not the best thing to tell myself, but its definitely better than “You suck.” 

Humans will believe almost any message if we hear it repeated enough. So why do we engage in the self sabotage of negative and destructive self talk? 

Make it a point to monitor your thoughts. Recognize the hurtful things you say to yourself. Cut out the negative thoughts that make you doubt yourself. 

I promise it won’t take long before you see a change in yourself.