Jolt! by Phil Cooke (whitelam books .TXT) 📕

ideas, stories, and illustrations that help whatever challenges I happen to be facing at the time. I’ve discovered that if I wait until morning, I’ll forget the idea, because our thinking is very delicate during dream states. It’s very hard to remember the first things that come to mind after waking—especially in the middle of the night. So keep a notebook by your bed and get into the habit of writing down what comes to mind as soon as you wake up.

» WHAT DISTRACTIONS ARE KEEPING YOU FROM ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS?

Is it a personal problem, like laziness, lack of ambition, the tug of pornography, the lure of the party life, or the well-meaning disturbance of good friends who want more of your time? Or what about business distractions, like spending too much time on the Internet, talking with coworkers, the wrong office environment, poor equipment, being hypercritical of the company, or a host of other issues?

I recently worked with one client who was hyperattentive to the minutest details. Taking normal care of fine points is important, but this executive took it to the extreme. Whenever we would turn in a report or a television program, he would take enormous time to view it and send us a list of every possible error, inconsistency, or problem. I’m talking way over the top here—crooked staples in the report, minor grammar issues, a bad frame of video (keep in mind that video has thirty frames per second), or the slightest audio deviation. We produce programs of the highest quality, but in thirty years of producing, I’d never experienced anything like this guy.

Then one day he came to me exhausted and overworked. He was complaining of all the responsibilities of his job and how he desperately needed help. I shared with him the idea that he might be allowing his manic attention to details to become a distraction. Anyone spending that much time looking for microscopic problems would wear himself out. Apparently, in his extreme effort to look good to the president, he was killing himself trying to find anything that might get him noticed. But his enormous effort to find tiny issues no one else would ever see was keeping him from focusing on the most significant parts of his job.

We’ll discuss distractions in more detail in a later chapter, but for now, whatever your distractions may be, begin today to fill the void with something you can positively focus on. Identify your areas of distraction and start relentlessly practicing focus.

» TAKE THE INITIATIVE TO CHANGE YOUR SITUATION.

Too many people complain and expect someone else to solve their problems. Perhaps your desk isn’t right, you have a slow computer, or your office is too cramped, and you’re waiting for the company to make the change.

You may not be able to afford making major changes yourself, but I would urge you to consider the steps you can take right now. Perhaps you can’t afford a faster computer, but you could offer to split the cost with the company. After all, if your computer is keeping you from doing excellent work, being noticed, and getting a promotion, then what are you accomplishing by waiting? Learn to take control of your story because if you don’t, someone else will.

Is your office arranged in the most productive way? Is your desk located in a place where every person who walks by your door is a distraction? Are you too open for interruptions? If you have an assistant, is he or she helping you maximize your focus?

Another key to learning focus is what I call the field of vision. Your field of vision is the immediate issues you face during the day—literally, what you are seeing. One of the keys to maintaining focus is to keep the things you’re focusing on in your field of vision at all times. I’ve discovered that most people are visual learners. We live in a culture that has moved from a text-based culture to a visually based culture.

Whatever you want to focus on, keep it directly in front of you in the form of pictures, objects, or files. Keep it in your field of vision.

I have two sets of files in my office. My assistant keeps the master file in the cabinets outside her office, but I keep files for immediate projects on my desk. I can see them, think about them, and if I’m not doing something about them, those files act as a constant reminder. Our production supervisor keeps an updated list of our projects, my assistant keeps my to-do list, and they both make a practice of making sure I see those lists on a regular basis. By keeping those projects in my field of vision, it helps me eliminate anything else that may be competing for my time.

Make a list of the top five things that you feel you need to focus on right now. Once you get those projects, priorities, or issues on the list, begin to eliminate any distractions that would keep you from intense, focused concentration on accomplishing those changes in your life. Finally, keep those items in your field of vision. Keep the list on your desk, or better yet, keep physical reminders in front of you. If it’s a book you need to read, keep it in your bag; if it’s a project, keep the folder on your desk. Begin today practicing the power of focus and let it begin to clarify the changes and goals that will keep you on the journey toward change.

» JOLT #10

A CHANGE OF HABIT

Breaking Destructive Patterns of Behavior

The second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half.

—FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY, RUSSIAN NOVELIST

A dictionary defines habit as “a recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.” But there’s also a negative definition for the word habit: “an addiction—especially to a narcotic drug.”

Habit is a powerful thing—much