A client recently told me, “I didn’t find the time to do your writing this weekend.” I went off a bit. You don’t lose time I reminded him. You choose how you invest your time. Talk to me like a man and speak ccd something like, “I chose to invest my weekend with family and will get my exceptional writing done by wednesday or whatever the date is.” Make that a done so habit change I told him. And, remember, you are only cheating you when you don’t find the time to slow down and reflect. You are cheating you…
My client went on to explain to me he doesn’t do good with quiet. He gets depressed and kinda anxious with quiet, he continued. I reminded him the untrained brain, when given quiet time, defaults to fud(fears, uncertainties and doubts). So, I told him, you sound about normal. Normal, by the way, is not good. He, like the vast majority of normal Americans, is addicted to noise and busyness. He believes he is working at his best when he divides his mind. He believes he can multi-task people and projects. He believes optimal performance, today, requires that he learn how to multi-task more texts, more tweets, more calls, more meetings, more projects, more teammates, and more games. He is normal.
And, sadly, so is his brain. Your brain, when it’s functionally optimally, is deeply focused on one thing. Do not miss this. This could be HUGE. Your brain works best when it is focused on one thing.
One thing.
Don’t believe me. Trust, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who coined the term “flow,” which represents your brain working at its absolute best. Flow only arrives when the brain is going in one direction according to Mihaly. Trust Daniel Goleman, author of the book titled Focus where he speaks similarly as follows:
“The optimal brain state for getting work done well is marked by greater neural harmony – rich, well-timed interconnection among diverse brain areas. In this state, ideally, the circuits needed for the task at hand are highly active while those irrelevant are quiescent, with the brain precisely attuned to the demands of the moment. When our brains are in this zone we are more likely to perform at our personal best whatever our pursuit.”
Want to train your brain? Start by focusing your attention properly. Normal brains are focused on their outer life, others lives, and next to never on their inner life. High performers have flipped their focus. First things first, remember.
Inner. Other. Outer.
Focus your attention inward, first. Think of this as if you are listening to the flight attendant when she tells you to put on your oxygen mask, FIRST. Next you need to look up from iPhone and focus your attention on the significant others with you. Most distractions that derail performances are emotional ones. Today, most of those are rooted in disconnects with loved ones. Lastly, focus your attention on your system. See all the connections from you to your team to your market and beyond. A lack of inner focus leads to a rudderless leader. A lack of other focus leads to a clueless leader. And, a lack of outer focus leads to a sudden system surprise. Yikes. This leader has just been blindsided.
You need to build your second nature, my friend. You need to start within, continue with others, and finally become a student of your system. You are a house divided and it starts with a mind divided. Focus yours. Start now. Wanna know how?
Write. Write. And, write some more. Clarity will come. Most likely it will come suddenly in the form of surprise. These kind of surprises we call insights. We could use a few more leaders with some illumination. Be ONE…
BUILT TO LEAD 