Overcome Distractions
You probably have this on your to-do list, but you are so distracted you haven’t had the time to scratch it off. How to Overcome Distractions: Good vs. Evil Distractions…you decide. What if you got your distractions under control and actually allowed yourself to become the woman you want to be, have the life & biz you seek, live in a body you adore, slept through the night without those f’ing god awful 2 a.m. horror thoughts…..
what if you could stop that racing mind and pounding heartbeat and actually love your good distractions and say good bye to the bad?
Breath that thought in for a moment…..
what would my life look like if I actually loved it? What would it feel like to eliminate my worries and remove myself from all the mental suffering I go through daily? How does your body feel? What comes up for you? {feel the feeling}
We bought a 1936 home we have finally finished remodeling within the last month. Yes, I had no kitchen from the middle of January to August 3. Redoing an entire house, inside & out has been a distraction from my long list of other “to-do’s”. You know the other list because your probably have a similar one…
- organize clothing
- clean purse
- decide on Christmas presents
- work out
- take great care of myself
- nap
- read a novel {feel the feeling, smiling, laughing crying…allowing yourself to get lost in the pleasure of the book}
And I could add to this as I am sure you could. What stuck me one day is this fact: the “other list” are actually things I love to do. They are the things that allow my mind to relax. They are things that make feel good deposits in my soul, in my body and in my busy brain. Make my life complete. In fact, they are distractions.
Those days where you are so very busy, maybe even obnoxiously so as in, “oh my GAUD Susy, I am so crazy busy” seeking the touchstone of another woman’s commiseration with why you aren’t doing the real important stuff to take care of yourself. No, instead we oft times say yes to all kinds of nothings that in fact distract us from the “other list”. As in:
- rearranging files on your computer {feel the feeling, why are you saving so much useless crap?}
- trying to do things you could outsource or delegate, but you rationalize that you can do it all, even if you are terrible at them.
- staring at social media…cuz holy shit did you see how that guy almost got hit by a car, or the cute sleeping kittens makes me smile just thinking about it
- not doing your work/business to-do list, not calling clients, not getting your marketing TIGHT, not reaching out to support partners…
- saying yes to the wrong speaking gig, the PTA mom who doesn’t work and wants 100 cupcakes.
- eating some left over cupcakes {feel the feeling of that waist band}
- shing object…watch out over there
- just sitting and doing busy nothingness
- staying up late
- not calling back a potential client because you feel too busy {feel the feeling}
Get it? So the question is this, are distractions good for you? Do you really need to overcome distractions? Yes and no. The house project was intense. I can honestly say diving back into my business feels easy compared to the last 18 months of overseeing this dream of mine. (that whole careful what you dream about…is true!) I was literally, and I do mean literally TOO distracted to even work. I was brain dead, tired…had a bad case of decision fatigue.
Did you even know that is a term? In this case, I could say the house distraction was an actual reason why I didn’t work on my business. So was this good? Distractions are good if they give you fuel to do the stuff you need to do after the distraction.
Distractions are bad if they take away your motivation for doing what needs to get done, or if they wear you out, or if they are causing you more stress or if you are in a place of wondering why you can’t get anything done and yet are not willing to look at what meaning YOU assign to your distractions. Because really, it’s all what meaning you assign to the distraction. And I have never met a woman who is using healthy/good/beneficial distractions in a way that is hampering her success in other areas of her life.
And I have met 100’s of women who use those bad distractions from keeping them from really having a big, bold life & biz. The kind they jump out of bed for. The kind they have to pinch themselves because it is so good. Every one of us needs those fuel infusing distractions and every one of us needs to take a step back and be honest with ourselves about those bad/negative/non-helpful distractions.
BOLD ACTIONS:
Review the Good vs. Evil Distractions…you decide.
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Schedule some real time on your calendar, at least until you have your distractions under control. Yes, like a day, or 1/2 a day at least. I know when I have VIP days with clients and we focus 100% on what they want out of their life & their biz…well, it’s new for them…and liberating to “actually take a day for myself”. I love these days with clients and am honored that they allow me to be a part of this huge growth! {feel the feeling}
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Brain purge for life & biz: yeah, get all of that stuff you have racing around in your head down on paper. Now, I am one who likes a good spiral notebook and a black flair pen at first and then put it into my calendar or organize it in Asana (yeah, that Asana thing is a work in progress, just to be clear)
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Life Brain Purge List: First I look at what I have coming up for “Mary wants to get done” for example: pilates class, 12 minutes of meditation a day, tracking my workouts/food, knitting, Interesting, then what is on River’s busy schedule, ask John, thing about what vacations, misc. house projects etc., volunteering, stuff I said yes to now and in the future (girl scout leader, home room mama etc.)
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Biz Brain Purge List: Marketing, client calls, new program, Facebook Ad copy, Images….review P&L, you get this idea.
Now, what can you scratch off? And don’t say nothing, that’s bull. Maybe by scratching it off you are delegating it, realizing it is not important to your big dream/goal, maybe you can push it out on the calendar, maybe you can seek help because it’s something you are wasting time on that you suck at.
Get real with yourself. Have a sally come to jesus moment. Look, you can do more than you even know. But you have got to get rid of the shitty distractions and embrace the glorious, life fueling ones or you know the truth…. you’re gonna regret it. You’re gonna be pissed that you wasted time. Because you KNOW THE TRUTH! You know you’ve got the power to change…and maybe, just maybe because YOU KNOW THE TRUTH you are scared by it and don’t know how to handle it, to own it, to embrace it.
YOU ARE POWERFUL to create whatever the hell you want in your life. YOU. HAVE. THE. POWER.
A book that may be of help…The Art of Stillness, Pico Iyer. Learning to stay connected all while we unplug.
P.S. can I be open with you? I am working on this distraction thing. I am working on removing the mindless bullshit distractions that take away from me fully, 100% allow myself to enjoy my life. Yeah, my kick ass wonderful life. Allowing myself to enjoy it without signing up for one more thing to do, without vegging out in front of the t.v. or not working out or eating or shopping, all the things that keep me numb to my old way of thinking that somehow being happily married, or having a great kid, or having a gorgeous home or successful biz….that old way of thinking that, old whisper of somehow I don’t deserve it, or somehow I’m not worthy of it. And how crazy is that???? BECAUSE I CREATED THIS LIFE!! I worked for it. I thought about it. I planned it. I took the action to have it show up….and why would I not yummy that up??? I am powerful. Yet, sometimes I put a lid on it. Can you relate? thanks for letting me share…more to come on this topic! Mary
