By Darrel L. Hammon
Focusing on what you need to do and doing it will always bring clarity to your tasks.
Have you been at a loss lately to find focus and clarity in your life? During these times of both challenges and marvels, we tend to wonder where our focus is and whether there is any clarity. What cannot happen is that we give up and fade off into oblivion, just getting up—or even not getting up—in the morning and moping around the house, always wishing things would change but doing nothing about it.
The following seven principles/suggestions are (almost) surefire ways to find focus and clarity. The (almost) comes in if you read them, force a big yawn, and do nothing. If you want to do something to help, read on. Even if you have an inkling you want to do better, read it twice.
- Always look holistically at everything. (Focus on the big picture!)
Challenges emerge when we do not look and focus on the big picture—your future. Yes, there are lots of details in anything that we do. The rub comes when we focus only on the details and get lost in the minutia. It is like climbing into one of those deep pits full of little balls, red, white and blue, trying to find just the few blue ones and submerging ourselves into the pit in the process. All else fades into darkness, and we cannot tell the blue ones from the white ones or even the red ones, for that matter. The safe bet is to lift up your head and scan the entire area. Seeing holistically will always keep your mind and eyes open to the realm of possibilities. It’s ultimately like standing on a high mountain on a cloudless day and seeing forever in any direction. Ah, the beauty of a holistic view! Make sure your future is always in your sights.
- Accept that you can succeed.
One of the key ingredients in the acceptance process is understanding that you can overcome challenges. Sure, there will always be a boatload of challenges that seem to dock in your path, some by your own choices, others because some people place them there, and still a few others that just seem to appear out of nowhere and try to sabotage you. You just need to accept those challenges and know that with patience and diligence, you will succeed. The marvelous thought that should come to you is that you can succeed because you choose to succeed.
- Determine what you really need to do .
Some of us spend too much time on weighting a zillion things we can do or must do. While it is important to spend time thinking about things, at some point you have to determine what you really want to do or what needs to be done. I know a person who says I need to do this, but the moment she begins to walk to get that thing done, she gets distracted by some other thing that needs to be completed. Consequently, nothing gets done, and then she complains that she did not finish what she started to do. So, sit down, consider all of the things you need to do and want to do, write them down, and then prioritize through planning.
- Plow forward with all effort.
Once you determine what you want to do, just begin doing it by plowing forward with all effort. I have discovered that once you climb out of your shell or lethargy and just begin, you will find that it is exhilarating to be out and about doing what you have determined to do. There is something invigorating about accomplishing what you have determined to do. Just keep moving forward—no matter what. At times, you may not be able to go as fast as you would like, but continue to plow forward.
- Take advantage of the tools around you.
Knowing that you can succeed is enhanced by utilizing the tools that surround you. So, what are those tools? Most of the time we cannot really do things by ourselves—even brushing our teeth. We do need a toothbrush, toothpaste, and usually a mirror. Succeeding is attending that class that will help us, or finding some pertinent reading material off the web or checked out from the library, or joining that free seminar offered by one of our colleagues or someone in the same business group—a snippet here, a bit of information there. Don’t be shy about using it to help you become even more focused and clear about your goals and aspirations. Just gather the tools up as you go. Don’t forget, though, to share your tools with others.
- Be positive and stick to it.
Of course, when the challenges do come—and they will come, usually in bunches—you will need to be positive and stay positive. Now, this means a bit of pragmatism and reality need to align. The pragmatic person sees things in a realistic way because they know that things happen. That’s just the way it is. When you align pragmatism with positivity, you gain a sense of stick-to-it-ness. You truly understand that things will happen, and your positivity will propel you forward beyond any negativity. Period.
- Utilize mentors. (Let appropriate people help you.)
One of the important things to stay focused is finding a mentor or two who can help you stay on track. There really are lots of people who want to help you. True mentors will help people. I am not saying that you have to call them every single day to “check in.” Most mentors are there when you need them. They are not a crutch for you. Rather, they help boost you forward, giving you wings and motivation to go and do. Then, when someone asks you for help, please reciprocate. You will feel ennobled.
Focusing on what you need to do and doing it will always bring clarity to your tasks. Often, the clarity is so transparent you may think it is a newly cleaned window that allows you to see farther than you have ever seen. If the dimness ever reemerges, quickly take the effective, more focused and holistic view of things and the lucidity will engulf you.
Darrel L. Hammon has been dabbling in writing in a variety of genres since his college days, having published poetry, academic and personal articles/essays, a book titled Completing Graduate School Long Distance (Sage Publications), and a picture book, The Adventures of Bob the Bullfrog: Christmas Beneath a Frozen Lake (Outskirts Press). He also was the editor of the Journal of Adult Education (Mountain Plains Adult Education Association). Most of his essay/article writing has focused on topics about growing up, leadership, self-awareness, motivation, marriage/dating, and educational topics. Some of these articles/essays are in Spanish because Darrel is bilingual in Spanish/English, having lived in Chile, Dominican Republic, and southern California, and having worked with Latino youth and families all of his professional life in higher education. He has two blogs, one for personal writing at http://www.darrelhammon.blogspot.com/ and one for his consulting/life coaching business (http://www.hammonconsults.blogspot.com/). You can listen to a poem titled “Sprucing Up” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihTmuOUIAEI.