Playing with Relentless Focus

The greater the challenge you are facing, the greater the need to focus.

Whether it’s a goal you are trying to achieve or relationship you are trying to navigate, it’s probably a challenge because you either aren’t sure if, or how you can get the results you want, or you aren’t getting the results you want … yet.

In both cases, this can bring up all kinds of emotions – fear, panic, terror, frustration, intrigue, curiosity, excitement. Some people are energized by challenge and drive toward it. Others are overwhelmed or move away from it, if it appears to be too much. The key is perspective. How are you holding this challenge in your mind?

Even if you are the kind of person who loves a big challenge, you may still find yourself experiencing a range of emotions. Sometimes you may not be aware of your emotions and have your mind in overdrive on a push toward overcoming that challenge. If so, you may miss somethings with a linear relentless focus.

It is at this time, I recommend you put on your mindfulness hat and stop, pause, breathe and notice what is going on – with you and the other people involved. Lean into the situation with a more relaxed attention and you may notice some ways in which you are getting in your own way.

Relentless focus helps in striving to overcome challenges but, it doesn’t have to be intense and hard driving. It can have more of a quality of being relaxed, aware, consistent and persistent.
Try a different stance – perhaps more playful – just for today and notice if anything shifts.

At Sage Leadership, we are catalysts and enablers helping leaders maintain focus while facing significant personal or organizational challenges. Please contact us for a complimentary strategy session.

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

Magic Monday: Part 1 of 3 – One Thought Experiment: Noticing

Words of Manic Monday by The Bangles and modified by Susan Shaner. Musician: Dan Brodax.

Where can you find the magic at work today?

One of the most significant things I’ve learned is: 95% of our thoughts are repetitive. We keep telling ourselves the same thing over and over and over again. This one thought, or pattern of thinking, is always working on us – either in the foreground or background of our mind – consciously or unconsciously. This thinking pattern creates our world – always moving us toward what it is we keep telling ourselves.

I’m a yoga and meditation teacher. This is not my day job but a part-time vocation that supports me and my work as a leadership and success coach. The tools enable me to live a more empowered life by giving me more clarity, focus and peace everyday. Once I experienced such benefits myself, I felt called to teach others. So, teaching was not a goal I set out to accomplish. It emerged and evolved from my own painful journey of learning how to define and achieve success on my terms, not necessarily how society defines it.

My invitation to you is to work with this concept that your mind is largely ruled by this one thought, or a pattern of thinking, that is either serving you in where you want to go – or not. This is a three-week journey we are embarking upon – a little experiment to make headway in managing your mind to work more effectively for you.

This week’s assignment is to JUST NOTICE. Just notice what the thought or thought pattern is. When your boss comes gives you a new assignment…when your spouse throws a surprise at you…when you are confronted with a challenge at home or at work…When you have nothing in particular going on, where does your mind go?

Just NOTICE, nothing else. You may want to keep a notepad or journal with you to take notes. At first, you may not notice a pattern – but keep tracking and I’ll follow up and check-in Friday.

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.