The #1 Dream Killer (Why Distraction Is Crushing You)
You’re being robbed of your greatness.
You’re being ripped off from your creativity.
You’re being engulfed with lack of clarity.
(And so am I, at least on the days I don’t win.)
And all of these happen for one reason and one reason only:
Distraction.
I know, you’ve heard this before (dude we’re on a blog right now and my notifications are going wild) —I get it.
But the constant noise and desire for interruption and stimulus is the single greatest cost of bringing your dreams to life.
And it’s a slippery slope and battle that has to be managed, because it can’t be won.
(Unless you give up Western life and move to an ashram in the Himalayas —I’ve considered doing that.)
So, how do you do it?
Years ago I found myself in a perpetually distracted state, and I noticed there were key triggers that led me to seek those distractions.
The problem is: it’s now become our status quo, and Goldfish were found to have a greater attention span than us.
So, what to do?
Here’s how I’ve been able to re-wire the game, find peace, clarity, and insane levels of performance (all while running an online business, how ironic…)
And most importantly, how you can do the same.
I. SET YOUR COMPASS FOR THE DAY
Distraction, at its core —comes from an avoidance mechanism from our lack of purpose.
With this in mind, it’s easy to catch ourselves looking for the soothing benefit of being distracted: we can temporarily forget about our problems.
For 95% of people, their lack of clarity leads to endless distraction: if you don’t know what’s important, you’ll fill your day with the non-important.
This is why, every single morning—set your compass and refresh your vision, even if it’s for 5 minutes.
Take yourself to one year from today and what you want to be experiencing —the people, places, feelings and energy.
II. AIRPLANE MODE
Your ego thinks you’re that important, but you’re not: you don’t need to start the day on Twitter.
Starting the day on Airplane Mode has completely shifted my life, and the lives of thousands of clients and followers.
The benefits are endless:
Peace, clarity, some much needed you time, space to think, etc.
If you’re new to this, start with your first 30 minutes of the day without technology, and make yourself completely unavailable.
III. BUILD THE NEW ADDICTION
Years ago, I took a solo trip to Costa Rica for 9 days. On the way to the airport, my heart sunk:
I’d left my phone at home.
Frantic, I asked the driver to take us back.
(I was living in New York, and I knew I would never make it.)
So I took the trip without the phone and spent hours reading, daydreaming and connecting with the local community.
After a few painful days, I realized I didn’t want to touch my phone ever again. I had started to shift the addiction away from noise —to peace and presence.
If you catch yourself checking Instagram every three minutes —take it off your phone.
Turn off all notifications, pings, noises and sounds. You will start to build a new and powerful addiction.
IV. SET BOUNDARIES
“But…what if they need me?”
They don’t. What needs you is energy vampires, endless distractions, requests and other people’s agendas.
Make it work for you, but set boundaries and communicate with people who you know will reach out about what you’re doing and why.
When I owned my fitness business, I rented office space a mile away. My employees thought I was crazy —we had a 6500 square foot space after all.
They didn’t get “it” —I needed a place to work on the business, not in.
I don’t know about you, but thumping speakers playing Kanye West and barbells smashing on the ground isn’t the best environment for long term planning.
Start Today and Watch What Happens
I’m often asked for the one hack, the one tip to transform your life and business:
This is it.
Robin Sharma, leadership expert —sums it up perfectly:
“Addiction to distraction is the death of creative production.”
We’re not lacking dreamers, and those with big and bold ambitions in 2018.
What we’re lacking is a deep level of focus, and every day it gets a little harder to manage.
I’d love to hear about your relationship to noise, and how you manage it every single day in the comments.
