The Power of Concentrated Effort
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Free Download - Assert Yourself By Julie Fuimano |
Do you feel overwhelmed at times by the sheer number of things you’re managing? Do you find yourself running so fast that you just wish the world would slow down? Has “busy” taken on new meaning leaving you wondering, “is this all life is about, just getting stuff done?”
Perhaps this way of life is what you’ve gotten used to. Over the years you’ve added new people, places and responsibilities to your schedule and your life without removing anything. Now you find yourself overextended.
In my coaching work with clients, I often use the analogy of digging holes. People tend to dig a hundred holes, one foot deep. They have their hands in so many things; they are all over the place. And because there is only so much time and energy in a 24-hour period, their relationships and their commitments are superficial at best – one foot deep. There is only so much time and energy they can give to each of the hundred things they have going.
Living this way has its benefits: you might feel important. You might feel good about having so many interests. You might even enjoy the feeling of being busy sometimes; it gives you a “rush” running on adrenaline all day. It might serve you to run all over the place if you are running from yourself: from past hurts, from current pain, from loneliness. But the fact is that you go with you everywhere you go and the hurt remains, even if it is buried underneath the superficiality of your life.
This way of living also has its downfalls. We know that using adrenaline as an energy source is damaging to our bodies and causes heart attacks and other problems (strokes, insomnia, depression). Running so fast during the day means that at some point you crash; usually it happens at the end of your day when you are ready to spend quality time with your family. Of course, you are not in a condition of quality. Also, juggling so many things takes up a lot of personal RAM or brain bandwidth. Your mind tends to race, even when you are trying to shut down at bedtime. “Peace” is not part of your vocabulary and slowing down seems like more of a dream than a possibility. You also might find that your life lacks meaning.
Instead of trying desperately to manage a hundred different things, what if you were to focus your energy and attention to only a few things, and take it really, really deep? Thirty feet deep. How would that be different?
First of all, you’d have to choose carefully what you want those three or four things to be that you would be willing to spend all of your time and energy on. These could be your relationships, family, community or career. And then, you’d have to give up the 97 other things that take away your attention and use up your time.
You might say that you’d be bored if you only had a few areas of focus. Focusing on a few choice things doesn’t mean you cannot spend limited time doing things that you don’t want to ‘go deep’ with. Perhaps you want to take up a hobby and you only want to play once in awhile. You don’t need to dig a thirty foot hole here; you only want to dig a foot. That’s fine. You just don’t want to have too many of these little holes or they will detract from what you’re trying to accomplish in your life.
And that’s the ticket, right there. What are you trying to accomplish in your life? What do you want your life to mean? If you have one hundred things that you are involved in, what is your purpose? Having so many things in your life allows you to get lost in the distractions, it allows you to hide. It doesn’t allow for depth and for true intimacy, a true knowing of you. It takes you away from being able to focus and commit to mastering your strengths and having really deep relationships.
You learn to live by default when you have no vision for success in your life. Without being on purpose, time ages you without your permission. Learning to concentrate your efforts will help create depth to your life. With a vision for a successful life, you seek meaning in everything you do and learn to do only those things congruent with that vision. You give yourself the space you need to relax and to contemplate life. Specialists also tend to make more money. When you know what you stand for and are able to focus your energies on those things, spending time with people who help bring out your best and share your areas of focus, you learn to be more respectful of yourself – your time, your energy, and your gifts. This is turn, raises your self-confidence, you feel more in control of your life and sure of the direction you are going.
So how do you go from “all over the place” to living a focused and directed life? Three steps will get you started:
1. Become aware of everything you are involved in. How are you spending your time? Most of us walk around unconscious of what we’re doing. Become conscious! Is this the best use of your time, strengths and talents? What is the benefit to you? Awareness is powerful and allows you to make better choices for how you want to invest your time.
2. Say “No” to everything that does not bring you joy. The path to peace and living a life on purpose starts with eliminating everything that does not fit in your vision of success. If you missed the article on creating a vision for success, you can find it on my website at http://www.NurturingYourSuccess.com/Articles.cfm. Ask yourself what you gain by being involved here. By understanding the motivation behind your efforts, you can eliminate emotional needs that drain you of your energy and keep you from living in congruence with your values.
3. And that’s the third step, live according to your values. First, you need to identify your values. What is most important to you in your life? What do you want to orient your life around? Once you’ve identified these, only involve yourself with things and places that offer you the opportunity to express your values.
To learn more about living a life of purpose and managing your time, refer to chapter six and the Time Enjoyment Model© in the book “The Journey Called YOU: A Roadmap to Self-Discovery and Acceptance”. You deserve a great life. Take your time seriously and take care in how you choose to spend – or invest – your time. Learn to concentrate your efforts for a more fulfilling life experience.
The Power of Concentrated Effort - To learn more about this author, visit Julie Fuimano's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is a best-selling author, top-rated speaker and thought leader on sales development. He is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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