Loving Monday: Focusing on Distractions
I’m sitting next to a gentleman this morning who is preparing for the LSAT.
The exam isn’t for another three months, but he is hard at work. He is laser focused on his preparations with an intensity that I envy.
I, of course, interrupted him in spite of his concentration, and discovered that he is passionate about the law and deeply motivated to do whatever it takes to get into the field. He finds the competition intimidating but not overwhelming.
Two things stand out. He knows what he wants. He is focusing his energy and efforts on getting what he wants.
Both of these things relate to him and not to the others against whom he is forced to compete. He is focused on his efforts, not on the quantity or quality of the others.
I reflect on my own dreams and aspirations as I think about this gentleman’s.
Am I focused on what I want and what I am doing to get what I want? Or am I looking at the crowded field of competitors in whose company I try to distinguish myself?
I’m currently reading a pre-release version of a book by Alan Fine (for which I will be writing a separate review), that speaks articulately about the importance of focus.
It’s interesting how other people, events, circumstances, stories, internalized beliefs, social myths, personal moods, economic factors, etc. etc. demand our attention and in the process shift, distract, and otherwise distort our ability to focus where we would like.
What has your attention this morning as you begin this new week? Can you articulate one particular thing? Are you inundated by a multitude of issues, problems and changing circumstances?
In the midst of your complex reality, how might you sift and sort, discern and triage, and ultimately choose one line of action on which to focus?
The gentleman next to me—for whatever he is not getting done this morning—is hard at work studying for his upcoming exam. And for that alone, I both admire him and have stopped interrupting him so that he can get back to achieving what he intends.
