Are You Focused on Being Busy or Being Accomplished?

It’s time to get out of the blender.

To say we live in the information age is an understatement.

However, just because we have an overwhelming buffet of distractions, doesn’t mean we need to consume all of it.

And yet it can be quite addicting, and we can be self-deluding.

In short, what we’ve gained in information, we’ve lost in focus.

We confuse being busy with being accomplished.

Being busy feels like we’re getting things done, but in many ways, it’s a myth. So when will we truly learn that, and change accordingly?

In working with leaders, I;ve seen that the accomplished ones do three things:

Step 1
They slow down. Why? See step 2.

Step 2
So they can reflect and focus. It’s one thing if the world around us is swirling around at a million miles an hour, but do we really need to jump in the blender and swim with that torrent?

Use whichever metaphor pleases you the most: merry-go-round, the blender, the whirlpool, etc. At some point, we need to pull ourselves off or out so we can stand apart from the mayhem that we may or may not have inflicted upon ourselves.

Being busy does not equate with being accomplished.

Accomplished leaders reflect and focus on the important work. They are zealous about protecting their time, and ensure they focus on the right work. And with the proper focus, they then…

Step 3
Commit to accomplishing the important. The clarity of focus they establish fuels their commitment to achieving their goals, without attending to the distractions that inevitably come.

The distractions will come; they’re unavoidable. But unless one slows down, stands apart from the maelstrom, and establishes the proper focus and ensuing commitment, one can only hope that they are somehow carried in the proper direction of one’s goals.

And that’s a lot to hope for.