V

#NWN

In this new media age where information takes shape in many different forms, our fingertips are prone to either swipe, tap or type at any moment. We are enticed to take part in latest trends, social events or things which work on our self-image — Who we are.
That’s fair; nobody should work work work, and not live a little. The thing is, it is easy for us to be drawn into the latest news, entertainment or affairs because of how easily accessible they are, but then be drawn away from the projects, objectives or task we aim to complete on a day-to-day basis.

This is a problem; a problem which centers around:

Both such key abilities in which we need to control, but struggle to do so. Sometimes, the struggle stems from our incapability to ignore the distractions in our lives; The times when we allow our minds to wander from one thing to the next. At other times, it is our incapability as humans to “Miss Out” on things.

But what is the bigger issue at hand?

To be able to hold the awareness of our minds on one point, one place, one time, without wavering insinuates that fixing your mind is one of the most important abilities to control, in order to complete even the simplest of tasks in your day to day life… A lack of it is, therefore, the greater issue at hand. Without such control, we will not get past the simplest of tasks in order to attack bigger projects on the horizon. We are in danger of being left in stages of incompleteness when dealing with the majority of our daily projects or targets. In this age, we are constantly susceptible to the internet, or TV, or social events. But it is in these things that our failing lies. They are detrimental to us when they create the “I’ll complete it later” mindset or the “I’ll do it another time” attitude. But to avoid this we have to “Miss Out”!

1st Key: Fishing out what should be the focus.

In all walks in life, even aside from projects or tasks, fishing helps to decipher what is the most important (where our focus should be) and what is the least, at a point in time. Let us use being in the GYM for example. Being on our phones in the gym browsing through social media is a distraction; counterproductive to the fitness goals we may be trying to achieve by being there in the first place. Recognizing how essential fitness is helps us discern where our focus ought to be at that moment. This then translates to our desire to work harder when working out. Our focus is then directly on fitness, our concentration won’t waver because we HONE IN on working out.

Away from fitness, whatever it may be, how long we concentrate on a task in order to see it through then comes down to the question: “does this matter?”

In tasks, our work ethic will increase depending on the weight we assign to it. A greater weight of importance, in comparison to a lower weight, will command a certain level of concentration in order to complete it. On something of high importance, the mindset of “I’ll do it up to here and complete it later” then becomes something we cannot afford to have. We gain a realized control over our thoughts and thought processes, making sure that we HONE IN and complete.

2nd Key: Conserving the energy we exert on what we cannot control

Let’s take our Gym example again. Being on our phone in the gym browsing through social media is a distraction, wasting energy on social media, social media being something we cant control. At such a time, the energy we exert to that should be little to none. To reach the fitness goals we’re trying to achieve, we have to shift our energy to what we can control, here being the amount we work out. We cannot adopt the “I’ll do it another time” attitude for the amount we work out at that point in time because firstly, in the gym, time is of the essence, and secondly, someone else may be waiting to use the cross-trainer.

Shifting our energy into what we can control and create is the approach that should then be taken in all things. As much as we may waver, we must never let the distractions reach the intense point in which we remove ourselves and our thinking from our initial aim/task/project/goal… at that point in time. Becoming more focused is a skill that requires practice and patience. The goal is to make it easier to become more resistant when distractions attack us, remember what we’re working to achieve and what we can afford to “Miss Out” on…