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Focus: reaching our goals

There are no parts of life that focus is not needed.  It does not matter if we are playing a game or doing the specialized work of a doctor or scientist.  But in fact many of us have problems focusing on the task at hand as we think about all the other things going on in our lives.  

I would like to think for a few minutes about the things that really need our focus.  For each of us those things may be different, but I would think that it is possible that many of them may be the same.  Who would not say that focusing on our family and health are two of the most important.  Yet for many children today the average amount of time their parents spend with them alone without interruption from media and other distractions may only be 8 minutes per week.  

Our health is another area that we could all agree needs our focus.  Yet our eating habits and workout schedule may be pushed to the side due to us focusing on other matters.  So many times I have parents tell me how healthy they and their children eat, yet both parent and child are not at a healthy weight.  So what is it that you want to focus on?   What are the most important things in your life?  

One of the things that will help us focus on our ‘most important’ things is by setting goals.  With a goal that is specific and with a completion date our mind can focus to reach that goal.  General goals do not help us focus.  Specific goals however concentrate our energy on the stated goal.  

Goal setting, focus and commitment to them is something I work on all the time.  In fact I invite you to join with me in that regard.  I believe that having ‘teammates’ is an important part of keeping our focus and reaching our goals and holding us accountable.  I am here and ready to do that with anyone that wants the support.  Of course it will be a two way thing, as in any team, both of us will benefit. 

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Dependability: time management

Each one of us play out a number of roles in our daily life.  It does not matter if we are 5 years old or 55.  Think about it – if you are 5 years old you could be a sibling, student in school and one or two extracurricular activities, grandchild, friend, and you may have been asked to be responsible for something in your church or other social group.

If you are a teen and adult it just multiplies.  We have our roles at work, friendships, citizens, students, family and more.  Each one makes demands on us that we find ourselves making commitments to and promises.  At time we feel stressed because in trying to be ‘dependable’ we may feel stretched too thin and may even feel like we do not have enough free time for our selves.

If we are going to be dependable and keep our commitments we must first be balanced and moderate in the things we promise.  One of the things that always surprises me is how much time a task takes that I thought would take so much less time. 

So in fact it is about time management and priorities.  If we want to be a powerful leader we must only make promises that we are able to keep.  Here is a quick hint I received from something I read recently.

Write down what you need to accomplish the next day –  the night before.
Choose the 3 most important things that will have the largest impact on your business, life or family
Tackle the biggest and hardest one first thing in the morning and stay with it until it is complete.

You will feel great about it and be able to do the other items easier, knowing that big one is complete.   More on time management later.  If you are going to be dependable though, it is most important to know when and how to say no and not to overload yourself.  

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Continuing to learn

This morning I sit in a hotel room anxiously awaiting the start of this day. Today is the first day of a 4 day workshop / seminar with Anthony Robbins. When I first signed up for this I was happy that I had but not nearly as excited by the idea as I am now. Here is the reason.
In the month of February I took an 8 hour workshop on time management with the Franklin Quest facilitator. I thought going in I knew about time management – I thought I knew the Steven Covey message. Coming out of it though I realized that I did not know as much as I thought I did. in fact since that time I have become more productive. Not in the sense of how much I am getting done. No rather in the sense of how many important things I am getting done.
It has allowed me to have accomplishments and not feel stressed doing it. Now here I am at the threshold of a new workshop. I come into this one too, thinking I know a little about Tony Robbins message. Will I come away with a whole new picture? Will I be as renewed and reinvigorated as a white belt seeing this stuff for the first time?
I am approaching it as a white belt, with an empty cup, ready to be taught and ready to accept and practice what I learn. If any of you have ever thought about attending a seminar that you thought may impact you, I would encourage you to do so. The money spent doing it will no doubt be well worth it. It is also a great example to your students – that you are still working on yourself too. I will tell you about my experience as the days go by.

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Kids and Creativity

I have included the word Art in our tag line, first because what we are teaching is an art, but only one art among so many.  I happen to believe that art is one of the most important things that we have as a society.  It does so much for us as humans and especially our children, that when I see it being short changed in the education system, I know that the harmful effects are more than we can imagine.  Here is a short talk that really nailed it on this subject.  
Finally there will be more about our first art show at the studio, that I know I said was off, but I am putting it back in again.  The story on that will be told soon.
 
I have put this under Peace Education.  I believe that before peace can happen in the world or in our lives, we must know how and be allowed to be creative in our approach to solving conflicts.