Practicing Brutal Focus

Focus, Focus, Focus.

One of my all time favorite blogs, Copyblogger, recently had a great post about mastering the craft of writing. (No small topic there!) One of the tips was...Focus, focus, focus. Quite an applicable tip not only for mastering writing, but for mastering life.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what it means to practice peacefulness. (A little daunting.) It seems that "practicing brutal focus," as Copyblogger puts it, is a key to practicing peacefulness.

Focus, focus, focus.

Our list of to-do's each day grows longer and longer and ultimately distracts us from the important things we should be focused on. Important work takes a back seat to whichever tasks, even unimportant ones, scream the loudest.

What are all the things that have filled our day that are essentially just distractions that should be ignored? Part of cultivating peacefulness, efficiency, and purpose means deciding what things are relevant to take in and what things we have to let go of and tune out.

Ignoring something doesn't necessarily mean you're ignorant.

Focus, focus, focus.

Focusing is a choice. When we choose to say yes to anything (yes to our health, yes to our family, yes to doing great work) we are inevitably choosing to say no to something (no to what's on tv tonight, no to another activity that demands our time.) Saying no to certain things is ok. In fact, necessary. Having priorities and giving 100% to something means saying no to one thing and yes to that priority.

I want the time and energy to do the things that matter. And as the time of year comes where the world's noise is off the charts and my to-do list is longer than ever, I'm taking the challenge to wake up each day and be focused, focused, focused. On the things that matter.