The end of the year is the time when most celebrate their achievements and look back on the past with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Do you feel a bit cynical at this time, or feel that your life is going nowhere? Then it’s time to refocus.
What it means to focus and refocus
To focus is to concentrate energy and effort on something specific; to direct your attention and effort towards a specific activity or goal. To find focus in your life is to assess what is important in your life, to get rid of that which is not or does not justify your attention and time, and to guide your efforts towards your priorities.
But we live life at a silly pace and with many distractions, and it is easy to lose your focus or drift off course. By refocusing you revisit your focus; you take stock of where your life is going and, if you need to, you change direction or shift the emphasis of your life to realign with your priorities.
Importance of focus
Best-selling author and lecturer Cheryl Richardson believes focus to be the secret to success. She says finding focus allows us to be more productive and effective, challenges us to go more deeply into the task at hand and bring forth more creative insight and wisdom.
“Too often we try to ‘cover all the bases’, respond to every opportunity … in the hope of striking success. But the truth is long-term, sustainable success often comes from the ability to stay focused on one project or goal at a time.”
Consider this…
Cheryl says as humans we naturally want to pursue many interests or travel several paths at once, but she makes a strong argument for finding focus. “When you expend your energy in several directions, you weaken the power behind one.”
Our Employee Wellbeing Programme (EAP) is available 24 hours a day of you wanted to know more about refocusing your life.
Sources:
Richardson, Cheryl. 2000. Life Makeovers. Broadway Books
www.humankinetics.com
www.theenhancelife.com
www.thefreedictionary.com
www.merriam-webster.com