Focus matters, and identifying and recognizing what pulls away from focus is critical.

In order to have focus, you have to have vision.

You need to have a goal and aim in mind.

It is said that we are creatures of aim.

Perhaps it is that when aim is missing, things stagnate, and when things stagnate, things clog.

When things clog, they die.

Perhaps then one of the most important skills to acquire, is that of taking a goal that's vague, and learning how to pin it down specifically into details - to next actions that are specific - that are small, that are clear.

Perhaps it means that I've been solving problems the wrong way.

Staring at a problem longer does not necessarily give you the best view of it.

Perhaps all of the signals that I have been ignoring about needing to move, or needing some air, or needing some space, perhaps, in my very attempt to achieve my goal, I've actually deterred myself from it, by not taking a holistic approach.

Goals:

First, who are you? Who are you as a person? Who are you becoming? Who is it that you want to become?

How do you get to a goal?

You move.

You take action.

You do.

You start.

How do you get to your goal?

You keep moving.

You keep doing.

You keep your focus.

There's this concept of "magical time" - that when trying to figure out how long it takes to do a task, you assume it will just take as long as you're given.

Without a baseline connection to time, it's hard to really have any idea of how long to expect, and to plan your time accordingly.

This is where practicing mindfulness and paying attention to time as it passes on a task is extremely helpful. If when you start a task, you first think, "What is the first step?", And also ask, "how long will that take?"

When you get into the habit of this, and do it for everything you do in a day, before long you have a much better grasp of time. You become a lot more aware and in the moment as you go through your day.

Attitude matters.

A downcast attitude will limit your vision, close your perspective, and drain your energy.

An attitude of appreciation and choosing to be thankful, allows you to see beyond the problems, so you can see the next steps clearly.

Knowing your reason, is foundational.

So, what are the things that matter to me?

Who is it that I am created to be?

I'm curious.

I love to create and to build.

I love to make music.

I love to help people grow, to think ahead, to plan, to realize their capability and their potential.

In the past, while I have had all these ideas of what I want to do, and who I want to be, and how I want to do it - most of those were crafted in fear, and being convinced that really I would only get so far, so let's "make do" with what little I can do. Make do with less.

So, what are the things that motivate me?

The desire to be generous, desire to help, a desire to live.

Be intentional with how you design your life.

Don't let it just be happenstance.