2. Difficulty with being able to focus

If there is a massive lack of clarity about who, what, why, how, when, and where... good luck trying to focus. Focus is a concentration of attention, and if attention is going to concentrate, then it must be organized. If you're all willy-nilly about what you want to do, then your focus will be all willy-nilly.

For me, focus is the gift of Conscious Participation. This means deliberately participating in my human experience from an awake state, rather than operating through conditioned and unconscious patterns. This unravels further into a deeper understanding of who and what I am, recognizing that much of my life was spent unconsciously playing out the 'program' I was conditioned to play. More on that another day.

As I observe my experience, what I recognize are 3 major blocks or triggers that make focus seem difficult.

1. Most importantly, Fuel: What I put in my body as fuel deeply affects my body and brain's capacity to function. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this has had the greatest impact on my cognitive abilities to be consistently focused, energized, inspired, and productive. Book recommendation: “Brain Energy” by Dr. Christopher Palmer.
2. Distractions & Multi-Tasking: I cannot multitask and deeply focus. If I am going to do something awesome, I have to decide that it is worth my FULL attention and devote myself to it, often in chunks of undistracted time between 40 minutes and 2 hours. In this same category are distractions, which are simply anything and everything that begs for your attention, from phone notifications and messages to unrelated open web tabs. Shut it all down. Focus. Book recommendation: “Deep Work” by Cal Newport.
3. Shiny Objects: Admittedly, this is where I struggle the most. I'm a sucker for cool tech and wanting to try out new things, which is fine for learning, but if I'm not careful, they become a huge time drain and go nowhere. There's a balance here, though, that doesn't forget about what I'm here to do; going back to the previous point about clarity. I have to ask, “Is this shiny object truly going to add value to my ability to deliver genuine value? Or is this more about a cool distraction?” It might take me an hour or a week to really find out. Either way, I learn about the seduction of shiny objects.