Want more focus at work?

Welcome to the ezine for evolving women entrepreneurs.

- A Note from Marcy
- Feature Article: Find Your Focus
- Your Feedback

March 21, 2013
Vol. IV, Issue 4

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Hi,

I had an amazing trip to Santa Fe in late February.

I loved the architecture, the views of the mountains, the crisp clean air, the wonderful restaurants, and the people. People took time to have a conversation with me, which is not typical in the Washington DC area! People here are nice, yet too busy to connect.

I had such a great time that I’m mulling over how to spend MORE time in Santa Fe this year – anything from a couple weeks to a couple months.

This comes at a time when I’m feeling low on adventure. And trying out Santa Fe feels like a fun adventure ☺

This has led in turn to much more reflection on the importance of fun, passion and adventure in my life and business. You’ll read more about the importance and power of your passion in today’s article on Finding Your Focus. The more you are passionately engaged with your work, the more fun and the more rewarding it is. That in turn gives you great FOCUS.

Dedicated to your expansion,

Marcy

Find Your Focus

Ever experience any of these?

You find it hard to prioritize tasks.

You jump around from task to task, with no specific plan in mind.

You wonder whether you have ADD.

You end each day feeling like you didn’t get the most important things done.

You procrastinate often.

This is what a problem with FOCUS looks like and feels like.

This focus problem is paradoxical for entrepreneurs, because you have a STRONG desire to control your own schedule and work independently, yet you’re struggling DAILY to get your to-do list done!

If you spend a lot of time feeling unfocused, you’re going to feel dissatisfied, big time – after all, you’re not moving yourself toward your goal – instead you’re doing lots of other things. You’ll also feel frustrated with yourself and ask “How come I don’t have any self-discipline?”.

There are 3 critical ingredients in your work: your dreams, your goals and your actions. When these 3 are aligned, you are full steam ahead! You throw yourself into your work and you receive tremendous satisfaction, because you’re doing what you love and you’re helping people. You’re having an impact.

When you’re spending hours on Facebook, it can feel fun, but it’s probably NOT what you love; you’re not really helping people in a deep way; and you’re probably not having much of an impact beyond the moment.

How Lack of Focus Undermines Your Dreams, Goals and Actions

You don’t know what your dreams are. You have stopped paying attention to what your innermost self truly loves and values. You don’t remember what sets you on fire. You can’t even remember the last time you felt like you were on fire! You have no idea what your Big WHY is.

Your goals are what you feel you “should” do. You may have lots of practical goals but you don’t feel excitement or passion or a thrill when you look at your goals. Ideally, your goals are stepping stones to making your dreams come true.

Your actions, which show up in physical form on your to-do list, are something you want to evade. When you look at your to-do list, you may feel overwhelmed. You often find those items boring or terrifying. You mostly want to get away from your to-do list. Even though you started your business so that you could be in charge of your to-do list, now it’s in charge of you.

When Your Dreams, Goals and Actions Are Aligned, You Get FOCUS

You have exciting dreams! You have a vision of your bigger bolder self, passionately engaged in meaningful work and making a difference in other people’s lives. When you think about your dreams, you feel energized and excited. There is some big vision you are aiming toward. (Note: when I say big, it’s big for you. It may not look “big” to Oprah – that is OK. You get to define big for yourself.)

Your goals are the steps that build to your dreams. Your goals are not disconnected elements that come from what you think you “should” be doing. Instead, there’s an intimate connection between your goals and your dreams. Your goals represent the practical, tangible steps that move you toward your dreams. Your goals allow you to measure your progress toward your dreams.

Your actions, which show up on your to-do list, are your top priorities. You know exactly how these actions connect to your goals, which connect to your dreams. In each little item, you can see a piece of the big bold beautiful vision you hold in your heart. Each to-do has an extra bit of energy in it, because you feel its connection back to your exciting dream.

CALL TO ACTION

How do you get focused and stay focused?

Make sure you know your dreams. Give yourself permission to have dreams. YOUR dreams, not anyone else’s dreams.

Make sure your goals are 1) your own and 2) build into your dreams. You probably know all about SMART goals; those come AFTER you’re in touch with your dreams.

Make sure actions on your to-do list connect to your goals and therefore to your dreams. Write out this connection periodically. Pick to a task from your to-do list and write down which goal it supports and how that connects to one or more of your dreams. This will give you MORE energy to complete each task.

Cultivate a WEEKLY or daily practice that keeps you in touch with all 3 elements: dreams, goals and activities. I personally love In the Sphere of Silence http://www.inthesphereofsilence.com/practice.asp and aim to do this at least once a week.

Still feeling unfocused and unproductive? If you know that greater focus will immediately improve your business and you’re having problems getting it on your own, then I invite you to contact me for a private call, one-on-one. You and I will discuss your goals for 2013 and how my expert coaching and mentoring can help you get there. I invite you to email me at success@marcystahl.com. We’ll easily find a convenient time to get this underway.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete description with it:

Marcy Stahl motivates women entrepreneurs to move from having only a trickle of clients to an abundant full flow of more clients, more money, and more decision-making power. If you're ready to empower yourself AND boost your business, if you want to share YOUR passion with more people, schedule your free 45-minute Marcy Stahl Success Solutions Session by clicking here http://www.marcystahl.com/contact-marcy.html

Marcy Stahl is an entrepreneur whose purpose in life is helping women entrepreneurs achieve world domination, by earning more money and creating more decision-making power. Because the world will only be a better place when more women are in charge!

She effectively guides her clients to move from struggle and lack, to abundance and ease, by creating effective systems and marketing strategies. She uses this same powerful success system to help direct sales consultants improve their recruiting and leadership skills.

To learn more about her services, visit http://www.marcystahl.com/contact-marcy.html and sign up for your free 30-minute Marcy Stahl Success Strategy Session (and get great free resources, too!)

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