Recently, I was writing an email to a friend. There had been some tension between us and we had some outstanding issues to sort through so I thought, “let me reach out so I can clear the air once and for all.”
I spent several hours one morning writing the perfectly crafted email. This email needed to express my feelings on the outstanding issues, invite this friend to share their feelings and create an opportunity to resolve this “conflict.”
Once I had written the email, I obsessed over the edits. It wasn’t quite right. I wanted to get the tone just perfect. I wanted to create an opportunity for dialogue and avoid turning this issue into a full blown war. I even emailed a trusted confidant to show them a draft of this email I had now spent hours crafting and get their take on it.
And then I realized the truth of the matter: this email and this supposed conflict, was a giant waste of my time. A distraction that I had manufactured to prevent myself from doing the work. The hard work. The challenging work. The work that is essential to reaching my goals and achieving my life’s calling.
When you find yourself obsessed with something that isn’t one of your life goals, chances are it’s a distraction.
As entrepreneurs we spend lots of time distracting ourselves from our true purpose and from doing the work, with things that, on their face, seem really important. Things like familial relationships, friendships, weight gain/loss, our competition, our appearance and what’s missing from our lives. Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?
- Spending hours counting calories, working to avoid carbs like the plague and feeling guilty for eating that ice cream.
- Arguing with your husband yet again over whose turn it is to do [insert undesirable chore] and sometimes turning this argument into a full blown, multi-day war.
- Crying, hurting and stressing about all the things you don’t have (“if I could just get to six-figures everything would be better, if I could just find a man, if I could just lose 20 pounds …”)
- Keeping on a toxic employee, contractor, business partner, friend or even family member because you can’t bring yourself to let them go or you’re worried about what will happen when you do.
- Spending hours sending unnecessary emails about unnecessary bullshit …
Right now you are putting up with a whole lot of bullshit, from yourself and others, that you keep pretending you have to put up with. And here’s why you’re doing it:
Putting up with that bullshit is a distraction that you get to indulge in and that serves as a “valid excuse” from doing the work you are called to do.
The best thing you can do for yourself today to make this week one of the most productive weeks you’ve had is eliminate the distractions in your life.
Fake friends? Unfriend ‘em. Clients who don’t value your work and treat you like crap? Fire ‘em! Cousin calling to complain again? Don’t pick up! Worried about your weight? Fill your fridge up with some easy, healthy meal options (and a few treats too) and stop obsessing over everything you put in your mouth. (Weight loss is the biggest damn distraction for womankind – do not indulge!)
Distractions will never be as satisfying as actually accomplishing your goals.
Here’s what will happen when you take action to remove the distractions in your life: you’ll do the work and get the results you’ve been longing for. Yeah, it’s that simple.
Create a six-figure product in just 7 days (and have fun while doing it)!
If you are looking for a distraction-free setting to create a digital product that generates lots of revenue for your business, then get on the interest list for MADE: IN FRANCE. You will walk away from MADE with your product done, a professionally edited promotional video, brand new photos and a plan to launch your product once you get home.
MADE: IN FRANCE is happening April 23 – 30, 2017 and there are only 6 spots available. If you want to grab one, then sign up for the pre-launch list here. (If you’ve previously signed up, do it again as we’ve had some technical issues with signups and I want to make sure you don’t miss the launch email). I will be opening up registration for the next MADE this week!
