Eliminate The Distractions

Published on October 14, 2014

The classic line is, "So, you'll never guess what happened on my way to the movies". What a great metaphor or life. You had a destination. The movies.  You had a plan.  Get in your car and follow the prescribed route.  Then along the way something jumped up and caught your attention. Now "that thing" that popped up rather than the destination has gained top billing. "That thing" that popped up caused you to be late and miss the movie. Or in real life lose the client or the girl or the opportunity or whatever it was we were in pursuit of.  I had a chance to watch a physical example of this over the weekend.  During a conversation with a client last week I related the story of my son Jonah who was at Karate.

One of the moves they were working on was a way to get closer to your opponent to strike. What they were shown was just as they were about to move forward to throw up a high block over the opponent's head. This would distract them, allowing for them to move in and strike without being recognized. "Brilliant" I thought. "This is what the world tries to do to all of us everyday". If not for the distraction the opponent would see the enemy coming and would react and get out of the way, thus achieving their goal of defense. So what can we do about it? The truth is we can't eliminate every distraction and detractor but there is a good amount of it under your control.  When the horror and sadness of the media puts up the high block shut it off.  When a co-worker wants to drag you into the politics of work, block it out. When the voice in your head wants to replay the movie over and over again of the client who got away, turn up the music and silence it once and for all. We may not be able to shut it all out but for a good majority of it we can eliminate the distractions. Have an excellent day.