Life is busy. The pace of change is fast. Attention is short. The demand on your poor brain’s ability to focus and concentrate on one thing is higher than ever. Add into that mix fatigue from an enduring pandemic, and it is any wonder that our cognitive load feels maxed out most days?
For the past several years, at New Year I’ve chosen a focus word. Having a theme, focus or “Big Word” can help you keep your feet on the ground. It can make all the difference in creating outstanding success and impact, or just barely hitting the mark. I love the observation that we overestimate what we can do in a day, yet we underestimate what we can do in a year. Imagine what might be possible if you took consistent, daily action that is guided by an overarching focus for your year?
In 2021, my word was SIMPLIFY. Looking back I see that I have been able to accomplish a lot to simplify my life – moving to the beach, decluttering, streamlining some of my own business processes, developing a better system for healthy eating, and more. Choosing to simplify helped to create more space – physical, emotional, psychological – which was really so needed after supporting my parents in the final years of their lives, and navigating the grief process.
My focus word for 2022 is FLOW. I love those moments when my creative muse speaks to me, or I feel so connected to what I’m working on that time just flies. The decision to focus on SIMPLIFY in 2021 has really helped set a foundation for greater FLOW in 2022.
To create more FLOW, I think there are 3 principles to stay focused on what’s important, with some prompt questions to help you apply them to your own circumstance.
1. Direction
If you don’t know where you want to go, or where you’re starting from, you’ll end up aimless and frustrated. Having a lay of the land first, and giving yourself permission to dream outside the box, is crucial. It’s also important to ensure that the path you’re on is still the one you want to follow.
What do I want to achieve this year?
Why is this goal important to me?
Have I stepped back to consider whether the direction I want to take is still the most important and meaningful one for me to take now?
2. Connection
Making sense in a fast-changing and complex world isn’t easy. The pace of change and levels of uncertainty that are part of one’s everyday life can knock you off balance easily. Stay connected to your own inner wisdom to keep you anchored. Connect with people so you can build trust and commitment with one another, and do great work together.
What can you do to cultivate a deeper sense of trust and connection to your own wisdom and experience?
What relationships in your life do you need to nurture to help you along your path?
What relationships add more friction to your day, and what would you need to do or say to address that?
3. Action
There’s nothing more disruptive to having focus and flow than inaction. Thinking, and overthinking things, is a quick way to feeling stuck. Opening up the floodgates of your own creativity and confidence happens by taking some kind of action, even if it’s just a little baby step. Otherwise our mental bandwidth gets consumed by ideas, questions, and concerns that never get resolved until you test those ideas through implementation in the real world.
What is one small baby step you can take to address something that’s causing friction or upset in your life now?
How can you acknowledge and celebrate yourself for the contributions you make on a daily basis?
What area of your life feels most stuck right now, and what’s one small step you can take to open up more flow?
I am curious what your focus for the year will be, and how to keep your flow going, Feel free to share in the comments below!
