Find Focus, Purpose & Fulfilment at Work

Have you ever been under the impression that you're not good at focusing?

You've probably thought about focus in more recent, post-COVID years. Diagnoses are flying about left, right, and centre with explanations for why we can't focus and what the heck to do about it.

I'm sharing a quote from Steve Jobs about focus, which completely streamlined my understanding. "People think focus means saying yes to the things you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundreds of other good ideas that exist. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things."

Thinking about Steve and his legacy, what he said rings true. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that saying yes to 1,000 things will get you nowhere. So, if we're saying no to those things, what are we saying yes to?

From what Steve said, innovation results from a focused and clear vision of a specific desired outcome. A broad vision invites distraction, and a clarified vision is determined and organised.

We'll be less likely to allow distraction when we know what we're pursuing. So, before you go labelling and judging yourself for a lack of focus, ask yourself what you'd love to spend your time doing. Make sure you choose something that fills you with inspiration, energy, and enthusiasm, and avoid what you think you should be doing. This is the secret to fulfilment—following what lights you up.

This idea will transform your life and career as it did mine. You'll become clear in the areas you want to move towards, explore, protect, and conquer. The only thing a lack of focus is a symptom of is not living in alignment with your highest values.

Identifying my values and highest priorities has simplified everything—especially in my career and business. Instead of unintentionally moving up the ranks, I became deliberate with how I was spending my time so I could expand in areas I loved.

I saw this evidence when I was promoted from Senior Designer to Design Manager. I got promoted because I followed my inspired interest in solving process problems that helped designers create at their best. Along with more opportunities to continue the same thing on a larger scale, the promotion also came with a truckload of other responsibilities I didn't like nor was I good at. I couldn't figure out why I was so inspired yesterday and a scattered, disoriented mess the next. What was the reason for this? Did I have ADHD?* I thought there must be an external reason why I couldn't bring the same energy to everything that crossed my desk.

Looking back, I'm grateful for the discomfort of that role. It showed me my deep love for mentoring people and seeing them succeed. I witnessed my ability to be organised and focused in areas I was passionate about and clarified the areas outside my wheelhouse.

You're not meant to reach the end of the road and settle—that's the model we've been sold, but it's not the reality we live in or an exciting one. We don't realise when we leave school that we'll be students for life. Every environment, person we meet, challenge we face, annoyance we have, and opportunity we're given teaches us how to be authentic and what matters most. The learning never ends, and thank golly for that; imagine how bored we'd get! So, we may as well learn what we love.

Suppose you're depleted, distracted, unfocused, agitated, and a scattered emotional mess. One, please book in to see a counsellor or coach; two, use your annual leave; and three, learn your values and start moving towards them. Instead of hitting wall after wall, you'll flow effortlessly upstream like a pretty trout. You'll know what to take on, leave alone, fight for, and pursue with all your heart. Focus creates reality.

If you want to know your highest values, look at your life. We all actively demonstrate and prioritise the most valuable things to us; we just rarely stop to take note. The following 13 questions are designed to show you what areas are most important to you. They're based on the Values Determination process by Dr. John Demartini. You can find the free process online in exchange for your email address (which is well worth it, but expect to use your brain for 30mins).

Answer with your top 3 answers in order of first most, second most, and third most. Be specific and honest, and only write answers based on what you love and what your life truly demonstrates, not what you want, think you should do, or any negative self-talk.

Learn your values by answering these questions:

1. What do you currently spend most of your time doing? (Include all 168hrs of your week excluding sleep)

2. What do you fill your space with most? (What's its dominant use? What does it represent?)

3. What activity lights you up most and stimulates energy and enthusiasm? (What do you do for hours on end without being mentally drained or burning out? What do you do that makes you lose track of time?)

4. What does most of your money go to each month, and why? (What are your greatest expenses (including investments)? Be objective. Look at your bank accounts and sort your expenses by most significant to least.)

5. What do you focus on and think about most that's manifesting in your life right now? (Don't include negative self-talk.)

6. Who do you admire most in life, and what are their traits?

7. What do you talk about most? (What topic do you pull your conversations towards? What lights you up most?)

8. What do you read, watch, and learn about most? (What section of the bookstore are you most drawn to? What's common about the learning resources you buy? What do you watch or listen to most when learning? What are you constantly googling, researching & studying most?)

9. Where do you have the most order and organisation in your life? (Where are you most routined, structured & systemised? What areas do you measure & analyse most diligently?)

10. What do you have the most ambition, persistence & resilience in? (Ambition is your willingness to embrace both the good & bad, happy & sad, ups & downs, positives & negatives. Refrain from including areas where you constantly give up, quit or change directions.)

11. In what form do you currently receive the greatest "income" or "reward" from the world around you? (e.g., recognition of your performance, insights from studying great minds, seeing your children thrive, etc.)

12. What do you set goals for most that actually show evidence of coming true? (Don't include fantasies that have no evidence of coming true.)

13. What inspires you most? (What gives you awe-inspired goosebumps or tears of inspiration? Where do you lose track of time or get in "the zone"?)

*Credit to Dr. John Demartini and Lewis Mocker for these thoughtfully written questions.

*My ADHD discovery has helped me in two ways: knowing I'm not alone and how vital living in congruence with my values is.

What aspects of this article ring true for you?