Finding your Focus: Identify Your Challenges

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 1. Today’s blog challenge is ‘Finding your Focus’.

Those who know me know I can’t resist a challenge and I haven’t done a blogging challenge for quite some time as I haven’t seen anything that really appealed to me.

When I saw Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge, I decided it was absolutely perfect for where I am in my life right now, so I’ve dived right in. The challenge for Day 1 is to identify what’s holding you back from finding your focus.

There were plenty of candidates that immediately leapt to my mind, and some of them would have been my choices in the past, but when I truly reflected on my real challenges it came down to these:

1. SOS!
2. Overwhelm
3. Perfectionism.

1.  SOS – Shiny Object Syndrome!

I hear about or see a great new gadget, software or marketing technique, think of a new idea, usually in the shower, and that’s it! My attention has instantly attracted and distracted me from what I should be doing!

What happens is then is that I spend countless hours investigating and learning about it (did I happen to mention that I love learning new ‘stuff’?).  In the fast-moving world of digital marketing and social media, this isn’t a complete waste of time as I want to stay ahead of the wave and help my clients. However, I have to confess that I can spend so much time in pursuit of the new, shiny object that I run out of time to write about it or get the information out!

Controlling this compulsion would definitely allow me more time to focus on what I want to achieve.

2. Overwhelm

This is often directly related to my Shiny Object Syndrome! Having felt compelled to investigate all the options, I then have the dilemma of which to choose and can suffer from complete overwhelm as I evaluate the pros and cons.

For example, I’ve recently been reviewing Membership site software and plugins to use for a new course I’m developing. There have been so many new options launched recently, and they all look great. I’m not usually that indecisive but am currently torn about which direction to go in.

I definitely need to take the advice I’ve had to give my own clients – JFDI (I won’t translate here!). We’re always worst at taking our own advice!

Do you struggle to take the advice you give your own clients? #practicewhatyoupreach Share on X

3. Perfectionism

This is a challenge that definitely holds me back as I hate typos and grammar mistakes. I also don’t like things not looking quite right. Even after I’ve spent time and effort proofing and reviewing what I’ve done, I find it frustrating and annoying when I go back and find errors.

I do try to minimise this compulsion. For example, I always make sure my WordPress sites and Microsoft Office settings are in UK English. Another option is to use a great app called Grammarly which I’ve found particularly useful for Facebook and Twitter posts. It’s so easy to rush these and make a mistake. As a result of using it myself, I’ve recommended Grammarly to a couple of my clients who are dyslexic and it has proved incredibly helpful.

So these are my biggest challenges but why not let me know yours in the Comment box below? You never know I may be able to recommend a bright shiny object that could help you!

 

To find out more about Natalie Sisson, I recommend you visit her website, The Suitcase Entrepreneur. She has some brilliant resources to help you if you want to “design your ideal lifestyle”.