Focus Your Life, Then Your Lens
by Mario Mattei on November 05, 2011
"Dear Self, stay focused on your niche and priorities! Drop everything else! What is everything else?" That's what I wrote myself a few weeks ago after feeling utterly overwhelmed by my tasks and disappointed I hadn't been creating with passion enough. Amidst busyness and details we can lose sight of the "Big Picture" and allow cluttering tasks to take us away from what we were born to do.
I asked myself questions to help me focus my life, before focusing my lens. Today, I just want to pass on these questions and exercises in hope that you too can gain clarity and find peace, satisfaction, and greater meaning in your pursuits.
What's your Big Picture?
PHASE 1
Strategic Guiding Questions
What's my main thing, or niche? What am I most passionate about among all the things I'm currently doing? What can I be the best at (and not be the best at)? How can I create an economic engine behind this? How can these first 4 questions define my big picture?
Making adjustments: Am I too scattered or overly focused on any one thing? Do my actions and "to-dos" fit into the big picture of my niche and priorities with relevant overlap? What doesn't fit? Am I playing off my strengths and delegating my weaknesses?
Reflection Questions
What am I doing well? What can I do better? What should I stop doing? What should I start doing?
PHASE 2
The BIG Picture
Based on Phase 1, Write out the big picture of what you're aiming to accomplish and who you want to become in the process as a paragraph. Refer to it in the following weeks as you plan your time and energy.
Focus Categories & Action Steps
List the categories you need to focus on and goals within them. Break down their action steps. Put the action steps on the calendar each week. Kill everything else on your calendar that doesn't fit and say "no" to most things outside your Big Picture frame.
Celebrate when goals are met.
In a few months, do this all again.
NOTE: A post like this is sort of an experiment. Not sure if you'll find value in it. If you do, please click on the "Like" button above or leave a comment below. And if it helps you, feel free to link to it or throw it out in the social media realm. Thank you.
3 Images, 3 Steps in the process toward satisfying productivity
REFLECT AND REFINE YOUR VISION.
DO THE WORK!
MAKE YOUR ART & ENJOY IT.
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