Articles Tagged with: focus

Clarity and Focus Drives the Best Action

“People are remarkably bad at remembering long lists of goals. I learned this at a professional level when trying to get my high-performance coaching clients to stay on track; the longer their lists of to-dos and goals, the more overwhelmed and off-track they got. Clarity comes with simplicity”. Brendon Burchard

Over the past week i’ve spent time with business owners and leaders who are working harder than they have ever worked. Longer hours in the office, less time with family and friends, inconsistent cashflow and operating purely on “gut feel” are areas that consistently come up. Experiencing these and also feeling frustrated?

I was there 12 months ago and decided i’d had enough. Turning to the quality people I choose to have around me, I asked the question “What do I really want to be doing and what am I currently focussing on”. This made me realise that my vision was cloudy and the resulting uncertainty was impacting the action I was able to take.

So what does this mean for you? Here is a simple model that you can apply to help you get clear:

Goals / Outcomes – Getting VERY clear on what you want to achieve (Start with the end in mind – Stephen Covey 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) gives you a target
Reality – a starting point allows you to see the full path to get the results you want. Accepting you are where you are gives you a starting point
Options / Opportunities – these are the steps on the path of your journey. Choosing what you want allows focus areas to be clearly identified and the right steps taken
What’s next / Next Steps – these are the action items identified to get your ultimate results. Knowing how to create momentum makes it easier to start taking action.

This week, check in on how cloudy your thought processes are and whether this is impacting your ability to take action. Get clear, be honest and get after what you truly want.

We’d love for you to forward this on to those in your networks who’ll benefit from regular tips. If you need more help removing uncertainty in your focus areas, send a note at strategy@mentorisgroup.com.au and we will call you to chat.

Have an awesome week!

Cheers
Paul Farmer
Managing Director
https://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

23 January 2019

Making Sense of it All | Clarity

“Clarity is the most important thing. I can compare clarity to pruning in gardening. You know, you need to be clear. If you are not clear, nothing is going to happen. You have to be clear. Then you have to be confident about your vision. And after that, you just have to put a lot of work in”. Diane von Furstenberg

In times where we have so much information coming at us from so many outlets, especially in the workplace, it can become challenging to keep our eye on the ball. Deadlines, conflicting priorities, time pressures and contact solely via apps and emails can drive overwhelm and confusion, impacting our success.

Through business coaching and facilitating change in leaders, it’s become even more apparent that clarity is a deal clincher. Having a clear direction, in both business and personal areas, allows us to take the action we need to get excellent results. Yet how often do we make time to get that clarity, set ourselves up for success, be targeted in what we want to achieve and why it matters to us?

Here are 3 useful tips i’ve used recently to help me get clarity and hit the ground running in 2019:

Clarity will give you certainty – being sure on what matters and why you are doing things makes it easier to carry them out. Unsure why you are doing long hours, it becomes challenging to keep doing them. If there’s a clear reason why you do things, then you have a clear reason to keep at it.
Manage Expectations – expectations of yourself and those around you can drive your desire to make things happen. Be focussed on your expectations and standards and those who match these will gravitate towards you. Then it’s up to you as to the level you set them.
Communicate openly and often – when you are clear what your direction is and why it matters, let those around you know as t\hey will impact your ability to stay on track. Openly let them know what you want to achieve and you may find they will set their standards to help make that happen.

This week will be one of setting a clear course for your direction. Use these three tips to help ensure you are giving yourself the best opportunity to create the 2019 you want.

Forward on to those in your networks who will get value from these tips. If you’d like help implementing these in your busy schedule, send a note to strategy@mentorisgroup.com.au as we’d love to chat about adding value to you and those around you.

Have an awesome week!

Cheers
Paul Farmer
Managing Director
https://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

8 July 2018

Selfish People are Successful

Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focused on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps they need to take to get them closer to the fulfilment of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents to them. Jack Canfield

Yesterday was cold, windy and we were up against a couple of tough competitors… we had every excuse available not to perform at our best. Yet the desire to beat some tough competition, and progress to the next round, meant we had to do something special…. be selfish. The banter was there, yet collectively as a team we did what we needed to do to stay at the top of our game.

Being Selfish can be seen in a negative context, and it’s true it generally does have this meaning. Yet in instances where you are focussed on achieving a goal or delivering a project, it becomes critical that you focus on that person who matters most…. you.

3 Tips to being Selfish (in a good way)

Here are three tips:

Remove Distractions – the bright shiny things are those that cause you to get off track. Being clear on the result you want brings clarity and purpose
Focus on each step – once you’ve set your desired destination, focus on your steps and what you need to do to make that happen. By everyone in a team focussing on their job, it contributes to the team achieving their desired result
Back you and your skills – you are in the position you are in because of the skills you have and what you’ve displayed in the past. You’ve been promoted, you’ve won that contract, you’ve started your business…. you’ve already displayed what it takes to be successful !

So how can you use these tips to help you this week? What will things look like in a month when you include these things in your day?

Be empowered to share this with your networks so they too can create the journey they want. To chat about investing in yourself send a note to strategy@mentorisgroup.com.au so we can help you and your teams kickstart your next phase of growth.

Have an awesome week… oh and we progressed in to the next round 🙂

Cheers
Paul Farmer
CPA, MAICD
https://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

28 January 2018

What’s your Strategy

The first few weeks of 2018 has been hectic… follow up meetings from 2017, proposals, board appointments and proud moments where businesses have seen the value that can be created when we focus on thinking bigger than we currently are. So what’s your strategy?

Through all of these activities, the common theme was getting clarity on your desired outcomes up front to allow a clear path to be created and accountability applied. Keeping one eye on your strategy makes it easier to stay on track.

So how do you set your strategy? Here are a couple of tips on getting clarity:

Start with the Outcome in mind – experiencing the feeling of having achieved all you want at the end of the period in mind gives you the sense of what you will have when you deliver
Tie your plan to what you love – aligning your strategy to your passions makes it easier to push through the challenges. Finding that thing that lights you up about what you do means you will make the extra effort needed to be successful
Take Action – “a strategy on a page without action is merely a picture”. They are your outcomes and it is your journey so get on with making things happen and getting your results.

During this week, set out what things will look like at 31 Dec 2018… what have you achieved, what are you doing, who are you interacting with and what standards are you working at. This will help give you a target to aim for over the coming months.

If this is something you want in your business then get in contact and let’s have a coffee.

Have an awesome week!
Cheers
Paul

https://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

31 August 2017

Owning Being Overwhelmed

In this week’s video we give you an insight in to how you can own the times when you feel overwhelmed.

During the week I had two specific conversations where successful professionals found themselves feeling like they had too much going on and couldn’t handle everything they expected to get done. With everything they had going on, it was clear how they could feel that way. Now was the time for them see how to own being overwhelmed.

We all at some time feel overwhelmed. The trick is to find a way to reset quickly, so you can recover and get back to what you need to do. Here are a couple of tips to help you reset and create momentum again:

A little perspective – step back, take a deep breath, walk around the block looking at everything that is going on outside and then ask yourself… is it me who is causing this and what will I change?
Small steps v Whole Process – by trying to focus on everything that needs to be done at once, you are similar to a gymnast thinking about their dismount while they are lining up for a tumbling sequence… look at smaller chunks of activity to get you making progress
Control – by adding some structure to your days, you will take control of what you have going on and will see opportunities to prioritise, defer and delegate.

This week, when you feel like things might be getting on top of you, take a step back and implement the above tips where appropriate.

If you are searching for more ways to own your overwhelm then let me know as would love to help you smash it out of the park.

Have an awesome week !

Cheers
Paul
0401610666

https://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

31 August 2017

Controlling your Focus

In this week’s video we give you an insight in to the benefits of controlling your focus on things you can benefit from.

Are you one of those people who constantly finds themselves having multiple conflicting priorities and no plan to effectively tackle them? It’s common to be this person and can be very challenging to break the cycle….

Prioritisation is a skill that will bring plenty of benefits to both your working and personal worlds. Most of us have developed the practice of dealing with things as and when they come at us… especially now we are generally accessible 24/7 via smartphone. Allocating time to take on certain tasks like exercise, reading, emails allows you to focus on getting the results you want. As I write a flurry of emails ping… I will continue writing and get to them later.

Here are a couple of tips to help you prioritise, control your focus and get the results you are after:

Is it urgent – just because we receive something does it need to be actioned now. If you want something done urgently then an accompanying phone call might be appropriate
Can I delegate – is this something I have to do myself or is there a development opportunity for someone else by letting them take on the work.
Control – can you control the event that has occurred? If not, then controlling the way you react will determine the choice you make and the action you take. Control the controllables !!

This week, take a look at how you set up your days and are you able to implement some of the above tips to buy you back time… time that may be able to be allocated to more value adding activities in your prioritisation hierarchy.

If support in creating these habits would help, let me know how I can value add and have an awesome week !

Cheers
Paul
0401610666

https://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

30 August 2017

Raise your Game by owning your Focus

In this week’s video we look at just how easy it is to lose our focus, even when we are doing things we love.

When things aren’t going for us, and these times will happen, it’s very easy to look at everything around us before we look at ourselves. Being quick to blame, make excuses and deny there is an issue shows exactly where our focus is.

To turn that mindset around, we must take ownership, be accountable and take responsibility for our actions. Owning up to our focus not being where it should be, is the first step in making a change. The shift in focus will see more opportunities become true options and the results start to come our way.

This week, recognise our first reaction when challenged… if it’s to Blame, Make Excuses or Deny anything is up then it’s time to change our focus.

Let me know your thoughts and have an awesome week!

Cheers
Paul

https://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

About Paul Farmer, Mentoris CEO and Business Coach

With a background in finance, business strategy and leadership, Paul has built a reputation as a business mentor responsible for getting the best out of business owners and leaders. His calm and measured ways help create an environment where quality results are created, and growth is delivered for any business or large organisation.

For the best business mentor Brisbane and the Gold Coast has to offer, contact Paul Farmer at Mentoris. If you are a business owner seeking business mentoring support from someone with many proven years experience, you’ve come to the right place.

Find Out More

Read more about how we work with you for:

Clarity and Focus Drives the Best Action

Making Sense of it All | Clarity

Selfish People are Successful

What’s your Strategy

Owning Being Overwhelmed

Controlling your Focus

Raise your Game by owning your Focus

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