Hello Reader,

Election season is upon us, and many of us find ourselves doom scrolling the news, getting pulled into conflict about politics, and, as a result, not investing as much time as we could into improving our careers. In today's edition, I want to share some techniques that helped me focus on my goals amidst all the distractions. I thought this is important, because without this, no matter how many technical guides I give you, it is way harder to achieve your goals.

While we think that TIME MANAGEMENT is the biggest obstacle standing between us and our goals, it is really our ability to FOCUS our ATTENTION that might be stopping us. Think about it, if you have set aside 2 hours to study for a new topic but you spend that time looking at the material, but without focus and attention, this time you made will not serve you at all since you won’t really be learning or retaining the information because we need our ATTENTION for that.

Time and attention are both limited, however, we CANNOT create more ATTENTION like we create time by clearing a space on our calendar. This means we have to be more disciplined in where we put our ATTENTION. Most of us aren’t even aware of what we are giving our attention to or how those things impact our goals.

STEP 1: Identify WHAT you are giving your ATTENTION to? Where is it easiest to pay attention? When or where in your life is it hard to give attention? Are there certain conditions that make it easier for you to focus? Are you most attentive and focused with some background noise or in quiet? Are you most attentive in the morning, afternoon or evening?

STEP 2: Identify WHAT your Distractions are -Social media, posting, consuming, reading, commenting. Perhaps news and politics. Streaming series/TV, or negative emotions - anxiety/worry/anger/fear. Negative self-talk - doubts, criticisms.

STEP 3: Eliminate or Reduce the things that are STEALING your ATTENTION! Set boundaries (limit your social media time to specific windows). Decide where you will get your news and check that source no more than 1 x a day. Ask yourself, is this activity or thought useful to me right now? Is it serving my goals?

STEP 4: Maximize and Protect your ATTENTION. Feeling distracted is fine; what matters is ACTION. For example, when my friend with different political beliefs than me messages me, "Dude, have you seen the latest debate? Candidate X is so dumb", I ask myself - "If I spend 1 hour arguing with him, can I change his mind? Can he change mine? Will I feel amazing after having this argument for 1 hour?". If the answer is "No," then I will just use a laughing emoji and start a productive activity - studying, spending time with family, or going to the gym. The key is to start the task that matters.

I will end this edition with a quote I love “The more you seek to control external events, the less control you will have over your own life.” - Epictetus

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Keep learning and keep rocking 🚀,

Raj