How To Grow Up

Great article! Thanks to @flyzipper for the link… 

Getting Focused (for those of us who are easily distracted)

For those of you who are easily distracted like me, you probably have a tough time staying focused on a task to completion. People like us just know it’s far too much fun to do lots of things to keep our ADD brains occupied. Inevitably we often completely forget to complete the task we set out to do in the first place! 

A while back a good friend of mine brought me back a friendship bracelet from Thailand and I decided to do a little experiment. I put on the bracelet whenever I needed to focus on completing a task. The bracelet was a constant reminder to stay focused on what I wanted to get done. Once I was done I’d take it off and go be my ADD self for the next few hours. Then back on it went when I needed to buckle down and focus. 

This kind of ritual has been extremely successful for me over the last few months. It doesn’t need to be a bracelet. Maybe chew some gum, or put on a hat!

Good luck fellow ADDers!  

Finding your purpose - for the other 99% of us.

Like me, you’re probably not one of those lucky people whose life is pre-ordained either because the good Lord came down from above and told you what you were going to be or you just knew growing up what you were passionate about. Life has taught me that the best way to determine what you want to do is to understand and acknowledge what you really don’t like spending time on. Time is a funny thing, I’ve noticed that when I’m really engaged in something I enjoy I just lose track of time (call it a groove, a zone, whatever). Contrast that with how painfully slow time seems to move when you’re doing something that doesn’t interest you at all. I recently just created a list with two columns. One side was ‘Things I seem to easily get into the zone doing’ and the other was ‘Things that I really do not enjoy spending my time on’. Realistically, we’ll probably never fully escape column two. 

My goal is whenever I move to a new occupation, I do so consciously with the intent of moving away from column two and ideally finding a way to spend more time on zone activities. The trick is to start the list when you’re young and ideally spend your time doing a lot of different jobs are occupations so you can make the list as comprehensive as possible by the time you’re 30. Don’t be one of those people that wakes up after 30 years at a job only to realize you’ve been living your days in column two! 

For those interested, here’s a few things from each of my columns:

Things I get into the zone doing:

- Brainstorming (Divergent thinking)

- Collaborating on ideas with others

- Coaching / Mentoring

- Leading project teams

Things that make me want to jump off a cliff if I have to do them too long

- Repetitive, administrative work (data input)

- Data analysis 

- Programming

- Working in isolation for extended periods

Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those that have found it

Andre Gide

incredible sunset in #kw tonight

The secret of success is to understand the point of view of others

Ford

Man will not change until the pain of his suffering is greater than the pain of his change

Buddha

Healthy Granola Bars! Yum!

This is Your Life.

Best Butter Chicken... EVER!