Stay Focused and Avoid The Usual Distractions To Achieve Success

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We are discussing staying focused, so we accomplish our goals, we complete our task with excellence, and we lead our teams with purpose. What we let distract us will own our energy and our time. Our habits and routines must be strong to overcome any distraction that can lure us away from accomplishment and top results. I want you to create a vision of success for yourself to stay focused on what you want to achieve. We will overcome any distraction and obstacle that gets in our way. That will be our pledge to ourselves.


Episode outline:

1. Change your habits so you avoid the usual distractions,
2. Create a vision board to help turn your dream into reality, and
3. Schedule and document your goal achievement plan.

Please connect with me on:

1. Instagram: stephen.mclain
2. Twitter: smclainiii
3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant
4. LinkedIn: stephenjmclainiii

For more resources, please visit Finance Leader Academy:  financeleaderacademy.com. 

1. Please download the Goal Setting Workbook that follows Episode 115: here
2. On the website, you can download the Become a Finance Leader Guide. You can use this guide to build your Finance Leadership skills so you can help senior leaders develop and execute the strategy.
3. I also offer a course, Advance Your Finance and Accounting Career: Developing a Promotion Strategy that Sets You Apart.

Episode Transcript

Stephen McLain (00:06):
This week I'm talking about staying focused.
So we accomplish our goals. Wecomplete our tasks with
excellence, and we lead ourteams with purpose. What we let
distract us will own our energyand our time. Our habits and
routines must be strong toovercome any distraction that
can lead us away fromaccomplishment and top results.

(00:29):
I want you to create a vision ofsuccess for yourself to stay
focused on what you want toachieve. We will overcome any
distraction and obstacle thatgets in our way. That will be
our pledge to ourselves. Pleaseenjoy the episode. Welcome to
the finance leader podcast whereleadership is bigger than the
numbers. I am your host, StephenMcLain. This is the podcast for

(00:53):
developing leaders in financeand accounting. Please consider
following me on Twitter,Facebook, Instagram, and
LinkedIn. My usernames and thelinks are in this episode's show
notes. Thank you. This isepisode number 116. And I'll be
talking about staying focused.
So you stay on track with yourgoals. And I will highlight the
following topics. Number one,change your habits so you avoid

(01:16):
the usual distractions. Numbertwo, create a vision board to
help turn your dream intoreality. And three, schedule and
document your goal achievementplan. LL Cool J said it best.
Stay focused, go after yourdreams and keep moving toward
your goals. How many of you feelthe New Year is moving along

(01:39):
fast? It always does. Life getsat us and time slips away. This
is why it's so important tobecome focused to become goal
oriented, and to decide to bedeliberate with our time and our
energy. Do you want toaccomplish that big goal this
year? What is going to stop you?

(02:00):
What can you do to prepareyourself for goal
accomplishment? How can youguard your mindset for growth
and development. That is why weneed to be deliberate about
where we use our time and ourenergy. Last week in Episode
115. I talked about using aSMART goal planning and setting
system to help us better dissectand put together a plan that

(02:25):
makes sense for us. SMART standsfor specific, measurable,
achievable, realistic and timebound. I encourage you to plan
your goals using the smartmethod. And also to have a
written plan that can bereviewed and updated. On finance
leader Academy you can downloadthe free goal setting workbook.

(02:45):
And also please sign up for ourmid year goal review challenge,
which will begin in June. Moreinformation on that will be
shared later. Please listen tolast week's episode if you
missed it, or please listenagain if you need to. I believe
it will help you. We have biggoals. And I know we all want to
accomplish all of themsometimes,

(03:06):
it's us that stops us and weneed to review everything we do.
So we set ourselves up for longterm success. And it can be
anything that tries to take ourconcentration away from us. What
do we let distract us will ownour time and our energy. What
often distracts you from workingon a goal? What distracts you

(03:26):
from any type of selfimprovement task? When you get
distracted, it takes you awayfrom your goals and it takes you
away from your dream. Now, thereare good distractions like your
child who needs some help withhomework. That is a great
distraction. So go do thatactivity, because it matters
much in the long term plan ofyour life. But what I am

(03:48):
referring to is going off to dosome meaningless activity when
you could be working on a goal.
Like watching one more episodeof that TV show. Instead of
working on a class that can helpyou grow a skill or some other
critical development piece itcomes down to which activity is
more important to you. Keep yourmind and your eyes on the bigger

(04:08):
prize. Now we need to addressour habits. Do your habits
support goal accomplishment? Doyour habits support a productive
day, we all need to developbetter habits. If you want to
begin with better habits to setyourself up begin with a more
productive morning and eveningroutine, how you begin your day

(04:30):
and how you end your day factorsinto our overall productivity
not just goal accomplishment,but also your general approach
to any work that you do. Are yougetting enough rest actually
enough good rest? Do you have aprocess that sets you up for
restful sleep? Are you drinkingenough water and having

(04:52):
nutrition plan that supports youfeeling energized please consult
your doctor or other CertifiedProfessional to develop a plan
that makes sense for you. Webriefly talked about
distractions and habits andhaving a written plan. But I
also want to mention again,because it is so important that
having a supportive inner circleis a must. The closest people in

(05:16):
your life have a lot ofinfluence over you what you do,
and even how you think. Do thepeople who are closest to you
also believe in personal growthand development? Do they have a
growth mindset? Or are they hugedistractions who take you away
from goal accomplishment? Youhave to assess and make a

(05:38):
decision who you will allow toget close to you. Additionally,
you must have a vision foryourself. Have you ever
completed a vision board? Avision board is a visual
representation of what you wantto accomplish. And what is
important to you. I don't thinkI've ever done one before. I
have often used post it notes toremind myself of what I'm trying

(05:59):
to get done. a post it note onmy monitor has been my way to
remind me why I am showing upevery day. I am really looking
at vision boards right now. Alot of people have been talking
about creating a vision board tocapture in one place to give
powerful visual reminders aboutme and my goals and my dreams. I
am working on one. Anotherimportant aspect of staying

(06:24):
focused is documenting yoursuccess which includes all
updates as you complete yourgoals and any changes you have.
This helps you to see what youhave accomplished, what you're
working on and where you stillwant to go. Our success often
relies on our productivity whichis controlled by our
distractions. You may have a newTV season you want to watch

(06:45):
desperately. But you also knowyou need to dedicate some time
to goal achievement. You can setonline timers for 15 or 20
minute work sessions. Stick tothose timers put down the phone,
set the room mood toproductivity, maybe was a music
or total silence, set the rightlighting and then work intensely
for that set time document whatyou got done and review your

(07:08):
progress. How do you setyourself up for success? That is
what today's discussion is allabout. If your long term goal is
to be a CFO then what keydecisions about your life and
career do you need to make? Whatroles do you need to strive for
like team manager and director?
What organizations oropportunities can help you along

(07:30):
more than others? And what keyskills and credentials do you
need to develop and achievethese considerations should be
included in your writtenindividual development plan. Now
let's talk about staying focusedso you stay on track with your
goals. Number one, change yourhabits so you avoid the usual
distractions. distractions caneasily derail you from success

(07:54):
again, what we let distract uswill own our energy and our
time, our distractions to becomeour focus. And the good
distractions are okay. Will youallow this is watching another
TV show going to help youachieve your dreams? Not at all.
How do you want to prioritizeyour time and your energy our

(08:14):
goals are important. They oftentie into our dreams for me, my
dream keeps me going and ontrack every single day. My daily
hope lives in the fact that Iknow I'm striving to achieve my
long term dream. I live knowingthat tomorrow will be better
than today because I will do alittle more work on my goals and

(08:37):
strengthen my mindset. I knowthat improving our morning and
evening routines can set us upfor more and better
productivity. How we arise inthe morning, and what we do at
night to prepare will pay hugedividends at night. Do you
prepare what you will wear thenext day? Do you put together
all the things you will need? Ordo you run around in the morning

(08:58):
in a frenzy? Number two, createa vision board to help turn your
dream into reality. How do youcapture the vision you have for
your life? Having a visual youcan review can be powerful for
setting your mindset right, forhelping us getting even more
intensely focused for knowingand putting on paper or screen

(09:20):
what you want to do. So youcommit yourself to high
accomplishment. I liked the ideaof putting together a visual
representation of where you wantto go. It serves as a reminder
that tomorrow will be betterthan today. As long as we stay
committed, growth oriented andfocused. By developing a long

(09:40):
term vision. It can help you seeand feel where you want to go
and what you want to do. A shortterm vision board can also be
very helpful. Maybe there arekey decisions to be made or
maybe you have entered a periodof life that requires you to
think only out a few monthscapture what you want to do to
get past This time so you cansee it and envision how you

(10:04):
navigate the current situation.
Number three, schedule anddocument your goal achievement
plan. A written individualdevelopment plan becomes our
gateway to goal accomplishmentand to success, you are more
likely to accomplish your goalsif you write them down. And by
tracking your progress, Irecommend that you schedule your
gold tasks on your calendar. Ifyou plan and own your calendar,

(10:27):
you will also have a greaterchance to succeed. Use
production countdown timers,adopt prioritizing your task
list. Learn to say no and learnto ask how really important
something is against the bigpicture so you can prioritize.
Update your progress regularly.
I love to mark off progress onmy to do list and my goal list.

(10:51):
Don't a lot of us personally ownyour progress by using the tools
available. When you complete oneobjective or one goal, you will
get personal pride and youraccomplishment and then you can
complete more, which will giveyou momentum. After you build
momentum, you can be unstoppableand that's where I want you to

(11:12):
be a strong mindset on the pathto dream fulfillment. Use the
momentum of checking items offas they are done to keep going
strong all year. As a quicksummary, we have a greater
chance of success. If we changeour habits, we have a physical
representation of our vision.
And if we develop a written planthat tracks our goals and

(11:34):
updates our progress, we mustbuild successful habits and look
to a future point where our bigdream is fulfilled. This can
help us continue to fightthrough the everyday craziness.
While we work on ourselves andwork on our life and purpose
filled goals. I know thiscommunity can get a lot done
because we deal with chaos andcrisis. From the moment we log

(11:57):
on each day, and share you carveout time and energy for yourself
and your dreams. Now for actiontoday, there are a few actions I
recommend you get done today.
The first item please do anhonest review of your habits and
what gets you distracted themost from accomplishing your

(12:18):
goals and make changes today.
Second start to develop aphysical representation of your
vision. It can be a sketch aphoto collage, or write out a
paragraph. I often use the postit note reminder but I am
looking at doing something withimages. This can be very
powerful. And finally ensure youevery written plan for your
goals and update it regularly.

(12:41):
Today I talked about stayingfocused so you stay on track
with your goals and Ihighlighted the following
points. Number one, change yourhabits so you avoid the usual
distractions. Number two, createa vision board to help you turn
your dreams into reality. Andthree, schedule and document
your goal achievement plannedactions relate to accomplishment

(13:02):
which then produces the resultswe are looking for. You can
allow yourself to be distractedand then derailed by frivolous
habits. Or you can make adecision today to be more
deliberate and smarter with yourtime. Get intensely focused so
you complete your goals. And youwill make progress in your
career and in your life. Youdecide where you focus your

(13:24):
effort, your time and yourenergy you decide. That's often
difficult for some people, butyou get to make choices about
what you worry about what youinvest your whole self into, and
what voices you let into yourown bubble. Next episode I will
be sharing an interview I hadwith speaker and author Mark
McMillian of Macmillianleadership associates. I can't

(13:47):
wait to share some amazingleadership tips from Mark.
I hope you enjoyed the financeleader podcast I am focused on
helping this community to becomemore confident finance leaders
capable of transformingorganizations. You can find this
episode wherever you listen topodcast. If this episode helped
you today, please share it witha colleague David quick. Until

(14:10):
next time, you can check outmore resources finance leader
academy.com and sign up for myweekly updates. Don't miss an
episode you can now go leaveyour team and I'll see you next
time. Thank you