What I learnt from “Let’s Get FOCUSED!” by Tosin Badmus

If there was only one reason to attend the Born with a Gift ‘Let’s Get Focused’ Workshop event, it would be to see Careeta Robert Green’s beautiful face. There was however, a plethora of other reasons. The main one is the wealth of information and advice that was given by Careeta and the amazing speakers – Sonia Brown, Carly Ward and Denis Asamoah. To say that I was inspired by this event is an understatement because not only did it come at just the right time but I felt that the speakers were so honest and gave straight-forward advice that I could apply to my life immediately.

The evening started with reception and refreshments and after turning up (a little late...) I was welcomed inside the beautiful venue to a drink and room full of people. The event began - Careeta gave a little talk on the programme of the event and introduced each of the speakers. After this Careeta began the workshop, and then gave away some goodies!

Four things that I learnt from the Born With A Gift – Let’s Get Focused! Event

1.   “FOCUS – Follow One Course Until Successful”

Focus is so important, without it we cannot accomplish anything great - Read that again.

                                       

I meditated for the first time today, and really came to terms with how to focus on nothing. Meditation is essentially focusing on nothing – clearing your mind of all the noise, worry and thoughts that fill your mind 24/7- just giving your mind a bit of a break really. It sounds really easy, but it was one of the hardest things.

My mind kept on drifting into thoughts about what I need to do today, noises from outside and I kept on opening my eyes because I thought I heard something in my house, when I was (supposed to be) home alone. But I was resilient and forced myself to focus.

I got distracted again. Then I regained focus. I got distracted again. Then I regained focus. I got distracted again. Then I regained focus... and kept focus... and kept focus... then I realised... “Hey, I’m meditating!” It proved that being resilient and following course gets you to the goal. Remember: If you let distraction steer your mind – you’ll be going round in circles. But if you continue forward when distraction comes - you reach the goal.

2.   “Goals help us to keep focused”

Careeta gave a great analogy about goals. She said; imagine a football game with no goal posts – players would just be running around the field fouling & tackling each other but there would be no objective, it would be pointless.

The goal posts are there to remind players about the overall objective. Why are they playing this game, what do they want to achieve? They want to score goals because that brings them closer to the overall objective – to win the game.

So goals are necessary to keep us focused because they are the stepping stones to the overall objective.  E.g. Overall objective: to write a book. Goal: to write a 300 word synopsis for your story that will serve as the foundation of your idea and characters by 1^st December. Remember: No one climbs a mountain in one big step.

3.   SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.

A few days ago I created a ‘By Today’ to-do list on my phone. I note down all the goals I have to accomplish for the next day only. I make sure that they are SMART goals. And the next day I commit to accomplishing them all.

It could be something really small that requires little effort but I’ve been putting off - for example yesterday I erased “buy theatre ticket” from the list. I’d heard about a play that I wanted to go and see but just hadn’t got around to booking it, and finally after pointless procrastination – I booked it!

Making our goals SMART makes them clear and achievable – and this helps us to commit to accomplishing them.

Putting a completion date on a goal and committing to it really helps because I can be the best procrastinator in the world (not anymore!). You can also make a big goal seem less daunting by dividing it into small, really basic goals and focusing on one or two every day. Remember: If you focus on each step, instead of the whole mountain, it will probably take you half the time to climb – That doesn’t mean think small. THINK BIG & THEN ACT SMALL, OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

4.    Invest In Yourself!

There’s nothing like a guy/girl that looks good, smells good and has everything on your ‘check-list’... and then they open their mouth and it’s like..... -____- all attraction gone!  Well, our lives can reflect this. We can have all the external things that are considered good things but we haven’t invested in the development of our internal person – not just for successful entrepreneurship  but also for personal development - because who you are is a  foundation for what you do, where you go, who you associate with and everything else.  

An example of this could be; driving a really expensive car and then not being able to keep up with insurance payments - this person could invest in themselves by buying some personal finance books.

Another example is someone who works non-stop for 14 hours every day and neglects their health – this person could invest in themselves by eating well, sleeping well and being active etc. Sonia Brown said ‘Do a SWOT analysis on yourself’ – which I really need to do... (It’s now on my ‘By today’ to do list for tomorrow)J.

 Remember: You must first BE, before you DO, and then you can HAVE.

Something that each speaker said that stuck in my mind:

Careeta Robert Green: “Only I can make it happen, success is my destiny”

Sonia Brown: “Some people are bad mind you know! (laughs) That’s Caribbean slang (laughs) ... some people hate you because you’ve got ambition – don’t take it personal”

Carly Ward: “Contact the person you aspire to and ask for their help, chances are they’ll be more than willing to give thirty minutes of their time over coffee”

Denis Asamoah: “In order to be focused you need to have a vision or goal, so you can track your progress”

I hope to see you at the next Born with a Gift event!

Tosin

The next workshop is "What's Your GIFT?" Wednesday 8th February 2012 6.30pm to 9.30pm at the Ramada Hotel Ealing Common BOOK NOW http://whatsyourgift.eventbrite.co.uk/

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