Creating focus intentionally in 2023
The high pitched celebratory din at the start of the year seems to have died down, and we are here, making our way into the brand new landscape (or yearscape?).
2023 - Something about this number brings up feels of lushness and a fresh start, a renegade-like optimism I have not felt in ages. As we begin a new year, it’s psychologically exciting and spiritually nourishing because a clean slate really does provide so much more fuel to the imagination and it energises you like nothing else. [Let’s take a moment here to be grateful for this ability to reflect and re-align when and where necessary, hurray for being human!] There is also, however, the temptation of wanting to ‘do it all’ - as our inner perfectionists design, define, distinguish and calibrate everything we see around us as a template for what we too, should be doing. And copying someone else, or feeling the internal pressure to do something just because there’s a few hundred people doing it on TikTok, defeats the purpose of doing it in the first place.
Which brings me to this term ‘Intentional Focus’. It’s the kind of focus on your life that has a really authentic feel to it. It’s deliberate and has a reason, a motive and a way forward. When you create the flow of your day, the things you focus on should really be things that are 1. building you up, 2. bringing you joy, 3. moving you forward in the direction of your dreams. If you look at your list of things to do, and you know that there things on there just for the sake of it, scratch that out! There is absolutely nothing more dreadful than pursuing things half-heartedly, they only end up making us feel like we’re wasting time and precious energy, not to mention feelings of regret for days, or weeks later.
So how does one create intentional focus?
Creating this requires reflection and really asking yourself what you want in life - the priority ones, the non negotiables, the goal posts you know will make you proud as punch.
Then think about how you want to feel in your day to day. What will lead you closer to feeling Joyful, Blissed-out, Creative, Active - whatever rocks your boat. Give yourself permission to try something new, challenge yourself and move out of your comfort zone.
Create blocks of focus. Even if it’s a single block a day, try and make it happen. As a busy parent myself, I strive to give myself a block of time when my baby is asleep and also early in the mornings (when it’s possible) It’s not perfect and it’s a work in progress but when I experience the flow of the moment and my entire mind is really in the task in front of me….wow. I mean, wow. There are little things in life that equate with that fulfilment. Presence is powerful, and focus gives you exactly that.
It allows you to be present to your life, and not just anything, but the parts of your life that you know are really important and the ones that are going to shape your own destiny.
So let’s cultivate Presence. The kind where your own life inspires the heck out of you, the kind where you’re more interested in looking inward rather than outward. The kind where the journey is just as sweet as the destination. Ooo, let’s make this delicious cake of a life happen guys!!!
I feel so honoured to be able to write this here and share with you all this year. Get ready for some big shifts, and big transformations. It’s your time to shine, shine, shine. So bring that light forward and be the star that you really are.