If I had written this blog many years ago, it would have been very short, and I would probably have been asking for your help. I have no doubt that I would have been diagnosed with ADHD and placed on strong medication. Back then, there were no tablets for such conditions, so my “tablets” looked a lot like a cane.
USING SPORT TO MASTER FOCUS
Over time, I learned that if I wanted to excel in school and sports, it was crucial for me to be able to sit still for longer than 20 minutes. It was a daily struggle to maintain focus for even that short period, and studying with 25 or 30 other boys didn’t help. I engaged in sports daily to expend any excess energy before sunset. I am forever grateful to every teacher who tried to help me and never gave up. The reality was that our school systems did not cater to easily distracted students like me. Fortunately, I was disciplined with my sports, and I made sure that discipline extended into my personal life, using it to my advantage. I developed a few small coping mechanisms.
APPLYING FOCUS IN EVERY DAY LIFE
Fast forward to today, and I still use some of those mechanisms to keep myself in check. Our cell phones are by far the biggest distraction in our lives, yet we carry them with us constantly. When we enter a lift and feel uncomfortable, we look at our phones. When we go to bed at night, we look at our phones. When we wake up in the morning, we look at our phones, and when we are bored, we look at our phones. We have a rule in our house: no phones allowed at the table during lunch or dinner. Simply acknowledging that we check our phones far too often is a good start. Enough ranting about phones!
The world bombards us with constant distractions, and it’s up to us to decide whether we let them affect us or not. My saving grace has been my inclination to plan and organize things well in advance. Being organized gives you daily missions and ensures your time is allocated to meaningful tasks. Warren Buffett once said,
“Start your day by doing absolutely nothing. Just sit there, close your eyes, and breathe. Being busy all day is the new stupid.”
While it’s easy to say when you’re a billionaire, there is a lot of truth in his words. We need to be vigilant and make sure that trivial things don’t steal our time and joy. What is stealing your time and joy, and what are you planning to do to prevent it?
GET IN TOUCH
If you would like to get in touch with me about my key note presentation, Debunking Motivation, please send an email to corne@cornekrige.com. Visit my website to review my speaker sheet for more info. I also share my story on my social media pages on Facebook and LinkedIn.