EP. 156 - Mastering Focus, Intention, and Execution! | Further Your Lifestyle Podcast

Speaker 1: 0:00

Yo yo yo. Welcome back to the Further your Lifestyle podcast conversations on lifestyle passions and hustles. My name's Chris, I am your host and I'm super excited to be back here having the conversation with you, episode 156 today. And today we're talking about focus, intention and execution. Now, for the last four years, I've had to find better ways of, I guess, staying focused, locking in with intentions and, of course, then going about and executing those said intentions, and it's been a real challenge. It's been hard, and especially when we have an idea, it's easy to talk about an idea of all these things that we want to do and thinking about the results that could be had and what they could look like, and already when we start doing that, we have this effect. That actually isn't really good for us because all of a sudden, we start to feel really happy, we start to get the quick gratification of thinking about how we are going to feel when we actually achieve this result. The catch is we forget about the work, the focus, the intention and all the things that are required to make this happen. Then, when we start to do it, we actually get into a bit of a slippery slope and we don't end up achieving it. And that's why, in today's episode, I really wanted to dive into the importance of focus, the importance of having intention, and what does that really mean. But also, how will we take execution in making it happen? And look, we're going to go through some of the basics of focus, intention and execution. What are the ways that we can turn these on and really make sure we are leveraging them at our best? But also I want to talk a bit about how I'm doing it and really share some of my own experiences, which might be short and sweet, but giving you that relevant experience from my own perspective, because me taking a chance on myself for four years now, building a business myself, building this podcast, having my YouTube channel, chasing after my goals with my running, building my lifestyle that I want, it's been a challenge. And knowing when and where and how and what to do is not always as easy as we think. But it's become a lot easier as I've progressed and gone through, I guess, revolutions of changes and having to adjust and learn and adapt along the way. So that's what we're getting in today. Roll the intro.

Speaker 1: 2:16

Let's start with focus. Focus is, I mean, if we don't know what focus is, that is our first problem. But focus really refers to the ability to concentrate with attention and energy to a specific task, goal or objective, and the basics around this is you know what is our awareness? Are we being mindful of what requires our attention and are we consciously directing our mental energy towards it? Right? And I think, when it comes to focus, I think a lot of the time we can't just expect that we're going to be switched on and able to focus. We also need to enable ourselves to be focused, in the sense of eliminating the distractions or having an environment that enables us to actually thrive with focus. So minimizing and eliminating external distractions, or internal distractions even, will pull our focus away from the task at hand. So getting rid of those things is going to enable you and give you a kick win already when you're trying to get into the task that you're trying to do.

Speaker 1: 3:10

I think the other thing is practice. Developing focus is a skill that can be, I guess, honed in over a regular practice or through many reps or many mindfulness exercises, and that can be done in so many different ways. For me, I like to clear my head by running right, and that means that when I come to do my next thing. I am focused and I've done a few different episodes around different things of how I manage my routine because I'm a routine junkie but I think, as a broad perspective, when we think about how do we actually activate focus, I think it really comes down to setting clear goals and understanding well, what are the things that we need to do, what are the targets we need to achieve. Therefore, we know what we need to be focusing on, and we'll chat about that shortly. A bit more detail when we get to intentions.

Speaker 1: 3:56

But I think we also need to be mindful of time management. How much time do we have? Can we allocate a certain amount of time to be dedicated focus work? Can we use different techniques? Can we allocate a certain amount of time to be dedicated to focus work? Can we use different techniques? Can we use things that are going to enable us to actually get the task at hand done? A good example of this is people use the Pono Pomodoro technique, where you do 25 minutes of work, five minutes break, 25 minutes of work, five minutes break, et cetera, et cetera, and time blocking is really important, or blocking out your calendar.

Speaker 1: 4:21

The other one, as it alluded to before, is mindfulness or meditation, so cultivating focus through mindfulness and ensuring that you are being present in the tasks that you're doing and staying attentive to it, which, in a world where there's so many notifications, alerts and things going on all the time, that can be a big struggle. I struggle with it too, but there is a way that I've actually started to work on doing that, and this year has actually been my best year in doing that, and we'll get to that in a second. But the other thing that I said before was around physical environment creating a place and a space where you can be focused by organizing and reducing clutter or giving yourself a location or a place where you are equipped to be focused. That's going to change everything. And coming back to whether it's around enabling yourself or is there things that can help you stay focused, I actually have something that I want to share with you, and it's something, actually, that I've been using. It's a little thing called Magic Mind and you'll see a few things come up on screen, but this is just like it's a little mental performance shot, and they actually help with productivity, they actually help with a focus boost and, in short, it's intended to offer you a mental performance boost as well, as it's got a bunch of different health benefits. Scientifically, this has been designed to boost energy and the idea is it's going to enhance focus. It's to create a sense of calm, alertness, which I've actually been experiencing myself. The main intention of this is basically to in overall, to increase your productivity and actually has become probably one of my favorite things of my morning routine.

Speaker 1: 5:53

Now I am a routine junkie and at the moment through the week, monday to Friday, I get up early. I get up at exactly 5.06 AM. That's also when I like to do the most important tasks that I have for the day, which in most cases is doing my eBay listings for my business, because I can get them out of the way. They're the biggest hump and it also sets the day with a positive win. And since that is the first thing on my agenda waking up usually I'm not really focused because I've literally just woken up. I would usually have to fight the early morning sleepiness and it would take a good 30, 35 minutes to really get into a groove, but not anymore. With Magic Mind, I found that as I've progressed over it for the first 10 days, I've now been having it for 10 days every morning at around 5.10,. To be honest, I've been able to switch on even quicker than I've ever had before and get into this flow state where I'm able to just get into clear thinking and just get the job done. As the days have progressed, I found that the compounding effects have been bigger and better, and I'm enjoying it and I'm actually excited to have it every morning.

Speaker 1: 6:49

I've purely been using it for my morning routine, but you can have this at any time, and the thing I love about it is it's not a coffee replacement. It's a hundred percent safe and it doesn't feel like just a trend or something that you find on TikTok. And there've been over 200 plus scientific studies behind the ingredients and the ingredients. There is a lot. I'm going to chuck it up on screen, but for those I'll just read out a couple there's agave, there's matcha, there's mushrooms, there's olive oil, there's turmeric, there's vitamin D3, b2, b3,. There's sea salt, there's saffron. There is some caffeine in this. There's a whole bunch in there. Now, if you're like me and you want to find something that's going to give you a boost, keep your head clear or get you into the zone, well then you can get yourself some of these over at magicmindcom slash clfurlong. That's C-L-F-U-R-L-O-N-G, and if you jump over there, you can then use the coupon code which you can get up to 56% off on your first subscription or 20% off on a one-time purchase, and that's with the code CLFURLONG20. So that's C-L-F-U-R-L-O-N-G 20.

Speaker 1: 7:55

And now that you know that I've been using Magic Mind for the mornings, let's talk about intention. Now, when it comes to intention, this refers to the, I guess the purpose or the objective behind our action. So the why, the why we do something and we've done episodes on why here before on the Further, your Lifestyle podcast but really the basics around intention really coming down to clarity, having a clear understanding of what it is that you want to achieve and why is it important to you. But the other part of that is it needs to be aligned, or you need to have alignment, ensuring that the intentions align with your values, with your beliefs and your long-term goals. And if you don't know what your long-term goals are, well then you need to spend some time figure out what it is you want in one year, two year, three years, five years, 10 years, to understand how you were able to keep yourself with intention in what you're focusing on. Another way we can do this is through visualization, and when we visualize the outcome that you desire, not getting too stuck up on the results, but we can start to, I guess, solidify or really lock in on the intention to keep you motivated, which will help with the focus.

Speaker 1: 8:57

Now there are ways that we can activate intention. We can be reflective in our practices. You know, spending time on our goals and reflecting on our goals and our values and motivations to make sure that we are clarifying these with our intentions. You can do some journaling or some note-taking and writing down different things that you want to be doing. Seeking aspirations, but also seeking inspiration, will help lock in on what your intentions are. The other one is, then, affirmations being positive about what you want to do, reinforcing your intentions to help cultivate a mindset that's going to make sure that this is what you believe and really see. Are you really determined to see it through as well? And I think the other one is then accountability partners, finding someone or telling people, or a group of people even, that you can work with and trust to have them help you stay true to what it is that you're trying to achieve. For me, I like to put a lot of things out and I talk about it, I share and document it here on the YouTube channel alongside the podcast, and I tell everyone that I'm doing this. This is what I'm working towards. I'm documenting, I'm sharing it and it keeps me accountable, but I also do then have individuals that I work with to help me make sure that I'm doing this right, which then leads to execution.

Speaker 1: 10:07

Execution refers to the process of taking action and implementing the plans to achieve our goals. I mean, it shouldn't be rocket science, but again, I don't want to sit here and say that it's easy, because it's not. When it comes to execution, we want to make sure the basics are covering planning, taking, I guess, taking or developing a clear and actionable plan of outlining the steps needed to actually achieve these objectives that you actually want to do. If you know what your intentions are, how are you going to go about making these intentions occur? And, of course, that's going to come with focus. But when we plan them out, then it's about building that consistency, getting in the reps, getting in the continuous improvement as well, but you've got to be disciplined towards it, because if you're not disciplined, you will fade out of being able to get through it and when challenges come or when setbacks come, we start to pull back. You've got to get over those humps, which leads to adaptability. Actually, we need to be able to be flexible. We need to be willing to adjust our approach, but also seek feedback and change based on those circumstances as well. So how do we activate execution?

Speaker 1: 11:10

I think the first thing is we need to break the task down. What are the things that need to happen? If you've got a one-year plan, what are the things that need to happen? Is it quarterly, is it monthly? Is it weekly? Break it down into the things that need to be executed. Make it into manageable chunks. Make it into sizable chunks in the sense that it makes it less overwhelming and it makes it more easy for you to actually achieve these things. But we also need to make sure that we're prioritizing our tasks and that we know what we need to do and why we're doing that and why that one matters first, before something else that we do.

Speaker 1: 11:42

Next up is accountability Again, keeping yourself accountable, checking in with people, tracking progress. I have a visual dashboard that I use for all my business and for my running, and then I'm able to track and see what's working, what's not, where can I potentially make some tweaks? But just having a chat with someone will work in this favor as well. And the other one, which I think a lot of people lack or neglect, is celebrating your progress. When you get a win, celebrate. Find a way to celebrate, reward yourself. Go out with some friends the small stuff and the big stuff too to celebrate, reward yourself. Go out with some friends the small stuff and the big stuff too. Find a way to maintain that motivation, to build that momentum.

Speaker 1: 12:16

So focus, intention and execution. I want to talk about how, for me, this is working for me, or how I like to think about it. In order to focus, I need to know what my intention is, and then this enables me to be effective with execution. So intentions for me will include my daily goal, my weekly focus, my monthly progress, where I want to be in a year, and then across two, five and 10-year plans, and that's usually in particular to my business, but my holistic lifestyle as well. So, deepening in on that task, it then ties back to one of those. So, for instance, if I'm doing something, it might be something because it's a daily thing or it's part of a weekly focus or a monthly progress or whatever. That's really my focus there. So in doing so it changes how I focus on different things. Short-term intentions means I'm dialed in on the focus, like doing my listings for the day, and that's where Magic Mind comes in right. We've spoken about that. But long-term intentions, the focus isn't always going to be super attentive, super detailed. It's going to be a bunch of different things that I'm doing in the short term that are going to then, I guess, build out that longer term, I guess, result, if that makes sense. So in doing so that, thus I guess we then get to executing and taking action, and this will vary.

Speaker 1: 13:28

Sometimes I'm taking execution in the sense of it's a bit of a side hustle. I'm just continuing to do a few little things, keeping things moving. Sometimes I'm doing execution as a last minute because they're things that I know that need to happen by a certain date and I keep putting it off. But sometimes when you put it off, you get it done effectively because you're able to leave it to the last minute. And look, I wouldn't recommend doing that, but I know we'll do it too. But also putting in some predetermined things as well of where this is, where I'm going to spend time to do this, that or something else.

Speaker 1: 13:57

I'm a routine junkie. I know what I have for my week, and I like to plan it out. The other thing is doing leveraged tasks, knowing that if I need to achieve this, can I have someone else work for me or can I use something to help me get to that result quicker. And then, on top of all this is then those compounding results of taking action. When you take action, you build momentum, you build a snowball, and things start to move a lot quicker, and that's the compound effect. The other things that enable my focus for the day is the routine of what I want before, what I need to do, and this might mean, you know, doing some running, or following a routine, or spending some downtime, or just watching a funny video, or doing small festivities with my family we have Nitro Night once a week just things like that Little, small, regular routine, things that keep me focused, keep me aligned, and if I do start to slip, I've got those things to fall back into line. So I'm staying the course.

Speaker 1: 14:51

I will say, though, however, with those things in mind, I have learned that I need to be fluid and I need to be adapting and I need to be willing to change as circumstances change. Change is constant. It's going to continue to change. Change of plans will occur. I'll have to redirect my ordering of priorities.

Speaker 1: 15:08

But also being willing and ready to pounce on things when they pop up and I said it earlier, and I think I said it earlier, maybe I said it in a different episode but when a great opportunity comes along, you say yes and then figure out how to do it, and that's a quote from Richard Branson. It's really important and knowing when it makes sense Now I'm not saying just because someone offers you something, you say yes, but if it aligns to your values, if it aligns to your intentions, if it aligns to all those things, then it makes sense to pounce. And I think all these things need to align with our intentions. Right, if you feel that they are more, they can help you take better action or help you achieve what it is that you want to do with your intentions and you're able to take those and then still feel focused, then by all means do it. But I'm not here to say yeah. Just be a yes man and say yes to everything. Big episode, a lot to take in my own personal experiences. The stuff we spoke about, magic Mind also very important, and I do this is really great stuff. I'm really enjoying it, something really exciting to experience and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to share it back to you guys as well.

Speaker 1: 16:14

If you guys have any questions about this episode, by all means leave a question down below in the comments or can reach out to me. But I would encourage you. What are your focus? What is your focus, what is your intention and how are you going about executing things or taking action? Look, they seem simple. They seem this is basic stuff. It is, but it's complicated and, depending on what you're doing, what you're trying to build, where you are in your life and your lifestyle, these things can be easier said than done. So, you know, don't make it hard for yourself. Find a way to make it easy for yourself and I believe you will be able to stay focused. Stay, you know, to your true intentions, but, most of all, you'll be able to see the results through the actions that you take when executing as well. Appreciate you being here. You have a wonderful day, cheers.