“FOCUSING’ has become my “focus” for the time being. When I sat down at the end of the year to think about my goals, I decided that I’d do things differently - I’d tackle them in quarters. In some instances, I started out with a yearly goal, breaking it down quarterly. In other cases, I went straight to quarters. It seems to be working better for me than staring at a year-long goal. Why? *Shrug* I’on even know and guess what? I don’t care…as long as it gets me moving towards the finish line, it’s all good.

I spent some time recently just surveying the landscape of my life – with wide-open, honest eyes. It didn’t take long to realize that some thing(S) was out of alignment. I didn’t know what or why – at that point I just knew that something(S) was out of alignment. That was my focus – finding the “WHAT”, not fixing it – just finding it. This “WHAT” (or family of “WHATS”) was stealing my focus, thereby stealing my progress and stalling my joy. Oh, this was not about to be the case for much longer. Uh uh. Not on my watch.

I caught up with myself, just kind of skimming through life, living on the edges of what I really wanted to manifest in my life, sneaking peaks over the rim into all the juicy goodness of the life I really wanted to live out loud. Once again, I was asleep at the wheel. Has this ever happened to you? You’re driving somewhere. You’re familiar with the route so you’re not paying attention. You start to drift off. The car hits gravel. You realize you weren’t paying attention and the car veered off the road. That’s how I was living life. Drifting on a memory (why do I suddenly hear the Isley Brothers in my head? LOL). I wasn’t focused. No matter how many to-do lists I had. No matter how much organizing I did. I wasn’t focused. And without being focused, my good intentions were absolutely no good.

Focus is about being PRESENT. Being CONSCIOUS. It might sound funny to say that but I think about the number of times, the situations where I’ve shown up…but not really been THERE, not really paying attention, just letting things happen and then reacting. I don’t want to live like that ever again. EVER. I find it funny now when I look back that someone who was once so “risk-aversive” would leave so much of her life up to chance that way. *SMH*

There’ve been times when I let myself get distracted much too easily. Can’t decide if I was working on the “wrong” goal…or I just didn’t want to do it (which could also signify the ‘wrong’ goal). Or I tell myself that I was multi-tasking when in actuality I was “multi-procrastinating”…or doing enough around the edges of my goal to fool myself into thinking I was on top of things. But I realize that, when I’m truly focused and in alignment with what I say I want to accomplish, distractions don’t matter. Being focused, being present and conscious serves to remind me not only of what my goal is…but why it’s important to me. That’s what keeps the fire burning – that all-important WHY.

Having identified “WHY” makes it easier to judge my progress, to recognize where I need to make adjustments, to know when I need to dig deeper, go all out or scale back. It lets me stop long enough to celebrate the progress I’ve made, clear my vision and my path so I can move ahead, and keep me inspired to finish this goal so I can take on the next one.

I think finding my “WHY” is what makes hitting/exceeding my goals easier this year. This “WHY” has significant meaning for me. It’s not some surface-level reason. It’s the kind of “WHY” that resonates soul-deep and spirit-wide. It’s a BIG “WHY”, a HUGE “WHY”, a deep “WHY”. Goes deeper than wanting to look cute, to rock that dress in size 10. Deeper than getting recognition for doing what you do. Bigger than a paycheck. It’s “WAKE-UP-CALL-FOR-MY-SOUL” deep. This “WHY” calls me up and out of living small into something bigger than me. (Another “Beautiful Epiphany”).

The right WHY? The real WHY? That will lead you right into PURPOSE which leads you into endless POSSIBILITIES which leads to more JOY than you can stand.

When you truly find YOUR “WHY” and step into it up to your neck, you’ll see for yourself. Try it. I dare you. Just don’t confuse your “WHY” with that impostor, “why not”. Don’t fall for the okey-doke.

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