Struggling to Focus? | Ep 80 | David Hulman

People seem to forget if you change today, today will change your life. We've already looked and discussed that. Whatever you focus on, you feel. Whatever you focus on, you feel. So we need to get rid of the distractions, we need to get rid of the negative influences and the things that might steer us off course and really be able to hone in and focus on the target which you're looking for. So you've drawn out the picture, hopefully, from talking, when we talked about clarity, drawn out the picture. Now, what is the specific target you now need to hit and how do you keep yourself on the money all the time? Again, we're going to look at two different things. We're going to look at goal setting and goal setting in the right way, because goal setting is done terribly a lot of the time. And the other thing we're going to do is we're going to look at something I call Pinocchio. Let's look at the first one, which is goal setting. Now, most people see goal setting as, oh, I want to make a million pounds. Again, why do you want to make a million pounds? Specifically understanding what amount of money you need to do. What you want to do is so much more compelling, and not only more compelling, it's more likely to get you what you actually want because it has some meaning behind it. Goal setting isn't about just coming up with big, lofty targets, but also a lot of people in life, it's not that they set a big target and miss, it's that they set a small target and hit and they don't think they can get more than what they actually can get. So this is how goal setting works. I really hope that you take this on board and just draw this out for yourself because hopefully it will provide a more compelling future for you than you think you have already. Write down what your goal is. This is your first goal. Now, you know, with a little bit more effort and really, you're being slightly pessimistic, probably you can actually achieve this. So what's the next level above this goal here? What's that next level? Now, you know, realistically, whatever this is, this is more. This is realistic, right? But, you know, that's not really giving all that you have. So beyond that, if you gave so much more of yourself, whether it's more time, more resources, more effort, whatever you need to do, if you gave a bit more, you could probably achieve another target. So what we need to first think is, what's your target? You think at the moment and think two levels up Write this down and this is what you're reading every single day. This top target. You then need to work backwards the top. What are the three things you can do every single day? Or what are the three things that you need to do to achieve this big overall target? Write down what these three things are and then write down what are the things you can do really simply, really small every single day to achieve each of these three things or to get you closer, these things you need to do every single day, this is what you focus on every single day. These are the targets and you just tick them off every single day over and over again. Keep ticking them off, keep taking them off. And that will build a sense of momentum, which is source number five as well. Momentum will keep you moving forward rather than seeing a big lofty target thinking, damn, I still haven't achieved it yet. So look at the small things that you can do every single day to achieve it and just keep ticking them off. That's the first part. That's goal setting. That's how you goal set the right way to achieve a level of success. The other bit is Pinocchio. And I want to tell you a little bit about a guy called Dr. Steve Peters. He wrote a book called the Chimp Paradox. And he referred to the brain as having a human element, a computer and a chimp. The human element, which is the frontal lobe, is where our rational thought process comes from, the computer. In other words, the parietal part of the brain is where you store all your stats, your facts, all of those things. Just the bits of information, knowledge, the limbic, which he refers to as the chimp, is where our irrational thought process comes from and is a vital part of our brain because it helps us survive. You need this to survive, but also where fear comes from. And he teaches you how to tame the chimp, how to treat the chimp differently. Now, I think the chimp is a good analogy, but I like to refer to it as Pinocchio. That's how I see it for myself. Sometimes Pinocchio gets scared. Sometimes Pinocchio tells lies. It doesn't mean they're true. And you just have to look after Pinocchio rather than fear that part of the brain. Fear, that's who you are. That's just a different part of the brain. That's not you, that's not your rational self. That's just part of your brain a bit scared and a bit worried. So you just have to look after it, see, as more trivial and simple than it actually is. I know that whenever you're about to pursue or achieve something or about to step on stage or whatever you're going to do, when you have that bit of fear, you know that it's just Pinocchio in your mind, just a bit unsure, just a bit uneasy. And you can just talk back to Pinocchio and just say, this is okay, I've got this under control. And use your rational thought process to counterbalance it. There are two ways to improve focus. The goal setting. Write those things down. Goal, what's the next level? What's the next level? And then work backwards. What the three things you need to do to achieve this, and then what the simple things you can do every single day to achieve those things. Write all of this down. And the other aspect is Pinocchio. What are the sorts of things that Pinocchio tells you? What are the sorts of fears and concerns that you have? And no, that's not your rational self. That's just a specific part of your brain that is designed. Because our brains are 2 million years old, they're not designed for the society in the world that we currently live in. So we have to adapt and we have to evolve. So just learn how to tame Pinocchio and again, you'll step closer to what you want.