Cost of Distractions

Hey, what's up? This is Tim Pratt Jr. I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this content today. I hope you hear something that adds value to your life, shaping your perspective, faith, and hope, as well as the application to see and do in this thing that we call life. Enjoy. What's up everybody? So this is episode 3, The Cost of Distractions. So I'm sure that you've probably came across another podcast, you know, a blog or a book, or engaged with friends and family, or just seen on social media just data surrounding this topic, you know, engage with coworkers, whatever that may be. And I don't really want to get into like the whole research base and all of that type of stuff because it's already out there. And we are becoming more aware of— we are becoming more aware within society of distractions, you know, given the technology advances that we have had. However, we still struggle with it. So like I say, I just want to present more so a framework on the cost of it, because sometimes if we understand or just have an idea of what it's costing us, then we will have a perspective change and probably set ourselves up to be a little bit more successful with, you know, basically avoiding these distractions, if that makes sense. I'm hoping— I hope I'm making sense. So with that being said, like, let's get into those, and then towards the end, I'll, you know, basically give two quick points on what I think that will help. And they're not— it's nothing new, nothing groundbreaking. It's just something we have to get back to, like, basically fundamentally doing. So with that being said, let's really jump into the context of this episode. So I'm sure you've probably heard of the quote before, what the devil can't destroy, he distracts. Well, that's, you know, very true, especially from a faith perspective. But you might not be a faith person, or even, like I said, if you are a faith person let's just be real, sometimes it's not the devil, the enemy, or whatever you want to label him as, is as it's more so just us really lacking the self-discipline. And that's one of the key things towards the end I want to get into, but it's really us just lacking the self-discipline to overcome the distraction. And so then, are, you know, some things are, you know, out of our control where it's like, oh man, like, wow, I wasn't expecting this in my life. But that's where you get into like the whole margin thing, and that's another episode when we get into that. But like I say, once again, it's a very popular quote. I think the first time I heard it was actually from Michael Todd, and it's, what the devil can't destroy, he distracts. But I like another quote by Jim Rohn when he mentioned that, if I would have known the cost, I would have never paid the price. And I think I was listening to that. I think I heard that a while ago on one of his audio programs a few years ago, and it's just something that I've always remembered, and it just came back up within the context of this episode. And so a lot of times, you know, like, it's basically— in other words, it's with distractions, we get the bill first— I mean, we get the order, you know, first, but then we pay the bill later. And, you know, if you've ever went out— I'm sure you have— at a restaurant, especially like— I've— I remember one time my wife and I, we went to like a real nice restaurant in Miami and it was bougie. And I was like, so we just ordered like a salmon steak. And I think it's like one of those places where the prices aren't really on the menu. And when we got the bill, I was like, oh crap. Wow. And I'm not going to— never mind. That's another point. But however, we're not really bougie food eaters. I think we were thinking about like, hey, let's just go to Waffle House because we're still hungry.— but however, nevertheless, you know, we paid the bill and we had to honor it because, you know, we chose to partake in it. And that's basically the point that I'm trying to make here is that the bill oftentimes with distraction, it comes later. And so that brings me to my first point within this framework that I want to present to you. It's more so dealing with price tags that come with distractions. And so the first one is that You never get traction, or the lack of traction. I grew up in the country, and you know, I've always been around ATVs and, you know, just things like that. And so a lot of times when it would rain extremely hard and it would get muddy, or, you know, you get into like the ice or snowstorms that we would have down there, we would get on our ATV and basically just start riding. And so times, you know, like, especially not as much in mud, but especially like with the snow and mud, or you know, if it had rained and icy and stuff like that, I would get down in those fields in certain trenches, you know, friends would come down and sometimes we would get, you know, temporarily stuck because like we just couldn't gain traction. We would just spin out. I mean, I've seen it in cars, you know, bagging out and it's like you hit a little low spot and that tire sinks and you just spinning, spinning because you can't, like it's icy. And so it's just, you can't move forward, you know, you can't go where you need to go in life. And so with me, you know, like when I look at it from more of a standpoint in my life now, like I work as a senior technical project manager as well as like, you know, serving in capacity within the ministry. I host a lot of other things. And so, but just speaking in the context of my job that I do, working at, like I said, as a senior technical project manager within a software development company, is that when I'm dealing with projects, one of the biggest things that I'm trying to make sure in the context of Scrum, which is the agile framework, agile project management framework, is that I'm trying to keep the team basically gaining traction on projects. And, you know, when things just basically stop you know, or I can't get the right players in the room, and so on and so on. We lose traction and momentum. And then, you know, you get into a game or people forgetting, or this, this, and that, you know, and all this type of stuff and back and forth. And so one of my big things is like to limit those distractions of the team, whether they be roadblocks or whatever. Like, I have to keep them in basically a consistent flow, or if they do, you know, deviate some I need to make sure that we can quickly get back on track. And that's all I'm saying. Like, you can still get there, but that's one of the first price tags that you pay. All right, so moving to our second point is opportunity cost. And I really just want to kind of start off and read a basic definition, you know, more so from an economics perspective. It said the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen. And so basically, in other words, is what it's saying, it's like, if I know that I have this opportunity to do this XYZ and it's gonna produce these results for me, but I choose opportunity 123, I chose alternative. So basically I missed out on the potential gain of XYZ, you know, for the loss of 123 or vice versa, whatever you want to say. However you want to put that. I mean, so with distractions, it's like if I know that I'm trying to become certified or something like that, or, you know, basically say I need to really start studying real estate or something that can help basically me and my personal development in my life to make more money or just provide more for my family, whatever that may be, or whatever it looks like in your life, I need to dive into that. And so because I know that's gonna like, that's the opportunity. However, I'm falling for the distraction. So it's like I'm consistently just, you know, we fall for the swipe up, swipe up, swipe up, or whatever it is, you know, swipe right, swipe right, swipe left, swipe left, you know, with our hand in it. When you look up, it's like, oh man, 45, you know, 50 minutes or so that you spent. But then it's like on the other side of it, it's like, dang, you know, like right before bed, man, I'm tired. I really need to get some rest. You know, or think about how really, you know, during the day, once again, speaking as a technical project manager, you know, working even at my previous employer when I was, you know, working with the engineering, one of the biggest things you will always hear is that how social media basically, it distracted a lot of people at work. So companies would go to great lengths to, you know, block those type of channels, then let them back, all this type of stuff. And you, I can't, I don't really want to get too far off into that, But basically what I'm getting to is that once again, you know, you— I know I'm supposed to be focused on this at work, but I'm actually like, you know, dived in and focused on Instagram or Facebook or Snapchat and something like this. And then now I didn't get everything that I needed to get accomplished. So now it affects my potential gain of the day, you know, if that makes sense. And so whatever that looks like in your life, you have to really consider that because it's always an opportunity cost when it comes to the cost of distractions. And then the last one is basically it robs you of your— the becoming, you know, the failure of living like what you are really capable of. So let's say this is that you're working on finishing your bachelor's or, you know, associate degree certificate, master's, PhD, or whatever it is, or you're trying to get, you know, this job and you need this certification and this class to take. But then you're like kind of going back to the first two points. You can't really get traction and you're not basically picking the right opportunity. You're choosing the— you choose an alternative that you know that's robbing you. Well, that's going to rob you of that becoming. Say for instance that you need to grow and basically get, you know, a strong relationship with your spouse. Or the person that you're dating, you know, with your kids, your, your family, your in-law, whatever it may be. It all goes back to those first two, you know, traction and opportunity cost. You're not going to get it. So the relationships are going to stay weaker. You know, say that you need to get out there and network or just things like that. Skills develop. And then just being present in life. And really, I was listening to Clay Scruggs. He actually, that, you know, he inspired me to really like look at that area. And I believe he did write a book on like basically living with a distracted world. It's very good. And so that's just something you really have to take in consideration is that am I willing to sacrifice what I can become for distractions? And so, I mean, it's a great quote out there, and I believe one of the first times that I seen it, it was by Michael Hyatt. If you don't sacrifice what you want, what you want becomes a sacrifice, something like that. And so take that into consideration. Like, these are real costs that, you know, and oftentimes, you know, at least when you go sit down at a restaurant or something like that, or just things in life, you get a tangible bill. But a lot of times, you know, we don't see these things until they're too late because they're not necessarily always tangible. Like, I know, you know, I can get a certification, they can send me a paper to validate that. But what I'm saying is just like it's more so— maybe I should say it's like a lot of times the cost, it doesn't show up right then. Matter of fact, to quote Jim Rohn once again, I remember he said like if people would eat bad and that would, you know, give you the cancer right there or high blood pressure right there, people would eat a lot more cleaner. Or, you know, if smoking one cigarette will cause death or cancer in the throat, right there on the spot, people would throw the cigarette away. Or if spending that money outside of the budget will cause you to lose your house and bankruptcy, right then on the spot, people would be more financial, you know, be a better financial steward over their finances.. But since a lot of times these things don't happen right now, that's why we continue basically to rack up the cost of distractions. I hope I'm making sense. And so you don't want to basically miss out on the things that you were called for because of this. I mean, distractions, like I said, they get in the way of becoming a better you. You know, if you're trying to grow as a leader or just like I say, your own personal development. And I'm parking here because like this framework, I really wanted to like stick. And just to kind of recap, like I said, these price tags that's associated with this, it's the lack of traction, number one. Number two, the opportunity cost. And number three, it robs you of becoming who you are— have truly been called to be. And so basically, to close out this episode, I would just say that remember that no distraction out there is worth compromising what you've been created for or called for by God. For only results matter. Excuses won't in the end. And I wouldn't want to stand before my kids, you know, let me say this, let me back up. I wouldn't want to stand before God first, my wife, my kids, you know, my family, and just even myself, and basically make an excuse and say, man, I didn't live up, I couldn't become the best version that God, you know, went through great lengths to describe because I kept settling for or being conquered by distractions. And so, like I opened up in this episode, what are those two things? Like I said, it's nothing groundbreaking. It's making a decision. And it's discipline. Self-discipline. That's all it is. Self-discipline is basically when I don't feel like it, I'm gonna do it anyway. And like I told you, I look, I struggle with this. I struggle with this probably just more than you. So just because I'm speaking on this topic, you know, I write on it or read it, it's not that I don't have those struggles or I have arrived and conquered it. However, I have been basically taking time to put a framework because I want to be more intentional to overcome this. And so just like I say, remember that no distraction out there it's worth compromising what you have been called and created to do. Hey, thank you so much for listening to this content today. I want to encourage you, if you haven't already, to subscribe to it and share it with family and friends on your social media feeds. And you can also go over to www.timothyprattjr.org in order to find out more about the blog as well as other things that I offer on how to connect with me. So with that being said, I hope you have a blessed day and continue to see this thing adventure that we call life.