Focus

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Flight podcast. Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply, because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time. Enjoy. What's up everybody, this is episode 14 of season 3 and we're going to call this one Focus. Nothing more, nothing less. And we're going to jump right into it. But before I go to the foundational text, we live in a very fast-paced world today, and that's what makes focus so vital. We always have things grabbing at our attention, and that's what makes it so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day distractions and daily grind of life. We fulfill distraction, which keeps us from fulfilling purpose. And the only way, from my perspective, to fulfill purpose is that we have to fulfill our ability to be— to focus, never losing sight on our true purpose in life, and that's to please God. I truly believe that God desires us to accomplish certain things day in and day out, even if it's just rest, even if it's resting. And the only way we can do that is truly understanding the power behind this word focus. Turning down the noise and focusing, because a lot of stuff is simply just noise. And we live in an age now— we live in a day and age now where information is so readily available, like just at our fingertips, and it's not as scarce as it used to be. And with that, you know, like when you really think about, think about it, is that it leads to information overload. And before I kind of move on, like I really want you to think about that because maybe not our parents' generation, but maybe the generation before them, and it could be our parents, but they probably didn't have as much— know that they didn't have access to information that we did. But what I believe that they had over us was their ability to focus. So although we have like all of this information, access to this information, a lot of times we develop analysis paralysis because we can just sit up there and simply research, research, research, research, just consistently be bombarded with information and we don't do anything. And because we— and then we can't focus because we're just focusing on any and everything. We're focusing on this person that contradicts this person, this person that contradicted that person. And then, you know, we're researching this, we're researching that. We don't really know it because we can't really spend time with it because we're just jumping. We're trying to focus on everything that's out there. And it's like Michael Hyatt said, to focus on everything is to focus on nothing. So understand that although we have the ability to access just about whatever we want, if we are not careful, that information can lead to the poverty of focus, meaning that we will lose our ability to focus because we continually fulfill distractions. Now I understand that there's always exceptions. I understand that, you know, some distractions— you can even read in scriptures that certain— I mean, not distractions, but certain interruptions led to some of the greatest miracles. I believe that's between you and God. I can't, I can't decide, help you decipher, okay, was this an interruption that's purposeful or was it just a distraction? That's going to come between you, but that's going between you, be between you and God. Because if I can do that, man, like, it would— I believe if we can just easily decipher that on just pure intellect, it wouldn't really be no need for discerning in the Holy Spirit. So that area is between you and God. But however, I do believe in some ground rules that we have to understand and stop making excuses for just not simply focusing on things. You know, I was reading an article, and then I read this article like 3 years ago by this guy that kind of before like a lot of people, a lot more people started writing on just, you know, stillness and things like that and productivity hacks. He was very successful, and they basically was like, man, how are you accomplishing this much stuff? And he was like, it's just my ability to focus. Like, I have a plan, I try my best to stick to it. Yes, certain times it deviate but I have a strong desire to just simply focus on what I need to get done. Because oftentimes in this life, you know, like when we look at certain things and just really be truthful, we have intentions to do something, we put it on our list, and then towards the end of the day or whatever, by the end of the week, whenever we— the set— the, the date that we agreed to we easily say, oh, I just didn't have time to get it done, because we act like we're so busy. But it's easy to get faked out. And so really what happens, if we go back and track or really truly investigate that time, most times we will understand that we really had time. And now, because think about it like this, okay, let's be real. Yes, I know it is sometimes that we go through things in life and it is like Oh my God, like the pressure of the world, the pressure of everything I have to do. I understand that. I believe Jesus experienced everything that we can think of, especially at the cross. He felt everything. This is the thing though, a lot of times when I will use that excuse like, man, I just didn't have time, but I go back and I kind of just analyze how I spent my day I did have time. I just chose to focus on other things that didn't add any value. And I'm not saying that, you know, you can't have fun, everything has to be serious. I'm not saying that at all. However, what I'm also saying is this: don't polish up an excuse. If it's a legitimate reason why, then it's a legitimate reason why. But don't polish up an excuse. Don't polish up a lie to be an excuse. Of just basically your lack of focus or ability to accomplish what you desire to get done. Because every day, every single day, we have something fighting for our attention. Every day we bombarded with noise, advertisement, distractions, with the exception of probably when we're asleep. And even when we're asleep, we're probably getting hit up in our dreams, just to be truthful, sometimes. But every day our attention is being asked for. And that keeps us from cultivating the deep focus that we need that will help produce the productivity to focus on what's essential to us. Like, you want to— you don't want to just accomplish the most stuff. You don't want to just look at it from the perspective of like, oh man, I got done, I got much as possible done today. No, productivity is getting the right things done. So for example, if you have a to-do list and you say, I need to get these 3 things done, you need to get those 3 things done unless there is a reason. It could be more, it could be less, but unless it's a legitimate reason, as I just said, that you don't. Because a lot of times what happened is those things that get moved on to the next day and now you're behind. So a lot of times, man, just don't negate the power of like writing things down. Don't underestimate the power of writing things down because of what you'll end up doing is working on a lot of stuff that might be very well urgent, but it's not important, and you don't get those important things done that you intended to get done. Now, it is times— you can get into the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People— you want to spend most of your time in the balance between the important but not urgent, from my perspective. But oftentimes we spend our time in not important, not urgent, or we spend it in urgent but not important. From, from my perspective, we want to spend a lot of our time in important but not urgent. That's, that's just how I see it. And so because like I think about being a senior technical project manager as well as like, you know, assisting in ministry, you'll end up being a firefighter just fighting every fire. Just seem like it's always a fire breaking out, and then you look up and it's like, wow. So it's sometimes you have to make some tough decisions and say, okay, this is what I need to get done. I have to get this done. Like, that just has— it has to wait. And you will notice how things will start to take care of themselves once you start setting boundaries. Because a lot of times, like, when it comes to us as people, the reason why we can't focus, because we have set a presence that, oh, just hit them up and they'll get it done, they'll figure it out. Because we don't have no boundaries, we don't have any guidelines, we don't have any, like, just parameters in place. We just, we just out here every day just existing. And so, and we just basically, okay, I'm gonna put out fires, I'm gonna just chase distraction after distraction. And now, like I say, I truly believe that God wants to work on us and use us to impact something every single day. I believe every day he desires us to impact something, but we don't give him the necessary focus in order to do it because we're always fulfilling distractions. And so when it comes down to it, you want to accomplish what you truly set out to accomplish. You want to get the right things done. Like I mentioned earlier, sometimes it's literally just saying, I need some rest. Like, that is pro— that is productive. If you put it on your list and you know you need rest, that is productive. We can get caught up in like, oh, well, no team, no sleep, team, no rest. Look, y'all can have that because I believe rest, like true rest is what gives you fuel to be even more productive, even like just to accomplish what, what's truly essential. And it also allows you to be present, because a lot of these team no sleep people, like, they're like walking zombies, man. They're there, they're on the grind, but they're really not there. Not all— some people can function like that, but to be truthful, their bodies are there but their minds aren't. And so I get that narrative, but rest, man, you— if you really study the life of Jesus, and like Michael Todd said it best, and I believe I, I think I heard it there first, and I believe Chris Hodges, but the pace of grace. I want to move at the pace of grace, and the only way I can truly move at the pace of grace, meaning that the pace that God desires me, is that I have to have deep focus and making sure that I'm prioritizing and focusing on what He desires in my life. Not distractions, not distractions. Like I say, if it is an interruption by God allowing, then trust me, I believe by the spirit of the Lord you will really know. But oftentimes I think that a lot of things are just simply distractions. I do. And so you really want to make sure that you're cultivating that skill. So what does it look like? Well, we just talked about the core thing of why I believe it's vital. Some— just touched on some areas, but what does the application look like? Well, first, I believe you have to really make sure that the core issue has been addressed before you move into any tips or hacks that may work. You have to make sure that, okay, focus is the vital point. That's what I— deep work, productivity, that's what's vital. In that, you start building around your hacks and your tips and things like that, which you may follow, the apps that you might use or whatever, your to-do list. Because now that's going to help you cultivate it. And what do I mean by that? Before I move forward, is that oftentimes, like I say, I will have all these different apps. What I mean— what do I mean by the core issue? So I would have all of these different apps and just like listen to these hacks and these tips and things like that. But I just like, I didn't really understand the true power of focus. Like, why is this essential to me? And so then I'll be like, ah, this don't work no more. So I move on to the next one. And a lot of times it wasn't the tools, it was just the fact that like I didn't respect the power of focus. And so now it really doesn't matter. I mean, it's like, it's some tools is better than others out there. I think we're all different. But however, I really don't use complex things or spend a lot of time. I mean, some people can spend like a whole 2 hours. I'm like, man, 15, 20 minutes just to jot down, make sure things synced up. Boom, boom, boom. Let's go. And I just roll with it. And so because now, like I said, I understand what I'm trying to protect. It's just I'm really just at the end of the day trying to protect my focus. And so now it basically enabled these tips and these hacks to work better. And so you might want to start off with, like I said, simple reminders or just jotting a to-do list. Just this, the simplicity of it. Some of us, you know, just use your calendar, add a task list to your calendar. You might want to get, like I said, a little bit more advanced, and that's cool. That's you. But for me, I'm just looking for something. Okay, towards the end of my day, let's go through the list and let me set up the next. And sometimes, you know, I might have a, like, a thing, like, I don't— sometimes I don't really like getting super detailed. Because I like to leave room for, you know, just the day-to-day things. I don't want to overly plan, but I want to plan enough to control my day versus it controlling me. And that's unfortunately where a lot of us end up at. The day controls us versus us controlling our day. And so you want to make sure that you're getting to, like, protecting the core of the matter, because that's what was so, like, if I may say, dope about our Savior Jesus, man. He always made sure that he got to the core of the matter. Then sometimes he would address, you know, certain things of miracles that they wanted and things like that, but he made sure that he got to the core of the matter. And so just simple to-do list, make sure that you do it, make sure that you're getting the right things done and not just trying to accomplish as much as possible. To me, That is what's focus. That is nothing more, nothing less. So try those things out. Listen to this episode over and over and over. Go research, I believe it's called The Productivity Project. Michael Hyatt has a good book, I believe called Free to Focus. And so just check out those resources, start there and just do some research. And like I say, like when you look at those hacks, really do them and stick with them, give them time to work. Because it's so easy to just fumble through. And like I say, let your day control you versus you controlling it. So don't become so legalistic that it's like, if it's not on my to-do list, I'm not getting it done. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying that. But I'm also— but I'm saying it's like, give God room, you know, give him room to operate and like use you. But just have some type of structure to your life, because structure, from my perspective, is not a bad thing. So focus, focus, focus. That is what's going to lead for you being in tune with God the way you need to in order to accomplish what he desires you to accomplish. Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this Student Life podcast today. If this content has impacted you in any kind of way, please take some time to share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you want to connect with me or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothypratt.org. Once again, thanks.