My God.

My wife.

My son.

My dad.

My mom.

My family.

My framily.

My work.

My home.

The list goes on.

I am thankful.

The world is loud. Have you noticed this? It keeps moving faster. It keeps getting louder. I find it harder and harder to focus through the chaos, but I know I need it more now than ever.

Here are three ways that I find focus even though the world is loud and demanding.

1. God has to be first. I am a follower of Jesus. My relationship with Jesus anchors my life. I start my week in church. I start my days in my bible. If God isn’t first, I am not focusing on the right things. He gives me the ability to focus on the right things and to do good.
2. My family is next. My ability to focus is greatly impacted by how things are at home. If my home has peace, I can deal with chaos because I have a safe place to return to. How do we do this? God is first in our home. We prioritize our marriage and actively work through conflict. We daily enjoy each other as a family. Laughter is a common thing. My son is a big part of that. He is a funny dude.
3. The third one won’t surprise you if you have read my blog for any time: fitness. Working out has to be part of my weekly rhythm. If I don’t do what I am supposed to do my body doesn’t work the way it is supposed to. I used to think that people in their 40s were joking about how their bodies changed and didn’t want to work…nope. They weren’t lying. If I exercise, things are operable. If I don’t…ugh.

I could mention several other factors about finding focus, but I will leave you with this quote:

Everyone’s time is limited. What matters most is to focus on what matters most. – Roy Bennett

For me, the three things above give me focus to do what needs to be done. What things help you find focus? What practices bring you clarity?

I got a compliment today I didn’t expect. Someone I had not seen in many months opened our conversation with, “wow! You’ve lost weight!” It was a definite boost and I was grateful.

I don’t need compliments all the time. They are very nice, but I’m able to do what I need to do without them. However, they sure do make you feel good. When you hear a complement, you did not expect, it could make your day.

Part of my 100 day journey last year was to encourage someone every day. I want to be a bright light that finds positive things to uplift people with. I don’t flatter, but I do tell the truth in kind of ways.

I have a challenge for you: find someone to encourage. Go out of your way to make them feel good about something good that they are doing. It will be beneficial for both of you.

I didn’t expect the compliment today. I also didn’t know that I needed it. When I heard it, it felt good.

I have a confession to make. There are days I want to quit. There are days I want to eat everything in sight because I can. There are days I want it to be easy. But…

I have to keep going. When I made the changes late last year, I didn’t make them to be temporary. I knew that I was changing my outlook on how I live going forward. This is not temporary.

I have to remind myself of this. This new path is one step at a time. Am I going to mess it up ever so often? Yep. Does that cancel the overall goal? No.

Perfection is not attainable. Consistency is. Keep going. One step, one day at a time.

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. – Jim George

The first two months of 2023 have not gone as I expected. Can I admit that? Is it ok? Good. It has been a whirlwind and I am just now finding my rhythm.

I was excited for the start of the year. I have goals that I want to crush this year. Have I started any of them? No, not really. Am I going to? Yes.

I have been thinking through how to plan for a couple of the goals I have. What do I need to do first? What steps do I need to take along the way? How do I know that I have achieved the goal?

For the ones I have in mind I have to start with the end result and back my way into them. Let me give you an example:

I have set the goal to podcast this year. Here are the questions I have to answer:

1. What is the topic?
2. How often will I post?
3. Who is the target audience?
4. What style podcast do I envision?
5. How much content will the chosen topic provide?

I could go on for a bit with questions. My point is this: if I have a goal, I have to break it down into achievable portions. I have to know what the steps are. If I can’t name the steps, how will I k ow when I have achieved them?

I look forward to achieving this year. More to come on goals. For now, #keepmoving #onward #finishstrong