I wrote last week about picking one thing to focus on.
This week I want to go more in depth about that.
Narrowing your focus down to one thing can be a challenge, especially if you have a ton of interests.
However the even bigger challenge can be what you decide you want to focus on.
Let me give you an example.
Recently I was bartering coaching with a fellow creativity coach, and I was struggling with this all to common problem of not knowing what to focus on. ‘I have too many interests! I can’t choose!’
It was all true.. sort of.
I knew that in my heart what I wanted- no needed to focus on was my topographical jewelry. It was a project I had started over a year before and that had been hanging for over a year.
I was putting it off.
Why? Because I was afraid.
I was telling myself that I didn’t have time to focus on the project. That I would not even remember how to use Rhino, my 3D modeling software since it had been so long! I told myself that it was too hard.
I was waiting for that perfect chunk of time- ideally several months with no other obligations in which I could work on this project.
I was definitely delusional.
When was that going to happen?
I was also afraid that I had already invested so many hours on this project and what if it failed? What if I was unable to do what I wanted to do? Or what if no one liked what I produced?
When the other coach asked what I wanted to focus on I started out by giving her all of the excuses that I had been telling myself- “I don’t know what to focus on!” “I don’t have time!”
But when she asked again what the one thing I wanted to focus on was, I knew the answer.
I cut through my excuses and just made the commitment to focus.
Do I have a month or two of uninterrupted time?
No way. I wake up an hour early every day to do this work.
Do I remember Rhino?
Well I was a bit rusty but it all came back pretty well, and I ended up finding a course that I could take to improve my skills even more.
Is it hard?
Yes! It’s hard! I run into problems all the time. But I know I am going to have time to work them through. An hour at a time. And I do.
Do people like what I have produced?
I am not sure yet! I have certainly gotten some positive feedback! Have people bought my jewelry? Not yet! But I am still incredibly happy that I am seeing this project through.
It has been about 3 months since I made the commitment to working on this project an hour a day.
I have spent about 100 hours on it, and made tons of progress.
That’s a lot of hours! And every day I go through the day feeling satisfied that I have done my creative ‘work’ for the day. Even if I get nothing else accomplished I have that positive feeling with me for the rest of the day.
What is the project that you need to work on?
Why is that work important to you?
How can you make the commitment to yourself to work on that project?
When will you do your work?