He was making an impact in the world every day – he was CEO of a company that develops educational software for schools with students with disabilities.
His work made his happy, and the value that he offered to clients large was immense.
Asianefficiency – Finisher’s Fastlane Corporate
How to finish everything you start so that you can finally achieve your most important goals
This New System Lets You Focus on What Matters — Even If You’re Overwhelmed and Don’t Know Where to Start
There was something seriously wrong. Mike lived a happy life.
Every day, he was making a difference in the world – he was the CEO of a company that builds educational software for schools with children who have disabilities.
His work made his happy and he was a great asset to clients large and small.
Past clients he hadn’t heard from in months would regularly email him out of the blue just to say how awesome his software was and how much it was helping them serve their community.
Then, what was the problem?
Mike was constantly frustrated by the huge gap between his ideal self and what he was actually doing.
Mike seemed successful from the outside. He was blessed with a beautiful wife and 4 beautiful boys. But he’d look around at others on Facebook and Twitter — see them giving keynotes, appearing on podcasts, and landing huge clients, and think, “That should be me.”
The gulf between reality and dream was evident in many other ways. Mike wanted to see his revenue grow 5x as fast as it was. He wanted to write his own book. He wanted to be the devoted Dad he didn’t have as a kid, but he was barely eating dinner with his kids 1 or 2 times a week.
Mike, as with many people, understood logically how he could achieve these things.
He’d spent hours and hours researching the perfect way to write a book, the perfect time management system to end every day exactly at 5pm, the perfect mindsets for achieving work-Life balance
It never happened. Why?
Let me ask you: have you ever been in Mike’s position? I’m sure I have.
My college days were filled with dreams. I’d envision my future, write out affirmations, lay out the perfect to-Make a list and plan the perfect calendar. You name it, it was done.
But month after month I was the same unfulfilled, frustrated individual.
Here’s the problem I had, and the problem Mike had too. It might sound familiar to you.
Mike was like me. Inability to focus.
He’d sit at his computer and get ready to buckle down on his book, and then somehow, someway, the news would appear on his browser…
15 tabs will suddenly open, containing top 10 lists of the best books to read for entrepreneurs, and the best to.-do list apps, the best way to block out your calendar…
Then he’d spend an hour or more flipping through all these distractions, close the tabs one by one, and eventually get back to his book. Then he’d look at his to-Do not list. Sigh. Close Byword. Then, get back on the most important things of the day like answering emails or making phone calls.
You see, Mike was great at getting those things done, things he had to do, like client meetings — which he was a pro at. All his energy would then vanish after the urgent or important obligations of the day.
He might get one or two other things done in a day, but he just couldn’t find the focus to get more than the absolute essentials done.
(And that was just work — he also had a backlog of personal stuff to do: small projects around the house, plans with his family, decluttering, updating his computer.)
What little focus he could muster was sucked away by interruptions — people calling him, emailing him, client emergencies.
He’d forget stuff, get stressed out, and snap at his team members.
Mike was unable to find the time to devote his attention to the real things that would help him get to where he truly wanted to be, a published thought leader and a dedicated father.
Because he couldn’t focus on anything else “small fires,” He called them “the goals” and he didn’t invest time in them. His real goals were to make more money, become a thought leader in his field and be an amazing father.
He kept trying different productivity apps and accountability buddies, read books, and tweaking his calendar.
It was almost like being trapped in quicksand.
He struggled more and more until he couldn’t get back up. He was never able to focus. Distractions kept him in the quicksands of stagnation.
He’d go on Instagram and see people on amazing vacations with their families, building their dream homes, presenting at TED Talks…and feel the envy like a gut punch. These were his goals, too.
Then he’d just sigh, close the tabs, and think, “Wish I could do that.”
Once you stop making progress, you’re declining. Mike proved this to be true. He couldn’t break through to real growth, because distractions held him back.
Mike knew he was capable and capable of much more. He was coming up on 15 years since graduating college, and thinking back on his dreams at 22 versus his life at 37…he knew he’d fallen short. This knowledge was eating at him.
He was less certain about his abilities as a person. It seemed like his future would just happen to him…like he didn’t have control over it.
8 years ago, each day was a new chance to disappoint myself. While I was doing well in school, I saw myself as an entrepreneur, someone who helped others, and made a positive difference in the world. Yet every day, I couldn’t focus long enough to even write a blog post.
Before I could concentrate, I was constantly distracted. Facebook, the news, TV shows, doing laundry…I’d do anything but focus on working towards my goals.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I lacked the ability to do Deep Work.
And it was only when I went through a phase of productivity experiments that I discovered the seeds of the system I’ve now grown into a full-You can live a focused, driven life.
A friend and I dove head first into the productivity literature. We devoured every book, attended seminars all over the globe with Tony Robbins and spent thousands of hours refining and testing our techniques. We did all this to bridge the gap that separated where we were and where our goals were.
I created a system over a number of months that worked for me.
I have finally understood my most important goal.
I found a way to focus and jumpstart myself, no matter how distracted.
I created a foolproof method to locate the ONE thing that I needed to work on every time I felt lost in the day.
I established systems for dealing with the “small fires” In my life: The phone calls, emails and meetings that I had to attend to but that would ruin my ability to do Deep Work if they were not.
I designed a system for how to handle incoming inquiries so that each email was addressed and dealt with in a timely manner. “Got a minute?” didn’t become a time debt sucking me away from real productivity.
I found a way of removing distractions from my life so that I don’t feel the need to log in to Reddit and Facebook every 5 minutes.
I found easy ways to make time for Deep Work no matter how busy I was.
And in the 8 years since, I’ve taught this system to thousands of people, who have paid millions of dollars combined for the information.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
First…
What is Deep Work?
I’ve mentioned Deep Work several times now, so you may be wondering what I mean by that. What is Deep Work?
Nope. Nope. A grocery list can be your focus. You can also focus on Netflix’s next best show. But that’s not Deep Work.
Deep Work allows you to be in a state of flow, where your creative work is at its best.
It’s when your brain starts making connections between different concepts, when inspired ideas come into your head, when the words flow out of your fingers and onto the keyboard. It’s when you’re tackling a hard problem and instead of immediately doing something else when you get frustrated, you stick with it, until you push through to the other side.
Here’s how it can look. This is how it looks: You sit down at the keyboard and start typing.-Morning writing session. The house is quiet — not a sound.
You’ve got your cup of fresh hot coffee or tea steaming beside you. Fresh from your journaling session, your Moleskine notebook is right next to.
Now, you sit straight up in your chair and click on the monitor. Then, you place your hands over your keyboard. You know exactly what you need to do. You know exactly what to do.
The ideas begin to flow when you start typing.
Distractions are far from your mind. As you type, your mind zeroes in more and more on what you’re doing. There is no willpower. There is no internal friction. No inner friction.
It is a state that flows. Deep Work.
After an hour, you get up from your seat, stretch and smile, then walk to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Your day has started with a win, and it’s only going to get better from here.
Later, a friend asks why you’re so happy, and you tell them you’ve been getting up early to write the book you’ve been talking about for years. And that you’ve already written 50 pages.
“ Wow,” Your friend may say. “You’re really doing it. That’s awesome.”
Do you think this sounds like a pipe-dream? Or is this a pipe dream?-A Zen monk disciplined could achieve anything.
You should know this: Deep Work is something I do every day. And if it’s possible for me, it’s possible for you. It doesn’t require willpower. It doesn’t require working 12-hour days. It doesn’t require yelling at yourself in your head about what a lazy underachiever you are.
It doesn’t require any of that.
Deep Work can make you feel better because it gives you real work. Work that lets you achieve your goals and be the person you know you’re capable of being.
Mike has never experienced deep work. No wonder he couldn’t write his book. His book wasn’t just a simple “open Byword and write” plan. It was a method to write the book, publish it, and create a marketing plan that would allow it to be seen by millions around the globe.
He had to improve his life, his skills and his approach in order to get his book published.
He had to escape. Here To There.
However, at that moment, just like he had been the past five years, he was too overwhelmed not to start.
Picture that — you’re fired up for a new project, you get ready to start, and you come across folder after folder of unfinished projects.
You were as excited about these projects as you were this one.
“What makes you think you’ll finish this one?” You should ask yourself. “Why is this time any different? You never finish anything.”
It’s a horrible negative cycle, when you consistently start things and can’t finish them.
Mike wasn’t just frustrated, he was angry at himself.
Angry that his company wasn’t growing.
Angry that he couldn’t even start — much less finish — his most important project (his book).
He was angry that his creative ideas never got anywhere.
What’s the point of having amazing ideas if you can’t start and finish them?
What’s the point of working if it’s just, essentially, busy work?
Mike would often sit at his desk at 7pm every night, reflect on another day that was mostly wasted, and then think. “This isn’t what I got into business for.”
Your focus is killed by a thousand papercuts. What really dies?
1 Your ability to achieve your vision for yourself by following through on your goals.
2 Your self-respect and confidence that you’ll ever make your goals happen.
What makes it so hard for people like you, me, and Mike is that we’re not lazy. We work hard.
But working hard isn’t enough.
Tony Robbins said it best:
“One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power.”
To achieve your most important life goals You must focus your energy and concentrate your efforts.. This starts with establishing focus and knowing where to concentrate. Being smart isn’t enough.
Thomas Grey, a poet, wrote a famous poem in which he looked at gravestones in a churchyard and thought about the unknown Miltons or Cromwells who might be there. People who could have been famous figures in history, but weren’t. They simply didn’t have the chance.
Think about it in the same way. Tony Robbins, Benjamin Franklins, Steve Jobs They never were. Who could have been — who were on par in intelligence, ideas, and creativity — but could never focus and make their ideas happen.
Think about reaching the end of your life, looking back, and seeing what you could have been — what you could have achieved — but didn’t.
This is not because you lack intelligence or a strong work ethic. It’s simply because you are unable to do Deep Work. To really focus on important work.
Mike saw the future. He saw the gap between his potential and his current status.
It was his lackluster focus that was preventing him from succeeding.
Are You Still Stuck in “Putting Out Small Fires” Mode?
Have you tried using GTD, task apps, OmniFocus, Spotify playlists, and other productivity tools — and still find you can’t focus?
Are you still overwhelmed by distractions, open loops in the head, ideas and your backlog?
Surprised to find out that you can get a free e-book from Amazon? Lot Many of our clients suffer from this problem. They’re excellent at their work. They are able to complete tasks with ease.
But when it comes to achieving their goals — the goals that keep them up at night — that’s where they fall short.
And that’s because they’re stuck in “putting out small fires” mode and managing the urgent — but neglecting the non-It is urgent and vital.
Over the past 7+ years, we’ve helped hundreds of clients get better focus.
I was so grateful that Mike came to see me for my help. I knew exactly what to do.
I guided him through the focus system we’ve developed, and that I use personally to stay focused in my life.
I offered him quick wins that instantly boosted his productivity.
I helped him to understand the myths that kept him from focusing and helped him to develop new mindsets. Finally, I gave him real advice.-There are many ways that the world can handle emergencies that arise and threaten to disrupt focus.
We also worked together to define his One Thing to work on — out of the 300+ on his list.
Mike had a clear idea of where to begin and what to prioritize.
Mike used to spend 20 minutes a day on focused work. He was doing two hours of focused work per day within a week. Within a month, he’d handled his entire backlog and was able to do 4 hours of high-energy, focused work-value work every workday.
He completed eight chapters in a single week. The daily energy boosts Mike got from accomplishing important, focused work every day gave him the confidence he needed to approach the big, intimidating publishers he knew he could land — but was too scared to contact before.
It was obvious to his employees. He was more attuned to his tasks and calmer.
His children and wife saw him as a happy father. He was at the house every morning to get his children ready for school, and at five o’clock for dinner.
After seeing Mike’s results, I started thinking: I love working with clients one on one, but I wanted more people to see these results for their own focus.
Plus, people often ask us about focus.
Questions like:
- “How do I stay focused and motivated long enough to finish what I started?”
- “How do I focus while allowing for open communication so my staff can easily ask me questions?”
- “I have a million ideas and tasks. How do I know the best one to start with?”
- “I work in a large bureaucracy with multiple meetings called per week, and each meeting interrupts my focus for 3+ hours. What do I do?”
- “ What if I miss something important when I go offline for deep work mode?”
- “How do I make myself do something that doesn’t have a deadline?”
- “How do I get more than a week ahead, so I’m not always putting out fires?”
Knowing where to begin is the best way to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Deep Work is the key to getting back on track.
18 months ago, my team at Asian Efficiency and I began to develop a course to bring together all our knowledge on focus and deep work.
We sent surveys out to thousands of people. We followed up with more than 100 hours of one-On-one interview to better understand people’s problems with focus.
With beta testers, we then tried dozens of new ideas. We then tested dozens of new ideas with beta testers.
Next, we met as a unit and spent several days reading transcripts from interviews and creating the outline of our course. We spent several weeks filming everything.-New videos, creating course material, and organizing it all in a way that puts you at the center of your attention.
This course cost thousands of dollars. We knew we had made the best possible focus course to ensure that others would experience the same level success as Mike and the other clients.
And along the way, during all that research and work…
Sale Page: http://archive.is/UMEZh
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- Duration Lifetime access
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