“I Don’t Want To Be Busy. I Want To Be Impactful”

I listened to a business owner lament about her wanting to do more for her community but ending up with too much of everything and achieving very little of the outcome she was aiming for.

How many of us in leadership feels this way?

I’m going to make a rough guess — MANY!

Why?

Because I too, get caught in this trap of running into rabbit holes and getting lost in it because of distractions.

.To lead and to own a powerhouse lies in ONE secret sauce —> #Focus.

I am going to share with you what are the 3 most COMMON distractions that lead us to multiple rabbit holes.

1 – Shiny New Objects

Leaders are often looking for the best options, strategies, and methodologies to better themselves. Leaders or people who own the title know that self-development is key.

So, we attend workshops, conferences, classes, etcetera. We leave all pumped up, motivated, and inspired. We pick the right path or business opportunity (or so it seems).

Then another trending idea (or business) comes along, and though what we have opted to undertake is #working for our lives, our business, and our community — almost always what is #trending blinds our sight…

Nobody wants to get left behind. So uncool. And the hopping off and on bandwagons becomes a lifestyle.

We think to ourselves, “maybe this is better for me”.

I call this the “Next Better Thing Leadership” waiting for “Something Fancier” to come along.

The Malay says, ‘Yang Dikejar Tak Dapat, Yang Dikendong Berciciran’…right?

When we lose focus…we never complete what we started. It’ll be a never-ending loop of incompletion.

2 – Competing Circumstances

Something else is always happening at the same time!

We get on a journey and promise to commit but … something always happens that takes us off of our path.

Sometimes,…things do happen. But when it is a recurring phenomenon in our lives – it is a reflection of behavior.

Why do we opt to get off the path? Why did we choose to not complete or pursue our goals? Why did we decide to stop and focus on doing what we don’t want in our lives?

Do you find yourself justifying for every decision that takes you away from your goal with, “if only,”…” but I had to,”…”I had no choice,”…” he made me do it…”.

If this is a habit on your part, take a step back, and reevaluate your choices and reasons behind it. Is it fear? Is it out of your comfort zone? Is blaming a lot easier than taking ownership?

Remember that the #Choice is always yours to take and so is the #Consequences of your actions. Life is what you make it.

You can choose to lie on a bed of roses or a spread of thorns.

3 – Magical Thinking

My favorite.

I totally subscribe to #visualisation exercises and envisioning the future I want to live in. I actually have a vision board that I create every now and then when I feel I need one.

Most importantly, I believe in taking action. No dreaming is going to make things happen. The notion of prayers and “it’ll just happen” because I prayed and visualized it is a rather far fetched notion that hardly becomes a reality.

What I TRULY believe in is that I have absolutely no control of my future. So, I opt to live in the present. What I plan — I do. Even if I fall off the bandwagon, I get up and I do again.

The secret to success without hard work is still a secret. You need to put your back into it, put your skin into the commitment, and show up to complete the tasks you want done!

Even babies need to work their lungs out to get the adult’s attention. What’s your excuse?

And now for the bonus point. (I love giving out bonuses as much as I love receiving it…).

4 – Catastrophizing

This is definitely a common scenario which is basically self-sabotage.

If there is anything people like to focus on is to focus on what’s the worst thing that can happen. I suppose, and this is an overgeneralization on my part, this is the reason tabloids are so popular. It feeds on drama.

“…but what if?’, “…I read that the worst could happen if…”, “…the last time I heard this method just won’t work.” What you focus on expands!

Stop thinking of the worst. Stop inviting the worst. It’s a mind paradox that what you think is all you see…

Staying focused and disciplining ourselves to stay focused is a process. You simply can’t make a decision and excel tomorrow. You can, however, put systems in place that support your success.

Some of the structures I put in place to create the habits I want:

A. – Find an accountability partner that I declare my goals and have that person nag me to success. This includes my daily water intake, my fitness regime, my intermittent fasting commitments, my financial review, etc.

B. Participate in business communities that hold me accountable for my success. This includes LinkedIn communities, NGOs, #BNIKVS, Planet Usahawan, etc.

C. Be a member of a mastermind group that listens to my declaration in rotation and reminds me daily, weekly, and monthly to what I want to achieve. Most importantly, they serve a healing forest or a shoulder to cry on when things don’t work out. They usually have the best advice because they also know me the best.

D. Never neglect the family. You need your spouse, children, and parents cheering you on. First, cheer them.

Leadership is not about having steps to follow or subscribing to the different levels of influences you have on people. Instead, it is a combination of your mindset, heart set, soul set and health set combined to work holistically. You can read the 5 AM Club by Robin Sharma to know more about this.

Halalop Editor’s Note: In a nutshell, people who are successful have one thing in common, they all wake up early in the morning. This is something that is not foreign to Muslims since every day you are expected precede the sun for your Fajr and Tahajud prayers.

If you dig a little bit deeper if you want our beloved Prophet, Muhammad to pray for us, you just have to wake up early because he used to say “Allah bless my Ummah in their mornings” as narrated in Sunnan Ibnu Majah.

FINALLY, stay focused. Design the #impact you want to leave behind.

I don’t know people who gets into business just because…
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Most of us have a Huge Why that drives us in whatever that we do.
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Yet, we find ourselves in a state of “doing’ ness” more than “being’ ness” that fatigue catches on before we even begin.
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The disillusionment overpowers when the impact we truly want to create becomes more and more elusive.
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The article is triggered by a statement made by a fellow entrepreneur…she said, “I don’t want to be busy. I want to be impactful”.
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That really got me thinking and got me into action.
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What are your feelings about being busy vs being impactful?

Halalop Editor’s Note: We’ve previously written about the keys to success, backed by research in these articles: The One Thing All Successful People Have and How To Be Successful, and on leaving behind a legacy.

Syireen Rose, Entrepreneur and Wordsmith

Syireen Rose is an entrepreneur, wordsmith and BNI Executive Director. She is the founder of PeachesAndPen.com where she provides strategic communication consultancy and editing service to business owners, entrepreneurs and leaders. She is a guest author on Halalop.

www.peachesnpen.com/