Saturday, March 29, 2008

Focusing energy

We only have so much energy. So making good choices about how we focus it seems like a good plan.

One choice we can make is to focus our energy on the thing we are trying to accomplish--to keep that goal in mind and to use it to guide our choice of steps.

One pattern of energy use with which I am familiar from my own past is using energy on telling myself what is wrong with a situation. Obviously I value understanding clearly and recognizing our situations and our abilities. But there's only so much energy worth spending on the things you know. Having, for example, dyslexia, causes problems for a scholar, it cannot be questioned; but what good does it do to repeatedly return to that problem? Yes, that should be a parameter that affects how you plan your time and whether you might want to hire an editor, but beyond that, what good is considering it?

Your deadline is looming? Obviously that should affect how you plan, but do you let it become the focus of your thoughts and the focus of your energy? Or do you simply recognize it in your plans?

Whatever your situation, if you have a goal, focusing your energy on the steps necessary to reach that goal is the most effective way to move towards that goal.

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