I came across a good quote recently from the author TF Hodge.
He wrote From Within I Rise and in it he said: “To conquer frustration, one must remain intensely focused on the outcome, not the obstacles.”
For many of us life is particularly frustrating and stressful at the moment. The rising costs of fuel and food and with that the ability to maintain a job and feed a family. The ongoing wars across the globe. The goings on in politics. Even those things that don’t touch us directly or immediately, do have an impact on our lives.
Last week I found it particularly hard to focus. Our holiday plans had been dashed by the air industry. I had children going in different directions, each requiring lost walking boots and camping gear that apparently didn’t exist any more. Our collective diaries are perhaps over-filled as they usually are in June – it all got a bit distracting.
All very first-world problems, yes. Perspective essential. But distracting nonetheless.
So coming across this quote was helpful. What is my goal? What is my intended outcome and am I on track? Why am I focusing on temporary blockages and time-consuming hazards?
It’s a great reminder that once we have waded through treacle and reached our intended destination, even if it is by an unplanned route, the result will still be the same. So that needs to be our focus.
In business, perhaps more than in life, we need to check our end goals regularly. Are they enough – or too much? Are they still right for us and for the world we operate in?
It is fatal to sit still when you are running a business.
Sometimes in coaching I find myself saying similar things repeatedly. Not because there is a finite amount to say, rather because however many different issues clients raise, they are all inter-woven into the great happy mess we call humanity.
Whether it be stress management, growing a business, working through a troubled relationship, very often the deliberate move to stop, take a step back, regroup and check in with our final destination goal is what we need to do.
“To conquer frustration, one must remain intensely focused on the outcome, not the obstacles.”
Alice Johnsen is a life coach (phone 07961 080513; website alicejohnsen.co.uk, email alice
johnsencoaching@gmail.com)