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The Trouble Isn’t Interest, It’s Force

The Trouble Isn’t Interest, It’s Force

Dear [FIRST NAME GOES HERE],

The Waves of Focus course and community is now open to new members through November 2nd.

  • Kourosh

_________________________

“I just can’t get started! Oh, but once I can, I’m good to go.”

A familiar refrain from many a wandering mind.

Too often we say it’s all about interest or urgency, something shiny or on fire. We throw up our hands and say, “without these we can’t do anything.”

But there’s so much more going on than simply interest. Interest, after all, is a deeply complex emotion. In fact, it may be more about an injured sense of trust within ourselves.

An Example

It would seem simple, for example, to set up a “thing to do” from 4-5pm. But a whole series of questions can appear, each belying a lack of trust:

  • How will I feel when that time comes?
  • What will I be in the middle of?
  • Would I be able to stop if I got started?
  • Would I be able to get back if I need to set it aside?
  • Would I even know what to do if I started? And what if I don’t?
  • What if other things come up while I’m working? Will I even realize it?
  • Would I miss yet another important matter?
  • What if I run off on a thousand tangents in the meantime?

Years of experience have taught us that things can go very wrong very quickly. Why even start?

Where to Grow Trust

The practice is to grow trust that we can ride emotional waves besides desire and urgency. In other words, can we engage if we “don’t feel like it.” That doesn’t mean we ignore those feelings. Quite the contrary, the exercise becomes one of agency: that ability to decide and engage non reactively.

This is not something we grow automatically. By definition, it cannot be forced. A visit-based approach, as is my encouraged unit of work, can be one method to gather that over time.

When we can trust ourselves to find those seeds, the world starts to open up. The heavy fog of impossibility begins to lift. We can not only be on top of our work, we can start more reliably getting to things that matter to us, feel more confidence in our visions and how we develop them and even improve our relationships.

We garden that spirit through risk and bravery, and we do so in a kind considered way.

  • Kourosh

PS. If you find these newsletters to be helpful and are interested in a structured deep dive into transforming your workflows over time, not through some next hack of whatever sort, check out the Waves of Focus. Doors are now open to new members until November 2nd.

What is Productivity?

Productivity is many things. For some, it is about doing a lot in a little time.
But, truly, productivity is so much more. It is about:

  • Setting yourself up for success.
  • Being focused where you want to be.
  • Doing things that you find meaningful.
  • Being creative, sometimes even in harsh environments.
  • Forging your own paths.
  • Finding your voice and delivering it well.
  • Knowing and actively deciding on your obligations.
  • Knowing where and how to say “no”.
  • Avoiding procrastination.

Too often, many of us fall into just going along with and fighting whatever the world throws at us. “Go with the flow!”, we say. Meanwhile, we might think, “I’d like to do that one thing. Maybe one day I will.” The days go by. The goal never arrives, and then we wonder why or blame circumstance.

But when we learn to take charge of our lives and the world
around us, we start living life with intention.

“I should do that,” becomes “This is how I start”. Deliberately forging a path to our goals and dreams, we figure out what we want in life and then start taking steps there.

Of course, striking out may seem scary. It takes courage to live life with purpose and on purpose. Roadblocks and worries, fears and concerns show up everywhere.

This is my passion. I want to help you to find that sense of your own unique play to meet the world so that you can:

  • Create a life that is yours.
  • Find and follow an inner guide in a way that works for you and those you care for.
  • Decide on your obligations and meet them while building the world you want.

Productivity Journal

The Trouble Isn’t Interest, It’s Force

The Trouble Isn’t Interest, It’s Force

Dear [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], The Waves of Focus course and community is now open to new members through November 2nd. Kourosh _________________________ "I just can't get started! Oh, but once I can, I'm good to go." A familiar refrain from many a wandering mind. Too...

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It can be so difficult to describe a thing we do, particularly if it's what we live and breathe. Recently, I put out a Rhythms of Focus episode in which I attempted to describe the nature of the Waves of Focus, what is quite likely my life's work. Wouldn't that be a...

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These products use or are based on Getting Things Done® or GTD® Principles. They are not affiliated with, approved or endorsed by David Allen or the David Allen Company, which is the creator of the Getting Things Done® system for personal productivity. GTD® and Getting Things Done® are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company For more information on the David Allen Company’s products the user may visit their website at www.davidco.com.

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