In my last post I wrote about how I am changing this year from setting goals to another system – focusing on just five areas of my life. Goals are great, and I’m sure I’ll put some in place this year, but I am going to use “Areas of Focus” as a more strategic way of managing my life. Then goals can become part of the tactics I use to stretch myself in those areas of focus.
So this brings up this question – if you had to choose what areas would you focus on this year?
In Peter Bregman book “18 Minutes” he recommends that you keep your “Areas of Focus” to just five spaces in your life – to in essence limit your focus. This means that you have to choose the best ones, and learn how to say “No” to some things that might look attractive, but that just take up valuable time. So where might you focus?
Try to think of some major areas in your life . . . spiritual, fitness, your job, etc. Then narrow that down to five major areas. You can change it later if you find yourself gravitating toward something else. But I think you might find that this way of focusing your efforts will help you make decisions with your time. Because isn’t it often the case that we are forced to choose between what is the easy thing to do, or the more difficult thing that is more in line with the person we want to be? Or sometimes it’s a choice between several “good” things, to end up with the “great’ choice.
