Let’s face it, most people are not going after an amazing life.

 Why?

It’s challenging.

Many would rather engage in distractions that don’t get them very far or even be detrimental.

Success takes work.  And, oftentimes the work needed to succeed is boring, tedious, frustrating, scary, and other negative emotions.  The brain is a very defensive organ that wants to protect us from threats and discomfort.  So, instead of focusing on the challenges ahead, we distract ourselves by taking actions that make us feel good in the moment rather than put us back on a more productive path.  This is one of the challenges that every successful person takes.  Examples of this can be focusing on other’s flaws rather than focusing on our own.  Wishing life would be different than changing our own lives.  Putting the main focus on something else rather than laying out next steps.  Re-litigating the past instead of accepting, forgiving, and trying to change.  Basically, living life how you think it should be lived rather than figuring out the next steps and actually executing on it.

There’s a reason success is so challenging.  It involves taking the right actions and steps. This includes setting and being focused on the steps that are needed to take your life to the next level.  The reason many people are stuck is they make less-than-optimal decisions.  These decisions divert their attention away from their goals and towards distractions.  Most distractions are more comfortable than doing the work to succeed. 

In the long run the results of focusing on your goals outweigh focusing on your distractions.  Distractions offer a more immediate payoff, but ultimately, they probably hurt you.

There is a difference between getting away from your goals and distractions.  We all need rest, recovery, and time away from working.  This may include taking up a hobby, spending time with family or just hanging out with friends.  These are not inherently distractions, but they do have the potential to be problematic when they get in the way of your goals.  Breaks should be about enhancing and improving your life, not avoiding your life.

Let’s face it, we all have a finite amount of energy, time, and other resources, and we want to spend it on activities that improve our life, not distract from it.