Maximizing Self #2

In the first segment of this blog on Maximizing self, I gave you an assignment of setting long-term goals; breaking them down into short-term objectives; and finally, creating checkpoints along the way that determine if your short term objectives are properly calibrated to keep you on track.

If you don’t set up a target, you hit your goal every time!

By setting long-term goals, short-term objectives, and properly calibrated checkpoints, you now have a roadmap to realizing your dreams.

The next important step in maximizing self is to look at what we can do to maximize our perception of, and our availability to, the opportunities we encounter.

Without perception there’s no availability.
Without availability there’s no opportunity.

One way of maximizing our mindset in perceiving opportunities when they appear is having an open mind that is available to opportunities. You need a mind that is focused and free of distractions to perceive your options. That might sound dichotomous. How can we be focused andfree at the same time? Being focused means being free from distractions that would fracture our focus. It is distraction that robs us of our opportunities.

The more clutter you have in your mind, the more distracted you are in your conscious thought. It is this conscious thought, or the forefront of your mind, that gets clogged with clutter and prevents you from seeing what could be your greatest moment of clarity or opportunity. If you’re distracted with the “noise” of the busyness in your daily life, you can’t focus on what else might be available to you.

We need to clear out the clutter by setting up daily expectations within ourselves that allow us to free our minds to incoming possibilities. A large part of this includes having a daily structure of planned behaviors. Thinking ahead, planning for, and scheduling those things you know are going to be required of you over the next several days—and writing them all down. This removes them from the forefront of your mind, freeing you to set them aside. Your mind is clear to be focused on the important immediate tasks at hand as well as any alternate opportunities you may encounter.

I learned this from a mentor I had in my life during my first two years of college. He had a daily planner that he wrote absolutely everything down in so he wouldn’t have to remember them or keep them present in the forefront of his mind. This freed him up for whatever organic opportunities presented themselves each day. He even had time scheduled to play or relax, knowing his mind would need the rest from time to time.

Give your mind a break by keeping some sort of planner where appointments and daily tasks are stored and therefore don’t need to be remembered necessarily. With less plates to spin, you increase the time you have to be and do what you intention to be and do in a more creative and/or organic way.

The third component of maximizing self is our approach to the concept of work. I’ll dig into that in the next segment of Maximizing Self.


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