By: O.L./Sway Buckley
It's easy to find books, articles, and various writings on the topic focus and how to get it, use it, and sustain it.
Focus is best learned in real-time experiences. In other words, real-time awareness. This past week has been one of my most fulfilling and challenging weeks. I learned to focus on another level.
I spent the past week working with kids for a VBS (Vacation Bible School) camp while working on our businesses. Admittedly, I didn't do both equally well.
I felt like I was juggling china dishes and trying not to let any of them hit the ground. All of this challenged my focus and helped me to realize a few things.
The first key I realized was that laser focus needs specific support. If we're going to have a keen sense of direction in multiple areas, we need support that understands the specifics of certain priorities.
Priorities are those things that cannot hit the ground.
Support looks like another person designated to a critical task.
Why not free up your hands and mental bandwidth to help you focus on strategic items?
The second key is the importance of a plan highlighting any potential threats to those tasks not getting done. The beauty of a plan is that it highlights and exposes.
It highlights the priorities and exposes the threats. As marriedpreneurs, our weeks are filled with highlights and threats.
Finally, I realized factoring in the margin for time to complete the plan. One of our biggest mistakes as Marriendpreneurs (and even as men) is accepting more than we margin for.
Margin as in energy, time, money, and focus. It's lofty and foolish to take on more than we can actually accomplish or have support for.
It only leads to mutual frustration between you, your spouse, and your team.
After hosting a VBS (Vacation Bible School) for our church, a big back-to-school bash, wrapping a real estate project, and preparing for church on Sunday-I was taxed.
I communicated openly with all necessary parties and talked daily with my wife.
We dropped no fine China last week.
I couldn't have said this years ago. Systems will get tested and proven to be productive and profitable or not at all.
If you've been seeking systems built on a healthy attitude to keep marriage and business from competing, schedule a free success mapping call with us here.
Here's to living purposefully, powerfully, and profitably in sync,
O.L. & Sway
O.L. is a former banker turned real estate consultant and entrepreneur. Sway is a former CEO of a staffing firm she started on her dorm room floor to pay for college. Together they co-own Marriedpreneur Life Consultancy, equipping faith-based married entrepreneur couples with high-level systems to scale (without strain). They're the creators of the Marriedpreneur Operating Systems and the co-hosts of The Marriedprenuer Life Podcast, which was praised as one of Wedding Wire's top relationship podcasts. Learn more at MarriedpreneurLife.com.