There are too many shiny objects everywhere and I’m distracted. The best friend christened me with a nickname — magpie — because I love all things, bright and sparkly.That’s one of the reasons I’m so drawn to the disco era. Love the music, love the over-the-top clothes and LOVE those disco lights!!! I realized just how much I dig disco just the other night.

A rerun of Saturday Night Fever was on TV and I couldn’t take my eyes of John Travolta, his too-tight pants, that blindingly bright dance floor and the ladies rockin’ that 70s fashion (not necessarily in that order). But it’s not just disco-dancing John Travolta and platform boots that distract me. I get just as easily sidetracked in my quest to live a focused, purposeful life.

How do I know this? Well, in any given week I want to:
Build no-kill animal shelters for homeless animals
Learn how to cook Vietnamese cuisine
Travel the world
Study fashion design
Speak Spanish
Take Annie Leibowitz-type photographs…

I want to do ALL of these glittery, exciting things but I’ve quickly come to the realization that having a penchant for sparkly stuff is all well and good when you’re watching old movies on TV but in real life it spells trouble because it means just one thing – you’ll get distracted at the drop of a hat!

Do one thing and do it well

This is a decree that I’ve never been able to adopt. Try as I might, I can’t get myself to the “do it well” part because I can’t do the “do one thing” part! My “magpie” mind gets pulled in a hundred different directions at once and it can get rather like a merry-go-round up in my head. This has become a bit of a serious problem the deeper I venture into the Unchartered Territory of Small Business Ownership. Running a small business, especially if you want it to be a successful business, leaves little room for distractions.

Lack of focus is poison to miniature enterprises.So, after much research, reflection, experimentation and self-study, I devised 3 nifty Clarity Questions. It’s a formula of sorts that’s designed to defeat the Demons of Distraction once and for all!

Testing It Out

I’m a scientist with years of training and if there’s one thing I learned it’s this: the formula doesn’t mean squat if you don’t test it. My testing ground? The bookstore. Oh dear me, nothing is more glittery and sparkly to my magpie mind than a well-stocked bookstore.

I practically go crazy in the face of all those options. I could learn to play the ukelele or build a virtual store. I could learn to understand what my cat is trying to tell me, become a master at origami…

I could do and become just about anything!!! Yippee! My magpie mind goes into overdrive and before I know, I’m paying a $200 bill. While I frolic amidst the shelves, pandering to my fantasies of doing it all, my real-life goals — like eating healthier or expanding my writing and coaching business, gathers dust in the background of my life. The sweet, seductive, destructive distractions blind me with their glorious, mysterious, magical glow.

But last week, I strutted into the bookstore, armed with my newly-minted Clarity Questions, set to strike a (hopefully) fatal blow to Distraction.

The 3 Questions

The 3 Clarity Questions are based on just one important principle — to differentiate distractions from authentic desires, you’ll need to know what you truly want. So, ask yourself:
1)   Does this new thing/service/goal/desire make you smile when you think about it?
2)   Does it require you to push yourself (just a little) outside your comfort zone?
3)   Does it make you feel relaxed, relieved and fulfilled?

If you’re totally honest with yourself, these 3 questions will shine the light of crystal clear clarity on what truly matters to you. The Clarity Questions work in other areas too. Like when you’re wondering if you need to buy yet another pair of purple leggings or when your friends are enticing you with a night out and you’re not sure if you want to go or stay home.

Distraction, Denied

I tried The 3 Clarity Questions at the bookstore. It took less than 60 seconds and it absolutely worked! I turned away from books promising to transform me into an armchair psychologist, an expert in body language, a meditation maven, a wine connoisseur. Books that would have previously attracted me so I would glide, trance-like to the cashier.

But this time, it was different. I resolved to stick to my plan. If the book didn’t pass 3 Clarity Questions test (all 3 questions need to be a yes), then it didn’t make the cut. So, I walked out of that bookstore, for the first time in recent memory, minus a book in my hands.

Distraction, denied. Self, fulfilled.

image credit pinterest.com via Brenda Barnett