I woke up this morning to a series of thoughts that ended with this question: “Is it vision or distraction?”

As we act on our dreams, we see details we could never have imagined, spurring us to learn and push beyond. This is where the new problem appears — separating visions from distraction.

No visionary gets distracted by things outside their visioning area except for fun and external investments (which they can easily back out of). The challenge is when the boundaries of their vision begin to cave and everything in the circumference feels up for grabs.

Tina runs a digital media firm that caters to SME black businesses in London. In one year, her team of twelve has worked with 100 brands to achieve online visibility.

To kickstart the New Year, she attends the entrepreneur’s retreat in Barbados to return refreshed and inspired.

She returns with a mind bubbling with ideas on how to automate their services, integrate AI into their operations, help their customers drive more sales online, partner with traditional media to spin the narrative around their clients and more.

It is so inspiring that the team gets to work enthusiastically in this new direction, except they started to record more losses by Q2. It felt like the team was losing profit because they were not aggressive. So, a Marketing Director and a Business Manager were hired, but that was an additional salary increase and nothing else.

A frustrated Tina in Q3 sits with a business consultant to review her business without sentiments and realizes she is running a digital media company, making PR and advertising promises while attempting to be a personalized business developer to her clients — she is distracted while her clients are confused.

The problem is not the dream but the timing, the system and the result.

Often, we are distracted by the fanfare — we follow activities and overlook the results.

1. The results you were aiming for will always be the marker of success, not how many activities you engaged in.
2. The promise you make is what you are measured by, not the explanations you give.
3. The results you presently have are an unbiased display of your present systems.
4. Distractions can be exciting but are not always productive.

It is okay to want to be all over the place, but at some point, lack of productivity will frustrate you.

Productivity

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, to be productive is to

1. result in or provide a large amount or supply of something.
2. Have positive results: achieving the results that are hoped for.
3. Have the ability to produce language rather than just understand it.

Judging by these definitions, are you productive romantically, financially, professionally, sexually, socially and physically?

Journal Therapy

1. What results am I producing with my time, relationships, health, and business?
2. Are these the results I hoped for?
3. What is stopping me from getting the results I hoped for?
4. Can I articulate the results I hope for to a five-year-old, a fifteen-year-old and a fifty-year-old?
5. How will I ensure I stop getting distracted?

Today is for you to do the work of introspection — I hope you do the work required to stay grounded. Don’t just read the journal questions; write your answers.