So here it is: summer is in full swing. And we all know that summer comes with distractions. While some distractions are a positive outlet, others keep you from reaching your goals.
This year, in particular, many of us need a mental break. We’ve been working nonstop since January, pivoting our business and goals since March, and many are starting to feel the stress and exhaustion that comes with all those hours of work.
Now, summer distractions are popping up: a day of golf, a round of tennis, an afternoon on the boat, a BBQ with family.
These are all excellent ways to unwind and have fun. But when the invitations start to come in at a rapid-fire pace, and your calendar gets filled with more parties and outings, prioritizing is key.
Prioritize your Downtime
We all need to go out and have some fun, relax, and spend time with loved ones.
If we let that become our main priority, if we let that become what we do every day like we’re a college kid with the summer off, the investment we’ve made in ourselves to this point is going to start to deteriorate.
On a recent 5AM Call, Tom Toole said, “There’s no such thing as balance; you have to prioritize.”
We don’t do one hour of work and then go spend one hour with family. There’s no even, balanced trade. However, there is a level of balance people who are focused can live by.
Jim Rohn sums up what balance means to me:
Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.
Jim Rohn
Invest in Yourself
Every time you go to the gym, prepare for your week, learn new skills, and focus on mental, emotional, and physical well-being, you are investing in yourself.
By investing in yourself, you are aiming to get a little bit better each day. Small daily actions are essential to be able to accomplish your summer tasks and set yourself up to really have the year that you want.
A lot of people – this year especially in 2020 – are going to come up massively short on what they set out to do in January. Fortunately, we have a lot of time left. And we have the mental toughness to get through anything.
But we only get through the distractions if we continue to work hard.
When we choose to work harder on ourselves, on our mindset, on our body, and our energy – then we set can show up as our best self. At that point, when we’re performing at our peak performance, the job becomes easy.
Set Yourself up for Success
This year, there’s more than just the typical summer diversions. There’s going to be a group of people that block out all the distractions of 2020. They are the ones that are focusing on one day at a time and investing in themselves.
Those people are going to look back and a year or two from now, and really thank themselves for keeping their head down and putting in work.
Are you one of those people?