Focus

My New Year's resolution for 2012 is "Simplify." As in, cut out all the extraneous stuff and focus on the most important things.  It's general enough to be doable, comprehensive enough to make a difference across many aspects of my life, both personal and professional.

Lately I've been feeling like I have a lack of focus.  People who know me well would be surprised by that, since I'm frequently told I'm the most disciplined and focused person most people know.  Which may actually be true, but I still think I could be a lot more focused and disciplined.  One of the nice things about knowing that perfection is unattainable is the understanding that there is always room to improve.

I do many things very well.  I do a very few things exceedingly well, and only one or two things so well that I get paid handsomely for it. What I want to do is move more things from Column A into Column B. (i.e., the "exceedingly well" and "I get paid handsomely" column.)  In order to do that, I need to cut out a lot of the "very well" things, and pretty much all of the "I suck" things.  I also need to cut out a lot of the sucky unproductive people and activities that are just a waste of my time and energy.

I've managed to cut out several of the negative people already, and a few of the bad habits.  I'm trying to reduce my caffeine intake, increase my exercise level, and also improve upon my existing exercise habits (like being able to run farther and more often, and taking on some more challenging yoga poses, for example). I'm still doing a lot of crafts and hobbies, but only focusing on the stuff that I'm really good at (instead of trying to do a little bit of everything).  I've even managed to sell some old plays and writing works of mine that have been sitting on my hard drive for years because I'd gotten too lazy to market them.

But I've still got a long way to go.  I have many unaccomplished life goals, after all.  And I still have several annoying people I need to give the boot. Plus there's the matter of the New York Times bestseller list and the Pulitzer I've had my eye on for a while. . .

One step at a time. 

Peace.