Your Distractions Are Killing Your Dreams
Distractions are keeping you from the life you want.
You may be aware of that fact, or you may not be, but it's true.
We live in a time where distractions are being thrown at us almost 24/7.
Imagine how many distractions we have now vs someone that lived in
the year 1025 AD or even 1825 AD.
Could you imagine how many great people of the past
would have never made an impact because they were too
busy watching TikTok videos?
Life is a paradox in certain ways you see. We are the most advanced at
this point in time, we have the easiest and most convenient lives, but
we are also the laziest and the most distracted.
I'm not going to tell you to "just build discipline" or simply
"stop being distracted", I want to go deeper than that. What makes
it easier for some to get distracted and for others to
not be distracted at all? What is at the root of this problem we have?
Are you picking up your phone and scrolling because you
simply "lack discipline" or is it because your nervous
system is out of whack and picking up your phone has been
your way of "self-soothing"?
Or maybe your dopamine receptors are fried and you are "chasing"
more of it, which makes it seem impossible to "just do nothing".
Maybe you have too many "open loops" in your head that is causing
your mind to feel overwhelmed, and distractions are your way of
avoiding that? What is going on within you to make it so easy for you
to be distracted in the first place?
In a world where people get paid handsomely to design an
app to make sure you are on it as long as possible, you have
to be more aware than ever.
You are up against algorithms that get smarter by the day.
This means YOU have to become harder to distract by the day.
That can be an overwhelming thought in and of itself, but it can also
force you to take your attention more seriously.
You will never achieve your dream life if you keep allowing distractions
to win. I mean think of your absolute dream life, don't hold back here.
What does your ideal day consist of? Where do you live? What kind of
impact do you make on the world? How free are you?
How much money do you make?
I want you to take a moment to ponder on these things and imagine
your dream life in your head, in the most vivid detail.
Great right?
Is it possible to achieve that dream life of yours? Why not? What would
be the biggest thing holding you back? I'd argue that when talking
about what would hold you back from reaching your dreams the most,
all roads lead back to distractions. I want you to almost want to throw
up when you think about how many times distractions have won
against you over the last 5 years. That kind of repulsiveness that you
now feel will give you the urgency to take your attention, and the state
of your nervous system seriously.
Where do we go from here
There are tiers to solving distractions in my opinion. I would describe
the Tiers like this,
Tier 1 - You absolutely enjoy what you're doing. Requires
little to no discipline since you are so heavily engaged.
Tier 2 - Half enjoy what you're doing, half not. Requires
discipline in the moments you do not enjoy, in order to win.
Tier 3 - Do not enjoy what you're doing. Discipline has to be
the highest in this Tier in order to win.
Think of the last time you participated in something that you truly
enjoyed. It could be playing a sport with friends, working on a home
DIY project, exploring a new place for the first time, etc. How did you
feel during this? Did you have any urges to pick up your phone
and scroll? It sounds silly to be asked this question when we are doing
something we truly enjoy because "why would I do that when I am
doing something so fun and captivating right now?". Exactly. That is
Tier 1.
I could tell you to just "put down your phone" or "stop watching
that tv show" but do I even have to if you are currently doing something
that you absolutely enjoy? Tier 1 explained, would be to find a mission
that you cannot pull yourself away from. A goal so strong that it keeps
your full attention without any force. Your distractions will not have
the same allure when you do this. Tier 1 does not require much
discipline because there is really nothing to be disciplined about.
Now, it's easier to find Tier 1 activities outside of work than for your
work to be tier 1, I get it, but finding work that is in Tier 1 for you is
possible in my opinion. You may even have to create it yourself,
but it is possible.
This moves us onto Tier 2. This Tier would be work that you somewhat
enjoy, and somewhat dislike or even hate. In Tier 2, distractions only
tempt you when you are doing the work/activity that you do not
particularly enjoy.
In these moments, discipline is what you'll have to rely on.
In Tier 3, this is work/activity that you do not like at all. This is work
that makes you feel trapped. You don't enjoy it but maybe it's paying
the bills right now and you just have to endure. This could also apply
to working on something that is brand new for you and full of
complexities that are currently overwhelming you. In this Tier,
discipline has to be at the highest level in order for you to consistently
beat distractions. Distractions are playing on easy mode in Tier 3 and
you are playing on hard mode.
But in Tier 1, YOU are playing on easy
mode, and distractions are playing on hard mode.
Now, you have two questions to ask yourself.
How can I increase my discipline?
How do I escape Tier 2 and Tier 3?
In my opinion, the second question is the question you want to focus on.
You may think you have a discipline problem
when you actually have a Tier problem.
Your discipline seems to "work with you" when you spend most of
your time in Tier 1. It's much easier to say no when you don't feel
"worn out" or "exhausted" from your work day, or activities you hate.
Action Steps
If you're serious about killing your distractions and improving your
life, I want you to feel required to do the next step. Don't just read it,
but ACTUALLY do it. I'm going to ask you to get out a sheet of paper
and a pen. If you feel hesitation about doing this, I want you to sit with
this hesitation and think about the source of it. Getting a pen and
paper is such a small, easy thing to do, but ACTION is what's difficult.
This is a small action, but the actions you are not doing are keeping you
from the life you want. If you are someone who enjoys reading and
finds yourself reading plenty of "how to do this" "how to do that", but
never actually take action? You have a deeper problem that needs
worked through. I actually help people work through these kinds of
problems in my 1:1 coaching program.
You can apply for that here, if you're interested.
Anyway, I want you to take out a piece of paper and a pen and write
down everything you did yesterday (If you can remember lol), everything
you've done so far today, and continue to track everything that you do.
Things you've either had to do or chose to do. I want you to do this for
AT LEAST 3 days. Ideally I want you to do this for a week, but if you
can't, then make it 3 days. Once you've tracked everything you've done
in a day for 3 days, I want you to label each activity as either being
Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3. Evaluate this sheet and plan out how you can
get rid of as many Tier 3 activities as possible. I want you to then label
your Tier 2 activities as "stay" or "go". A "stay" would be something
that you enjoy more than you dislike it, and a "go" would be something
you dislike more than you enjoy.
I don't expect this to be a "7 day" timeframe to exterminate your
Tier 3 activities. Something like your job may take longer than even a
year in some cases to successfully exit, but the point is
you have to make the plan.
If you are stuck doing Tier 3 activities for the rest of your life, you are
going to always feel "stuck", and you will always feel like you don't
have enough discipline when really you are just stuck in the wrong Tier.
I hope this helps at least one of you out there.
If you found value in this newsletter, you may appreciate my
“Distraction Assassin” guide. It goes deeper into distraction
and includes a step-by-step approach to building discipline
Thanks for reading!
-Savaghn