The Struggle to Focus on One Thing as a Young Professional
Release date: 16 Oct 2024
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Something that I have struggled with over the past 2 years is being able to focus on one project.
What do I mean by that?
In the past 2 years, I have created:
- A YouTube channel.
- 2 software products.
- A writing challenge for myself.
I have interest in all of those things. I want to pursue them all. But what ends up happening is that after some time my focus shifts and it goes from the thing I'm currently focusing on to the next.
Maybe it's because of something I see on the internet that really inspires me or I get a random brilliant idea that gets me really excited. I drop everything and start pursuing that project.
This is actually hurting my progress in any of the things I am interested in.
There is no harm in pursuing anything that I listed earlier. But there is harm in constantly shifting my focus from one thing to the next. It means I am not able to master any craft. I can be an O.K person at creating YouTube videos. Or creating a somewhat functional product. Or being an O.K writer.
To master something truly, I need to focus on one thing.
There is a better approach. I know what it is, I just need to apply it in my life.
Pick a foundational thing that is the bedrock of all my interests. Focus on it. Not just for a couple of weeks but months. By months, I mean at least 3 months of full focus. Each day, my free time should be spent on that one thing. Right now that one thing to me is writing.
This will make me progress.
Often time, the advice I hear from successful people is to focus on one thing and master it. Alex Harmozi has said it multiple times. Various book authors I've read also share the same sentiment. I think they are correct as well.
It's one thing to listen but it's entirely different to actually apply advice to your life.
I'm in my 20s and working. I count as a young professional. I think the problem with my approach so far has been listening to a lot of useful stuff but applying little of it.
Not to say I don't apply anything I take in. I do.
In fact, every self help book I read, I aim to take at least one lesson from it that I can apply in my life. Overtime this has gone really well and those lessons are starting to compound.
But I think the lesson that would most change my trajectory at this point in my life is to focus on one thing.