“To be everywhere is to be nowhere.” — Seneca
We’re all over the place — this thing, then that and then something completely different. In the process we:
- Never feel in control;
- Know that we could achieve more;
- Waste our energy on the wrong things;
- Lose our focus;
- Dissipate our energy;
- Become deeply frustrated; and
- Never achieve…anything.
Come back to the breath: one breath…at a time: to do anything else, doesn’t work.
The thing is we live in a world of complexity where we think that doing more is the sine qua non of success. But it’s not: doing ONE THING AT A TIME with absolute focus and in an intense mode of creativity will bring about not just profound change in our lives but a new way of seeing the world.
Trust me, as someone who’s burnt bright in too many areas, I now realise that without clarity, focus and negation of our ‘Yes’ culture, all that happens is we end up deeply frustrated.
Some people get it. They know that only by doing one thing at a time, they belittle their efforts and get nothing done. Others still persist in juggling too many balls but, in the process, never achieve their full potential.
Far from me to tell you how to live your life (or this day…) but if I had my time over again, or at least the last 30 years, I wouldn’t have quite so much “…he did lots of things” history, but perhaps a little more success.
Oh, and one last thing.
Finish what you start. That’s another good, great, excellent and life-affirming piece of wisdom.