Mental focus is at a premium in an age of distraction.

What really happens to us is that we get trapped in doing all the little things. The little things like responding to email can distract us from the big, difficult, emotionally-draining things. The big things that could change our lives.

In the face of that pressure, checking Twitter is so much easier.

There are some things you can do to combat this inversion of priorities.

1. Create a “Stop Doing” list.

Focus on harnessing and conserving your attention by making a list of activities you will stop doing. This advice comes from Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and the creator ofthe hedgehog concept. Jim says what an entrepreneur decides to stop doing is as important as what’s on her to-do list.

He recounts the following exercise suggested to him by Rochelle Myers at the Stanford Graduate School of Business:

It goes like this: Suppose you woke up tomorrow and received two phone calls. The first phone call tells you that you have inherited $20 million, no strings attached. The second tells you that you have an incurable and terminal disease, and you have no more than 10 years to live. What would you do differently, and, in particular, what would you stop doing?

That assignment became a turning point in my life, and the “stop doing” list became an enduring cornerstone of my annual New Year resolutions — a mechanism for disciplined thought about how to allocate the most precious of all resources: time.

Collins calls this The 20-10 Assignment and it’s a life-changing way to look at how you spend your most valuable commodity.

2. Limit your work-in-progress.

Jim Benson, Agile practitioner and founder of Personal Kanban, argues that you should put limits on how much work-in-progress or WIP you have: “If we focus on a small set of tasks, we concentrate in both senses of the word. We both focus our attention and we concentrate our options.”

Multi-tasking is a myth. What you are really doing when you think you are multi-tasking is switching between activities rapidly. This rapid switching exacts a toll on your ability to mentally focus and concentrate. Too much task-switching leads to cognitive overload.

What you need to do, and what Benson advocates, is radically simplifying your workload. J.D. Meier, author of Getting Results the Agile Way, recommends using The Rule of 3 to focus on 3 outcomes with the biggest impacts each day, each week, each month, and each year.

Having 10 projects going at once might feel like productivity, but in actuality its destroying your focus and concentration.

3. Take time out for reflection.

Are you focusing on the wrong things?

Having priorities assumes you know what your values are. Too many people are living on autopilot, what David Foster Wallace in his commencement speech, This is Water, refers to as natural default settings.

If you aren’t thinking about and consciously making choices, your natural default settings will take over. You’ll wake up in 20 years in the middle of a midlife crisis and not know how you got there. Or how to get out.

We can defeat the natural default settings by training our personal feedback loops. Ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing to figure out what is actually important to you. Remember that your life is literally at stake. If what you’re doing isn’t worth your time, thenopt out.

4. Give yourself permission to fail.

Exercise your action bias by seeking challenges where you can fail fast, fail cheap, andmove on from your failure with lessons learned. There is no better way to supercharge your development than to seek opportunities for failure. You can get stuck in a rut optimizing a bad situation–or you can change the game entirely.

You have a finite amount of time. Do not fill up your life with the unimportant. Mental focus isn’t about what you let into your mind, it’s about what you leave out.

Its a  big problem for businesses in Canada. For example take Canadian professional hockey teams. Revenues are in Canadian dollars while salaries are in US dollars. When the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement was signed last year the salary cap was 64.3 million bucks in both US & Canadian dollars. Now with the fall in the Canadian loonie the salaries now cost Canadian teams $71 million. Next year…..

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Given BC is the second biggest contributor to Quebec equalization payments behind Alberta, we should all pay attention. With $176 Billion in direct debt, Quebec is the 5th most indebted jurisdiction in the Western World. If you throw in Municipalities, the debt load rises to $307 Billion…..

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A Special ticket offer from MoneyTalks

Our good friends at Soho, Canada’s leading small business network, are producing this fascinating event for business owners, entrepreneurs and sales people. Get a special MoneyTalks discount using the promo codes below.

LIVE AND IN PERSON – The REAL WOLF OF WALL STREET – JORDAN BELFORT

Vancouver May 1 | Calgary May 2

Right from the Smash Blockbuster Movie, Jordan Belfort the REAL Wolf of Wall Street (performed by Leonardo Dicaprio), will tell his story and share with the audience proven ethical sales strategies to increase sales and profits in your business. 

“What separates Jordan’s story from others like it, is the brutal honesty which he talks about and the mistakes that he’s made in his life… there is nothing quite like Jordan’s public speaking and his ability to train and empower young entrepreneurs…he is a true motivator.”
-Leonardo Dicaprio

what you will learn:

The Straight Line Persuasion System will ethically show attendees how to increase sales, design a powerful vision for their business, how to use the most powerful business system devised and learn strategies and psychology to thrive in today’s economy.

The FOUR core elements of the inner game of sales. (These four elements are absolutely essential to your success. If you lack even one of them, you will end up actually sabotaging your own success!)

How to get into instant rapport with your prospects and how to use that rapport to gather massive intelligence. (Your prospects will be predisposed to trusting you, so they’ll tell you what their highest values are and where their pain lies.)

The art and science of Straight Line prospecting.(You’ll learn how to develop a multimillion-dollar sales pipeline free of tire-kickers, so never waste time again.)

The four key elements to creating ethical presentations that actually close the deal.(To be blunt, most sales presentations are totally misguided and actually stop you from closing the deal.)

How to instantly squash objections and limiting buying beliefs, turning skeptics into buyers. (This proprietary belief-busting technique is the secret sauce of the Straight Line System and will empower your clients to make positive buying decisions)

The secret to closing calmly and consistentlyevery single time without even the slightest bit of high pressure. (It’s elegant, it’s classy and it’s ridiculously effective)

The ten-step formula for building a never-ending stream of customer referrals and creating customers for life. (You’ll make your life a thousand times easier with this proven, paint-by-numbers formula)

How to raise money through Venture Capital and Angel Investors so you can start using Other People’s Money to fund your ideas and grow your business.

The step-by-step process of Straight Line Negotiating, including the seven magic words that allow you to get the lowest price every time)

Vancouver – May 1st

• • Vancouver Convention Centre
  • 1 – 4pm

Calgary – May 2nd

• • Telus Convention Centre
  • 1 – 4pm

General Admission – Regularly $139 but only $117 when you use the promo code = MT20

VIP Package – Regularly $795 only $695 when you use the promo code = MT-VIP

• • Seating in Rows 1-3
  • Signed Book
  • Photo
  • VIP Meet & Greet Reception

CLICK HERE to REGISTER

what people are saying:

“With his energy and direct presentation techniques, Jordan enables me to clear the fog of ideas and goals that I have and enabled me to crystallize my vision going forward. ”
– Chris Fydler, Business Owner, Olympic Gold Medallist Sydney, Australia

“Jordan Belfort is the real deal. The Straight Line System is absolutely unbelievable. What I learned from him in terms of how to maximize profits has completely changed how I do business. I couldn’t speak highly enough of Jordan or his materials. You’re in good hands with Jordan Belfort.”
– Frank Kern

“Jordan is one of the most engaging and motivating speakers in the world today. His life experiences are truly amazing, and what he teaches about selling with the Straight Line System is simply world class. If you desire to be at the top of your game as a salesperson, don’t miss this! ”
-Craig Scoogie, CEO NextDC