You could be forgiven, as we come to the end of this spooky season, for being petrified about how close we are to the end of the year. So, as you reflect back…

Are you looking at your 2024 deliverables and celebrating with a treat?

Or are you feeling tricked by a lack of progress?

In these last couple of months stuffed full of reporting deadlines, flu bugs and Mariah Carey’s warbling, it’s hard to maintain momentum.

So in a world with endless things you could do, and ever-decreasing time to do them, how do you generate the energy to do what needs to be done?

The answer is a change of focus.

In his book exploring the connection between energy and focus, Michael Beckwith says: “Energy flows where attention goes.”

So, where’s your attention going?

You will have heard me say (multiple times) “Do 3 things well, not 10 things badly”. So, I’m sure you’ve ruthlessly prioritised your plans and are super clear on what needs to be done and why.

Right?... Right?!

But if stuff is still not getting done, we have to go further than that.

Let’s think about what you really focus your attention and energy on.

Ask yourself, in relation to work:

• What do you wake up thinking about? (At 2am, 4am, 6am…you get the picture)
• What do you worry won’t happen?
• What are you chatting to peers and stakeholders about in the coffee queue or on Teams (rather than the formal items on the agenda)?
• What are your team preoccupied with?
• How much time are you spending viewing your fantasy life on Instagram? (That house in Provence/Puglia/Mauritius is looking so tempting right now)

… because those are the things really pulling your focus.

… And those are the things sucking your energy – the energy vampires 🧛‍

If you’re getting the sneaky sense that there’s a mismatch between what you’re worrying about – the energy vampires – and what you’re ‘supposed’ to be doing, read on. Because something needs to change and change fast.

A grisly case of kidding ourselves

Think about possible reasons for the mismatch:

• Have you got your priorities wrong?
• Do you not want to face some of the energy vampires?
• Do you have secret priorities nobody acknowledges?
• Are the wheels coming off your organisation while you’re trying to change it?
• Do your stakeholders just want all of it and they don’t give a bat’s-behind about what’s possible?
• Are there consequences for wasting time on things that aren’t a priority?
• Or is it something else?
And once you know the reason why you have a mismatch, you’re one step closer to closing the gap, nailing your goals and stopping those energy vampires sucking the life out of you.

No garlic or holy water required.