Let’s take a moment to be honest. You have a purpose, a direction, a path you want to follow this year. Ever noticed that there’s always something in the way?
Why? Well, we all know they’re out there – lurking in the corners of our day, wrapped up in emails, notifications, endless to-do lists, half-finished projects, and mental chatter we can’t quite switch off. We tolerate them. We normalise. Thing is they are not harmless and have been quietly consuming your energy all this time. We’re talking about distractions and it’s time to call them out.
The Impact of Distraction
When you’re distracted, it’s not just an inconvenience – it’s a disconnection. From your goals, your energy, your inner clarity. The clearest sign? You can’t focus. You sit down to do something meaningful and find your mind drifts. You shift constantly from one thing to another – maybe emails, then social media, then a phone call, then another half-started task. The sense of purpose you began with slowly fragments into scattered pieces of ongoing-ness.
It’s like spinning plates. You’re giving each one just enough energy to keep it from falling just not enough to totally complete anything. The continual switching keeps you stuck in a state of reactive chaos and that has a cost.
To share what many might not realise is every incomplete task, every unresolved item on your mental checklist, every little “I’ll do that later” can be seen as an open loop, like faulty washers in your tap of ‘purpose’ leaking energy.
If we were to think of your attention as a form of currency. When it’s spread across ten or even more things – none of them completed, your energy is divided, diluted and eventually depletes. When this happens consistently, it’s as if your system becomes overloaded. That’s when you notice fatigue, lack of motivation, or a lingering sense of stress or anxiety – often without a clear source. In some of us, it manifests as a mental block which at the time seems impassible without realising the block orginates from ourselves.
Good news, it is not a fix, it is a choice that you can make starting today.
From Friction to Flow
To reconnect with your purpose and reclaim your focus, it’s not about doing more which is what many of us attempt to. It’s about clearing the ‘noise’ and creating space. Ultimately, completing what is incomplete, unfinished.
Then when you have that precious space freed up and those washers working effectively on your previously leaky ‘tap of purpose’, committing only to what really aligns.
How do we shift from distracted to purposeful and energised? Please find a simple and powerful effectiveness reset.
Make A Master List
Write down every unfinished and ongoing task, commitment, or open loop – in both your personal and professional life. Big or small. This helps to get it out of your head and into one visible place.
Clear Your Environment
Tidy your home, your workspace, your garden. Your outer world reflects your inner world. Clarity starts here and you start to feel better almost immediately.
Clean Your Car
A clean car, inside and out, helps you feel more in control, more intentional, and perhaps a little lighter as you move forward.
Declutter With Honesty
Ok so this is non-negotiable. Be strong and ruthless, set this in your mind before you begin. If you haven’t used it in six months, it is highly likely you don’t need it. Outdated paperwork, old clothes, random clutter… let it go. Sell it, free cycle it, whatever it takes. (Keep all necessary financial records, of course)
Organise Your Files
Whether they are paper or electronic and that includes your emails – you must bring order to your document systems. Let go of what’s no longer needed. File what matters. Create clean systems that support, rather than drain, your attention. Just imagine the satisfaction you will feel when order has been restored. You’ll be amazed how much calmer your mind feels too!
Reset Your Desk
You see it every day. This is where it starts, your workspace sets the tone for your output. Clear it. Clean it. Remove anything that doesn’t need to be there.
Complete or Cancel
Make a list of all unfinished tasks or commitments. Then choose you option, either: finish it, delegate it, or release it. Remember completion will close the loop and repairs the washers giving you energy. So does letting go.
Take Ownership and Enforce Your Boundaries
Be honest with what you can do – and seek to delegate what’s left. Enforce your boundaries by stopping overcommitting to please others. What will saying ‘no’ demonstrate to you? Maintain integrity in saying ‘yes’ only when you mean it.
Prioritise Your Wellbeing
We all know our body is our temple and as a business owner, coach, therapist and leader we must take care of the basics from sleep to eating to activity. Learning Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) offers an effective way of managing self and self care in all aspects of the day to day.
Presence, Not Perfection
Many people think they need to add more to find their purpose – more work, more action, more goals whereas in most cases, what is really needed is less.
Less noise
Less clutter
Less obligation
So you can have more space for what actually matters, what is important. Your purpose doesn’t shout. It’s quiet, focused and you are present. It emerges when distractions are removed, and energy is restored. Set the intention that this is the time when you return to that clarity.
It’s Not Too Late To Ge To Thrive!
You haven’t missed the bus.
No need to ‘catch up’.
You just need to pause, reflect, and choose again.
Choose
Choose alignment over activity.
Choose clarity over chaos.
Choose purpose over distraction.
When you do, you’ll find yourself energised, engaged and deeply connected to what truly matters and that – more than anything – is how to thrive in 2025.
To learn more about NLP we have a variety of courses available online and face to face, contact to arrange a discussion on how to make change and your alignment to purpose.
