Maintaining Focus Without Existential Threats

Keenen Charles -

It's been a hell of a year. At one point I dubbed it the year of rejection. Getting laid off certainly felt so. Everything I had been building towards in the last few years was about to be snatched away from me. The foundation I built was just sand and crumbled beneath my feet.

But in the past few months, I found focus. Losing my job meant my work visa was in peril and I would need to find a new job in 60 days or leave London. From the moment it happened my mind sharpened. Immediately I went into overdrive searching for options and applying for jobs. I found a way to extend my time to 5 months and then put my head down to do everything I could to find a job.

I finally got an offer with just 6 weeks left to go.

It was a stress-filled few months. Some days were filled with fear and self-doubt. Constant anxiety whenever my mind wandered. But somehow I also felt more like myself than I had in a long time.

Anxiety was there but I had perspective with it. I couldn't let my mind deter me from my goals. I had purpose and all the little rejections felt less significant in comparison.

It reminded me of my journey in life. How far I'd come and how far I could still go. I got in touch with the naive confidence I had in my early 20s again. The confidence that I could achieve lofty goals and not settle. But somewhere along the way I lost sight of it as I settled into new surroundings and struggled to belong.

I felt alive again.

Now that things are stable again I want to maintain this feeling. Without the stress of course.

So what changed?

  • Purpose
    • I had a clear goal and deadline. I was reminded of my long-term goals to go for my side projects and writing.
  • Perspective
    • Other issues in life felt trivial compared to the threat of being forced to move and previous issues I've overcome.
  • Confidence
    • Purpose + Perspective gave me a clear plan to achieve my goals and belief I could do it.

So there are two things I need to keep in mind and that leads to the confidence that I want to maintain. How do I do that?

Setting clear goals

In the past I've set vague goals for my projects. Continued growth is great but I think more defined goals for growing InboxReads revenue to X can help. And I need to start writing at a regular cadence again rather than waiting for inspiration to strike.

Perspective

To maintain perspective I need to document my progress towards my goals. Sharing how InboxReads is doing and why I'm making decisions. And self-reflection on life in general which helps to clarify my thoughts.

Actions

  1. Grow InboxReads MRR to $1.5K in the next 6 months.
  2. Write monthly reflections on my progress towards that goal
  3. Write weekly articles about topics I'm interested in (entrepreneurship, tech, and media)
  4. Private self-reflections on life with occasional public ones when I feel it can be helpful to others.

If these sound like topics you'd be interested in I hope you stick around. And if you can relate to this or have advice to share hit reply.

This is article #1 on a new direction for this blog and I hope you'll like it.