Distractions from your passion

I want to talk about passions and distractions because lately it seems like more and more people are running into this ‘issue’.

So I’m going to use my passion (writing) as an example, but really you can imply this to any passion YOU have.

First, do you have a passion? I write. I love writing and I always have. I was the kid in the back of the bookstore sitting on the floor reading a book while my mom shopped for other books. I’m the kid that didn’t go to parties but instead stayed home on a Friday night to write with friends online. Grounded? Sure! I’ll just go read a book or two! I never leave my house without a book in some form.

Writing is such a huge part of my life that I wouldn’t be me without it.

Now there are times where I let my writing get stuck on the back burner. I let other things such as games and people distract me.

What bugs me the most is when someone says “I need (or want) to get something (related to their passion) done.”

So naturally I reply with “Great! You should!”

And their response? “I’m tired.” or “I started playing a video game, it’s distracting me.” or “I can’t think of anything to do.” or SOMETHING along those lines.

So basically you WANT to work on something that brings you joy but instead you are letting other things distract you?

I’m tired every damn day. No joke. I’m up at 6am (which may be late for some people), and out the door by 6:50. I’m at work by 7:30 and I’ve started my work day at 8am. I work until 4:30 and then back home to help cook dinner, take care of the dogs and the house, and THEN we get to sit down. Probably close to 6:30 by the time that happens. You know what I do then? Answer questions from clients. Read up on the industry news (because you know the world is always changing). Write (because I love to write and I have deadlines). I write and work our business until bedtime.

First let me start by saying that I work hard, my husband works hard so on the days that I do actually ‘take off’ of EVERYTHING, I deserve it.

Second, I do complain that I need to meet my deadlines sometimes. But that doesn’t mean that I will keep letting things distract me. When I used to let a video game distract me from writing, I didn’t write. I played all night and didn’t even open my word document. You know what I did to stop that? I DELETE THE GAME! I deleted the very thing distracting me. And guess what? I’m writing daily. I hardly have games on my phone because they distract me. FACEBOOK is a huge distraction and one that I can’t just shut off (because you know I run a business and all).

Point is, stop letting crap distract you. If a game distracts you, delete the damn thing (or if you are seriously against that, at least make it SUPER hard to log into it. Like put the shortcut in a folder and make it so you have to click on about fifty other things to get to it).

If you keep letting stuff distract you then you probably need to ask yourself if you really love the thing you claim you are so passionate about. In my honest opinion if you don’t care to put in the time and dedication to something you love, then you probably don’t love it very much.