I've been having this conversation centered around intentional focus with its modern framing, as in to lock in on what matters and cut off distractions.
Like myself, these folks I had the conversation with are also immersed with contemporary media portraying this story/image of only taking 6 months or a year to change one's life blah blah blah. In theory, it sounds super impressive, easy to implement and very convincing when the before and after moments are clipped side by side.
I don't go out of my way looking for such type of content but when it lands on my feed, my mind tends to analyze it a bit to separate the emotional pull from the practical message. It's almost automatic at this point.
Living in a very noisy age doesn't necessarily mean that blocking out the noise automatically translates to being focused. It's one thing to mute distractions, and another thing entirely to stay present and consistent with what you claim to care about.
Sometimes, it could also just mean you're alone with louder thoughts. Another form of challenge to tackle before reaching focused land.
I think the time aspect, as in how long it takes to really change one's life, whatever that may mean, is over-exaggerated here. And it's not like after six months or a year you can lock out and still have everything figured out working out steadily. The truth is there's no real "lock out" moment when one is serious about growth.
For me, the hard sell is the wave of motivation coming from such messages, as I think changing your life is an ongoing process that keeps evolving as you do.
Every time I think I’ve leveled up, life updates the software and adds new bugs.
Besides, a practical sense of change here is building the new habits that gradually replace the old ones and makes the overall process feel less forced over time. In my view, the real work of locking in is just patience via staying with something long enough for it to change you.
This aspect of the journey is unavoidable and putting a timeframe onto it messes with your head, really. You start thinking slow progress means no progress.
And as for locking out, it's a bit of a humour that most people forget the key once they’ve locked in.
Life is a moderation game.
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