6 powerful things to do to become a highly focused writer or creator

Mar 06, 2024

Join us for free at the Mastery Den Telegram for daily content ideas so you never run out of ideas.

—

Focus is like taking a magnifying glass, channelling a ray of sunlight, and holding it in place long enough for an ember to start burning.

Lack of focus is why we don’t hear from certain people who first had a dream.

Here’s how to channel your own focus so you start getting what you want:

Know what you want.

Few people know what they want, nor do they take action towards those things they really want.

As such, most people end up being pulled in various directions, responding to emotions and avoiding whatever makes them uncomfortable.

Know what you want and how it aligns with your values.

When you commit to creating those things with your own energy and ingenuity, you have less time for nonsense and are far more willing to experience pain to get what you want.

Sit down and write out what you want.

Make these objectives enjoyable - tantalising even.

You need to maintain interest over the long term.

Create more and faster.

There’s something about being sluggish and barely putting out any content. This energy seems to pollute the rest of my work and sucks the life out of me.

When I remember to go fast, increase my aspirations, and be determined to be more prolific, everything changes for the better.

It’s quite incredible how much we can do when we take away the phone and computer, use a timer, sit with our boredom, create, and create some more.

The more I create, the more creative I become.

My muscle memory tightens, and my brain fires at a higher level.

An invisible hand comes to my aid because I said I’d go big, and I act like I went big.

Know what you don’t want.

It’s much easier to move towards what you want when you have an electronic cattle prod poking you from behind. You have one life. Why settle for scraps?

Make a list of what you will ensure will never happen again, and you are going to do everything in your power to avoid them from happening.

What are you cutting out of your life so you can have more of what you do want? What tough decisions need to be made this week?

Knowing this, taking responsibility and acting on it will change your life like nothing else.

Do more with less.

I know you want to do a million and one things. But you can’t be focused if you’re embarking on several projects simultaneously.

Focus flourishes when you do one thing at a time with full attention and enjoyment.

What needs to go or be temporarily side-lined? What deserves your full focus right now?

How can you take something currently getting 50% and jack it up to 95%?

Give your priorities more care and love.

It took me a long time to realise how closely linked focus is to specific emotions. This is why obsessed geniuses do so well. They are emotionally attached to their projects.

They call it their ‘life’s work’ or even ‘the love of my life.’

When you’re in love with something or someone, you find it easy to focus on them, right?

Can you bring a similar kind of love, attention and care to your projects?

You don’t need to wait for that to appear. You create it.

Design a routine.

I know how hard it is to stay on track when you have several daily tasks. It’s amazingly easy to lose purpose, get lost and ask yourself how you got here.

A routine can be a simple set of habits you do daily, much of which you internalise and do without needing reminders.

But we aren’t always doing the same types of tasks over and over. Our projects and lives can be complex.

This is why it helps to have somewhere you return to every day to center yourself. Have a central hub document—for example, in Notion—that shows you your main objectives for the year, right down to the week.

What are your habits, and what are your vital tasks to be done for the day?

What do you need to do today to honour your commitment of sharing two newsletters each week, for example?

What do you need to do today if your dream of writing and releasing a fiction novel each year is to materialise?

What’s your central hub?

—

Are you stuck? Need support and a plan?

Reply to this email or contact me here to hear more about working with me directly to help you overcome resistance and succeed in your business and creative projects. We work together in crafting a 12-month roadmap to follow so you have clarity and get what you’re looking for.

“Alex is one of those rare few who always over-delivers. Within just 60 minutes he helped me create clarity on my next 12 months of business moves. He helped me align my writing and business strategy with advancements in AI, the changing landscape of Twitter, and growing competition in my industry.” — Taylin Simmonds, $40,000 pm ghostwriter.

—

Thanks for reading.

Join us today for extra member’s perks:

You receive instant free access to my $290 course on learning how I improved my online writing to attract a readership of over 160,000: Online Writing Alchemy (and community access).

You also get weekly Thursday exclusive video content for members to help get you an unfair advantage in growing your brand fast and being a powerful writer.

You also get access to all the hundreds of locked posts to accelerate your brand.

Hit the subscribe button below to join.

Check out Alex’s books on Amazon here.