Did I mention that I was a tower climber for years? In fact, I did a lot of physical jobs in my lifetime. The one thing you learn about jobs like that, on the farm, in a sawmill, cutting wood in a forest, or 300 feet up on a tower is that if you’re not going to focus on the task at hand, you could get seriously hurt or die. You learn to focus pretty quick.
The thing is, when we get jobs where we sit in front of a computer most of the day staring at an email, spreadsheets, presentation, and PDFs, it’s hard to stay focused. Maybe we’re bored or not interested or distracted. It’s easy to lose focus when you know you won’t lose a finger or die. Death puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?
When we’re working on the tower, we see what happens when people get distracted. Things fall, and someone on the ground could get hurt. If we slip and we’re not properly tied off, we could fall and likely die. That’s why we pay attention there.
Staring at a laptop at 5:30 in the morning requires a whole new level of focus. Trust me, I am doing it now. It takes another level of motivation to want to try to help others instead of saving my own life.
However, I relate it back to the same initial motivation. Let me explain.
When you’re holding a chainsaw, it’s loud with sharp, fast moving teeth that want nothing more than to cut something, even if you get careless. Growing up I cut a lot of wood and I know that one slip could cause permanent damage to me or those around me. It happens more often than you think.
When I used to go hunting, I knew that one gun accident would cause damage that could be irreversible. My dad and mom would remind me again and again. I was out hunting when I was 11 years old and I never had any mishaps with guns, perhaps because of the lessons they taught me.
When I was a tower climber, I knew that my screw up could hurt me or someone else. I actually preferred to be on the tower by myself or with a trusted partner. Someone I knew and trusted. Trust was a key thing on the tower. Many tower crews are very tight and would die for each other. Sometimes they want to kill each other, like a family does once in a while, but they still would protect each other at a site. Trust on the job site is critical, even for low paying jobs. Trust me, most of those jobs didn’t pay well, but they were rewarding in so many ways.
Now I pretty much stare at a computer and decide what to write, what formulas to enter, and what recommendations to make. Mostly because of my past experience and knowledge. It’s a good place to be. This takes focus. You would be surprised how many people can’t do this. They can’t put the words together to write a paper, blog, or book.
The reason I can focus on this now is because I feel I’m helping others. Maybe it’s people my age or a younger generation. I want to share my knowledge and mistakes. Trust me, if you can learn from my mistakes then you’re way ahead of the game. I’m a good one for making mistakes, I still make them today. When will I learn? I learn from each mistake, sure, I’m a slow learner, so sometimes repeat mistakes. Honestly, I feel like an idiot when I realize it’s a mistake, but I can be open about it at this point of my life. Also, my wife is pretty quick to point out anything I do wrong!
So if you’re having problems focusing on something that won’t kill you, try to keep the bigger mission in mind. It’s important to work for a larger goal and understand that it’s that goal front and center. After all, if you’re religious in any way then you get it. If you’re building a business, then you get it. If you have a family you care about, then you get it. For all of those examples, you would go above and beyond to make things happen, am I right? Of course.
So in my eyes, focus and faith go together. Please try to have both. Focus on the task and have faith in yourself and the larger mission.