The 4 Scopes Of Focus
Would you rather…
Increase your ability to focus? Or decrease your ability to focus?
That’s a no-brainer, right?
Everyone wants to be better at focusing.
But there’s a missing ingredient I’ve found.
Focus is not addressed in a holistic way.
It’s not even defined in a holistic way.
Here’s what I mean.
Focus is so much more than just “focusing your attention in the moment.”
There are actually four scopes of focus, based on expanding time horizons.
4 Scales of Focus:
Micro-Focus - Moment-to-moment focus
Day-To-Day Focus - Short-term prioritization
Month-To-Month Focus - Longer term prioritization
Macro Focus - Life purpose and big picture vision
All four of these scopes of focus work together, and build on each other in multi-directional feedback loops (not just one-way), to enhance your life.
If these scopes are unaddressed, you create disharmony and self-sabotage, because you’re working against yourself.
With these four scopes of focus in place, you create harmony, alignment and the ability to thrive in your life. This is how you create both success and fulfillment in your life. It’s how you enjoy the moment, while continuously growing (growing in the right direction, that is).
Now let’s talk about each scope of focus.
#1: Micro-Focus
Micro-focus is the ability to focus on the task at hand, in the moment.
This is what people traditionally think of when hearing the word “focus.”
Micro-focus goes hand-in-hand with presence and flow state, as these are qualities of moment-to-moment focus.
As I write this, right now, I’m tapping into micro-focus. That’s a good example.
Another example is any athlete, completely focused while playing their sport.
The antagonist of micro-focus is distraction. And, as we all know, distractions are all-too-prevalent in this day and age.
So, how do you transcend distraction and build micro-focus?
Here’s a few ways:
Practice mindfulness
Set blocks of time every day for focused work (20-60 minutes - no distractions)
Slow down and be more intentional with everything you do
Practice patience (I’ve noticed that, paradoxically, patience somehow creates quicker and better results with everything)
#2: Day-To-Day Focus
The second scope of focus is day-to-day focus.
This is short-term prioritization.
It’s focusing on the right things on a daily basis.
For example, prioritizing working out over watching tv is day-to-day focus. So is doing your most important work task instead of getting lost in busy-work.
And no, you don’t need a fancy productivity system or a complicated calendar to do this.
You just need to be proactive and prioritize what’s for your highest good.
Speaking of which, the main antagonist for day-to-day focus is reactivity. Reactivity includes both emotional reactivity and reactive tasks.
For example, if you get triggered into anger, you’re obviously going to throw your priorities out the window. Reactive tasks, like responding to other people’s demands and busy-work, sabotage your focus on what’s most important too.
Here’s a few ways to develop day-to-day focus:
Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize!
Create a positive morning routine
Be consistent (work on what’s important every day)
Say “no” to things that don’t align with your highest good (with love, and without guilt)
#3: Month-To-Month Focus
This one is about longer term focus.
It’s focusing on the right projects that contribute to your big picture vision and life purpose (more on that soon).
Think of month-to-month focus as focusing on your current phase, and your next phase in life that move you toward your big vision.
The antagonist here is shiny object syndrome; chasing one goal after another without fully following through.
Now, how do you cultivate month-to-month focus?
Practice patience (but this time it’s about not clinging to expected results and time frames)
Be methodical instead of chasing shortcuts and quick fixes
Follow your curiosity (what piques your curiosity is a great indicator of a good direction to move in)
Be humble enough to always learn and grow (pride leads to chasing the wrong things)
#4: Macro-Focus
The fourth scope of focus is macro-focus.
This is the big picture of your life.
It’s your life purpose, your life vision, etc.
The antagonist for macro-focus is the ego.
Your ego will be fearful and tell you to play it small and stay in your comfort zone. Or it might chase a vanity or prideful goal instead of your soul’s purpose.
Simply being aware of your ego’s tendencies frees you from them. Be observant of what you chase from the ego, compared to what lights you up on a soul-level and what makes you feel expansive from the deepest parts of your being.
How do you cultivate macro-focus? By contemplating the big questions in life, then aligning the other three scopes of focus accordingly.
Here are some of the most potent questions to contemplate:
What’s most important to me?
Who am I?
What do I want people to say at my funeral?
What legacy do I want to leave?
What values are most important to me?
What are the big problems I want to help fix?
What am I feeling called to give rise to?
Why did I come here to Earth?
Let’s Summarize
Focus isn’t just a one-dimensional thing.
There’s layers to it, and it operates on multiple scales of existence.
Here are the 4 Scales of Focus:
Micro-Focus - Moment-to-moment focus
Day-To-Day Focus - Short-term prioritization
Month-To-Month Focus - Longer term prioritization
Macro Focus - Life purpose and big picture vision
Get familiar with these.
Develop them. Because when you do, they align and harmonize.
With this, you naturally create more success and fulfillment in your life.
You cultivate being and becoming simultaneously, which is the modus operandi of the master.
Now, before you finish reading here, I invite you to write down the action steps for each scope of focus. Then start putting them into practice.
Much love,
Stephen Parato