I used to often hit a dense wall of fog when I tried to move forward with my goals. Feeling drowsy and un-motivated, irritable and un-focused. Coffee had a lot to do with this. Its short term effects were great but regular cold-turkey was required or I had to increase the dosage. At one point 4 years ago and after a heavy bout of overwork, over-stress and pneumonia leading to coughing blood I decided to turn my back on the wicked black stuff (even though I loved it) and search for the natural energy and power to break through the walls.

Finally after searching and testing I discovered my 7 components to achieving mental focus consistently and with very little effort. Here they are:

Hydration
Drink plenty of water. Its essential for every function in your body. About a cup every hour.

Visual Acuity
Get your eyes checked out, wear some contact lenses. See clearly. Try the Bate’s Method for size if you are cynical about the billion dollar spectacles industry. Balance and clarity are important – everything else will follow.

Meditation
Empty your head of all the daily white noise and reboot refreshed.

Exercise
The more you do the more energy you have.

Sleep
My mum used to say: ‘early to bed, early to rise makes a boy healthy, wealthy and wise.’ Give yourself a break and go to bed early and don’t be afraid to take cat naps when your body tells you to.

Diet
Eat fresh food, lots of fruit and kick out dairy – that stuff will drag you down and fill your lungs with mucous.

Jala Neti
Wash out your head of fuzz and built up grime – let your personal air conditioning system work to its full potential. Nasal irrigation sounds disgusting to a lot westerners but is been done for eons in other cultures to recognized health benefits.

This week i’ve been playing with the idea of the sniper approach to getting stuff done. No, not shooting from a concealed position over longer ranges but knowing what I want, going for it, then getting the hell out.

Its about saving time and a cure for trying to look busy. It means I have more time to do the stuff I want to do rather than the stuff I have to do.

That’s it. I’m off!