When the Drift Is Actually a Shift
The Difference Between a Drift and a Shift
It’s been a little over three months since my last post.
If I’m being completely honest, it’s been much longer than I expected it to be. When I hit “publish” on my last post “When you Drift from the Assignment”, I had every intention of staying consistent. I had a plan. I had a rhythm. And then, life happened. The good, the bad, and the messy all collided. You look up, and suddenly the things you really wanted to be consistent at have slipped through the cracks. The goals you set in the spring are staring at you from the middle of summer, unaccomplished. I want to start by saying this: I have not mastered these things yet. I am a student of the same systems I teach. I am still learning, still stumbling, and still sharing what I learn so that I can go back and be reminded of the truth when the noise gets too loud.
In my last post, I asked a question that has been echoing in my own spirit: “Once you recognize that you’ve drifted from the assignment, how do you narrow your focus again without feeling like you’re shrinking your impact?” This question is a challenge. It forces us to recognize that if we aren’t hitting our goals, it’s likely because we are trying to hit too many targets at once. But here is what the last three months taught me: missing a goal doesn’t always mean you’ve lost your way. Sometimes, what we call a “drift” is actually a “shift.” For me, these last 90 days weren’t a loss of focus. They were a deliberate shift of focus. My family, my friends, and my personal peace were prioritized. Was the blog quiet? Yes. Was my mission at Out of the Box Remedies stagnant? No. It was just in a different season.
Wisdom from the "Possibilities Panel"
Recently, during the Summer Leadership Intensive with the nonprofit I lead, Vanguard Leadership Academy, we held our annual Possibilities Panel. Each year we bring together professionals from all different career and entrepreneur tracks to talk to our high school cohort and Youth Ambassadors. One of the students asked a question we all struggle with: How do you balance it all? Life, college, career, hobbies, family?
One of our panelists, Dr. Kris Smith, gave an answer that gave me great pause. I had to sit with it. It was speaking to me. He didn’t talk about time-blocking or productivity hacks. He talked about alignment. He explained that balance, for him, is about knowing his top priorities and then ruthlessly removing anything that doesn’t help him be the best at those priorities. He mentioned being a father, a husband, and his career: since his career is what supports his top two. He balances his life by adding things that elevate him in those roles and removing things that don’t.
How to Narrow Your Focus
So, how do we get back? How do we narrow the focus without feeling like our impact is shrinking?
- Acknowledge the Season. You cannot apply “growth season” strategies to a “rest season.” Be honest about where you are.
- Audit the Targets. If you are trying to hit five targets, you’ll hit none of them well. What is the one assignment that requires your hands right now?
- Remove the Noise. Like Dr. Smith said, if it doesn’t promote you being the best at your top priorities, it’s a distraction. Even “good” things can be distractions if they aren’t your things.
- Accept the “Shrink.” Here is the hard truth: narrowing your focus will feel like shrinking. It will feel like you’re doing less. But a laser is more powerful than a flashlight because its energy is concentrated. You aren’t shrinking your impact; you are increasing its depth.
You Were Not Meant to Do This Alone
We talk a lot about systems and operations here, but at the heart of everything we do is the belief that your work is an assignment. And assignments require stewardship: not just of your tasks, but of your soul. If you find yourself in a season of drift and you’re struggling to find the “shift,” I want to walk with you. Whether it’s through process Improvement to clear the clutter or Leadership Development to regain your confidence, our goal is to help your meaningful work endure.
Ask yourself today: Is this a drift or a shift?
If it’s a shift, breathe. You’re exactly where you need to be. If it’s a drift, let’s pick up the pen and start writing and remembering the original vision.
Grace and peace,
Felicia Momon – Out of the Box Remedies