Defiled by Distractions Episode 3

The speaker discusses the topic of distractions and how they can hinder us from pursuing our purpose in life. They give personal examples of distractions they have faced, such as impatience, comparison to others, and seeking validation from others. They emphasize the importance of self-worth and self-accountability in overcoming distractions. The speaker encourages listeners to focus on their goals and not be swayed by temporary distractions. They highlight the need to be unique and not let others' opinions hold us back. The speaker concludes by urging listeners to make conscious decisions to overcome distractions and live a life of purpose. Enter a space that knows no boundaries and become a force that knows no barriers. Welcome to Living Limitless. Hello and a warm welcome to everybody tuned in on this episode. Listen, more than anything, I feel more than excited for this episode in particular. And the reason being is, this episode perhaps is one of the closest episodes to my heart simply because of the topic we are going to be discussing today. And without any further ado, the topic for this course today is entitled Defiled by Distractions. See, I know we all understand the depth of how far distractions can mislead us regardless of what we do. Whether it is on a formal basis when we execute priority work or perhaps it's on a casual basis when we're just simply enjoying a recreational activity. But my focus for this episode is just to break down the reasons as to why we choose to indulge in these distractions despite knowing the negative repercussions that lie on the other side of it all. So let me put this topic into a personal perspective. You know, when I was still searching for my purpose for living, or rather when I was still establishing what purpose for living meant to me, there was a whole legion of distractions within my proximity. And one thing I realized is that when you're most desperate, distractions seem extremely alluring to take part in, or at least entertain. So what exactly are distractions? These are the things that keep you occupied with being everything else except the person you were created to be. I'll give a few examples. My first distraction that hindered me from pursuing my purpose for living was my impatience with my journey and my comparison to other people. You know, the distracting thing about impatience is that it keeps you focused on what you are not as opposed to what you could be. You end up losing sight of the focus that allows you to harness the gift in an attempt to inherit someone else's fortune at a particular point in their life. Simply put, we spend the majority of the time wishing we could have other people's lifestyles in that particular stage of life we're in. Now, the second distraction, this one is the most intense of them all. I think a lot of people might resonate with this, even people of the opposite sex. However, I choose to share this one from my perspective. The second distraction that I faced was giving females undeserved flirtatious attention. Yep, you heard that. I poured out so much of my time into females just to try and feel a sense of worth. Because, I mean, if I was acknowledged by the female at that particular point in time, it relieved, or rather, it took away the feeling of being worthless that my journey towards purposeful living carried with it along the way. You know, when I calculated how much time was wasted texting and giving them all this undeserved attention, I realized that all that time could have been best used to acquire other skills, or perhaps upgrade my current skills to properly increase and enhance my self-worth. Even now that I look at it, those females didn't have any self-worth either. I know that sounds pretty harsh to say, but they were not people of clear substance. And they relied on my attention as well and my presence to give them that feeling of being valued, bringing me to the conclusion that distracted people distract people. You know, it's interesting that we're in a generation that equates dating and being in a relationship with someone as an automatic warning that we are truly valuable. We get caught up in how we should be treated and loved when we barely invest enough love and time to our own self. I mean, we have gifts and talents that we're just allowed to lay dormant in ourselves and we don't bother to even explore the depths to which these gifts and talents can give back to us and the people that are most closest to us. So, what am I saying really? I'm not saying be inconsiderate of people and be selfish. But we can't, or rather we should, avoid inviting people into our lives when we haven't addressed the apparent chaos we harbor within our own lives. I mean, we aren't giving people the power of making us feel valuable and when they leave us, we feel like a huge chunk has been taken away from us because we never established our own intrinsic value that was independent of their presence. So, that was the second distraction. Now, the final distraction. The final distraction was my inability to be accountable about my progress towards a purposeful living. Or rather, being accountable about the little steps that I took towards establishing a meaningful purposeful life. You know, I would take one step forward in my search for my purpose and then three steps back, I would engage in activities that alleviated the temporary discomfort of where I was, and I slowly realized that it ate away at my incremental progress and gave me the illusion I was further away from my breakthrough. In fact, it dimmed the light of positivity within me and the self-belief required to boost me forward. Distractions derail you from knowing who you are and as a result, causing you to copy and paste decisions that delay the development of who you ought to be in order to shine the light within you. Eventually, what happens is we become passengers in our own lives and we have no say in our own lives because the distractions have become the captains of the vessels that we choose to steer our lives in. And before you know it, we end up heading the wrong direction that leads us to a never ending pit of depression and self-pity. I mean, you become so psychologically paralyzed that you are unable to make your own decisions because you've never really known what you truly want because your distractions determine what you want. We end up in destinations that are not by our design. One thing that I've also come to notice about distractions is they appeal to our temporary appetite with long-term repercussions. I mean, when you don't establish your self-worth or the worth that you can potentially offer to those that truly need it, we end up settling for things below our value and defiling our worth at the end. In fact, we also feel incentivized as a result to accept these distractions in attempts to fit in and forget how to learn to be comfortable with our own true identity that highlights our utmost worth. One thing we ought to remember is that we are as unique as the fingerprints we all possess. And equally, you all have been sent on this world with a unique identity to achieve something that has never, ever been done before. To fit a new trend that is as unique as your identity. I mean, we are so scared to be unique that we are so caught up in what people think, which is another distraction that has held back so many of us from truly unlocking our true worth. Before you endeavor into any new venture, the first thought is, what will people think of the person I'm trying to become? How many people will reject me as a result of the person I'm trying to become? How many people will accept me when I become the new version that I choose to become? I'm not realizing that all of those things are nothing but selfish distractions that continuously lead you away from the task at hand. The task at hand is purposefully committing to a journey of constant improvement, self-improvement that leads you towards a better self. Listen, the people that are meant to be within your journey will find a way to connect it to you. Because of the lights that you choose to keep shining within yourself. So it is pointless to keep your mind racing between these insecurities back and forth, back and forth. And let the work that you choose to take part within you regarding your development speak for itself. Do not defile yourself with other people's identities only for you to feel like something you're not. We need to avoid being slaves to our distractions that deceive us into thinking that you are free to make your own decisions, when in reality you're making the decisions your distractions have programmed you to make. If perhaps that was a mouthful, I'll break it down. You see, when you're distracted, you don't have the conscious awareness to know which decision is made by you, or which decision has been made as a result of the environment that accommodates your distractions. See, for us to overcome distractions, focus is everything, and I mean everything. Because in it, we can truly realize our purpose and find strength to fight the challenges that come with the journey towards a meaningful purpose for life. Everything in life carries a price tag. And unfortunately, some of us spend, if not most of us, spend our budget on distractions hoping they will give us the long term benefits of the value we truly seek. I mean, we spend time entertaining people that go out of their way to seek validation and what do you know? The price to pay is the time you spend with them that you will never truly get back. You see, the version of you that you are right now is the reason why you have the life you have right now. And the circumstances in your life don't change. Perhaps the circumstances are there to change the person within the circumstance. So the question is, how much time and focus have you invested in shaping the vision you have for your life? And how often do you constantly hold yourself accountable to the vision that you have purposed within yourself as your ultimate goal? You never get the duty at hand mixed up with other things. Because if we are to live meaningful lives, that requires a constant conflict with our carnal desires that take us off the path of self-mastery. Yes, you heard it right. Yes, you heard it right. We are in constant conflict with our human nature, our human desires. And in order to live a life that is uninhibited by limitations and filled with meaningful purpose, we need to make a conscious decision to create strategies that help us conquer these default desires we have within ourselves. So quit feeling sorry for yourself and understand that no one else can save you from where you are. And also realize that your life at this point is a reflection of the choices you have made. And allowed to be made on your behalf until this point. Until you are capable to call yourself out when you are distracted. You can never master the true power that resides within you. Within you. Avoid being defiled by distractions. And that concludes our episode for this week, ladies and gentlemen. So if you found this insightful, informative or perhaps just plain boring, don't forget to leave a comment in the comment section and share your thoughts. And if you have a friend that just might need to hear this, share it with them. See you soon on the next episode.