00:00:51Welcome back as a reflected on last week's episode. I came across this quote starve distraction feed Focus. I really wish I knew who said that because I think it's pretty awesome.

00:01:11Last week we talked about a distracted World, primarily how Tech Drive distraction, how email and social media are designed to distract us and take up as much time as possible.

00:02:21I think digital distraction on technology is real, and I think that last week's gas would agree with me. I think Cal Newport would agree with me. And I think that there's enough science out there that says, engaging on her phone, so much actually makes it harder for us to concentrate.

00:03:20And that means we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in awhile because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever and that's going to get you to contribute more contact content and that's going to get you more likes and comments and quote.

00:03:57Social media distraction is very real.

00:04:07Alvin reflected on last week's show. I thought, you know, it's just too easy to blame technology alone. We talked a lot about technology last week and I acknowledge that I've talked about it before. So, the thing I got really curious about some of the underlying causes of distraction. I mean, most of the people who listen to this show, our leaders or small business owners, primarily women who just wanted to cheese our goals and we all know that being distracted takes us away from many of the causes that are important to us. It takes us away from our purpose and the daily tasks that we need to do so that we can have the greatest impact.

00:04:55And yet, he's distracted. So what is that all about?

00:05:55I also think that another tool of distraction are mental health conditions like a t, h d PTSD, and other conditions may be anxiety that just sort of drive us to distract ourselves.

00:06:24So we get distracted, we get distracted because we need to know that thing that's going to keep us from having a bad experience.

00:06:41So, I think that there are some really deep things that causes to be distracted.

00:06:57So I want to talk about what that means, for leaders and business owners. And the number one thing that I thought about when I was reflecting.

00:07:11And I don't mean fear of missing out. I think it's bigger and broader than that.

00:07:21It is, quote, Nothing in life, is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less.

00:07:43So, the fear may not just be missing out.

00:07:55To understand. And we might be looking to understand anything as leaders and business owners. There's a lot out there to understand, especially if you've never run a business before.

00:08:10With.

00:08:15Driving you to try to understand.

00:08:26See, I think the fear is actually a byproduct of the volatility uncertainty complexity and ambiguous world that we live in.

00:08:43Put the fear and the uncertainty, and have a comfort with the world that we live in.

00:09:35The more you listen, the more you earn. So here's what you do, download the app right now on iPhone or Android. And I have a special code for you, simply use our code business and you'll get 300 podcoin. Just for signing up, and if you listened to enough of us on there, you can get a cappuccino at Starbucks or an Amazon gift card on us. So go ahead, go listen to this podcast or virtually any podcast on pod coin and sign up with the promo code business. I swear, it'll change the way you listen to podcast. Welcome back while researching for this episode. My mind, instantly went back to one of the books that has had a tremendous impact on my own thinking, finding our way leadership for an uncertain Time. By Margaret Wheatley.

00:10:38If I cry, I opened up her book, just to kind of refresh myself and consider leadership in an uncertain world. I came across this quote.

00:10:52When the forms of an old culture are dying, the new culture is created by a few people who are not afraid to be insecure unquote.

00:11:24So many of us just want to understand what's going on in the world. We're still sitting with Marie Curie, wanting to understand, so that we don't have to live in fear as much.

00:12:20And the more we learn about things, the more fearful we become and then it turns into the spiral of wanting to understand, which really just increases our fear and her insecurities.

00:12:41Despite that fear, and despite that insecurity.

00:12:49Because it's so easy to just curl up in a ball or sit on social media all day.

00:12:58and if Promises by fear,

00:13:06It's really disruptive. We're seeing all of the old ways, falling apart, and being replaced by something new.

00:13:22Are watched All the President's Men, which is about the Nixon administration's Watergate and how everything kind of fell apart, and how these two reporters were talking to deepthroat and trying to navigate what the president has done. Why there was a cover-up and then what that means for the nation?

00:13:50Another film from the 70s that is, I don't even know how to describe it. But taxi driver is about a taxi driver who becomes obsessive and he's not sleeping and he turns to violence.

00:14:16But then also thinking about all of the things that have changed that would lead to these films being different like Taxi Driver, would it really be called taxi driver? Or would it be called Lyft driver or Uber driver? And would there be as much talking with like fellow taxi drivers as occurs throughout that film? Or would it be like sitting on your cell phone and talking to your buddies? And would that lead you to the same conclusions?

00:14:50As for all the presidents men, how much would have been done?

00:15:07And now, people are questioning the value of a library.

00:15:28See, the thing is the taxi business and the newspaper business have been completely disrupted.

00:15:40Back in the seventies. These were pillars of things that we were certain. We're going to exist forever.

00:15:54And when you live in a world, where

00:16:05It's so interesting because people talk about uncertainty and disruption all the time.

00:16:34It's all of these things.

00:16:51And the framing around two major questions, so I need to think about these questions. In terms of your life, your leadership and running your business. So the first question is

00:17:08How well can you predict the results of your actions?

00:17:25The second question is, how much do you know about the situation?

00:17:42And yet, if we live in this world with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.

00:17:57And how well can you predict the results of your actions? So these two things are very hard to do. So if you

00:18:15If you don't know much about the situation.

00:18:26If you know more about the situation.

00:18:36If you can predict the results of your actions, you're probably upset by the idea of but it's really complicated, very complex.

00:18:56So let's talk a minute about volatility and uncertainty complexity and ambiguity. I mean, what are these things really?

00:19:33So, there's a lot of volatility when it comes to.

00:19:43Economies change and that will affect potentially how well we can address the problems that we saw with our businesses and also affect how well we can address our goals.

00:19:59It means that we don't really know what our competitors are doing.

00:20:10Shopify and MailChimp got into a disagreement. And then it was really uncertain how people using Shopify would resolve their email marketing problems.

00:20:27Isn't working on something and you've heard rumors about a new product or they're teasing it out on social media. But until you know what that's about, you don't really know how to respond. That's very uncertain for you.

00:20:45Is about.

00:21:00And it's hard. I mean, I have a quote hanging above my desk that says.

00:21:10And that's so true. It's like well, I don't know.

00:21:21So ambiguity can be what if you're doing something that nobody else is doing.

00:21:29How the market is going to react to that?

00:21:35the complexity piece is where I like, I just totally

00:21:43Complexity is more about how everything fits together.

00:22:00Or don't fit together.

00:22:09So the example is say, you're doing business in lots of different places and every single place has different regulations. For example, you have an online business.

00:22:31And you may not have to charge people tax for services, but maybe you do for products. So then it's like, how do you deal with all of that complexity?

00:22:47And these things all fit together to let you know how well you can predict the results of your actions.

00:22:58I'm not telling you all this to freak you out or scare you. I'm telling you that this is the world that we live in now, and this is the world. We live in tomorrow. And after that.

00:23:24Now, we know that everybody else is dealing with the same amount of insecurity.

00:23:35We can be the ones creating the new culture.

00:23:48This world because now we know nobody knows what they're doing.

00:23:57See, that's how we can be leaders in an uncertain world when we realize everybody is in it with us and nobody knows. So you might as well do what you love.

00:24:14Because everybody is in the same boat as you.

00:24:23And it's called.

00:24:32I think he wrote the book because he got trapped in London after volcano blew and flights couldn't happen. So he was trying to figure out what he was going to do. I think it's pretty interesting. I haven't read this book, but I did find an article about it. When I started reading about volatility uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. And how Luca is is an acronym. That's used to talk about this world that we live in.

00:25:06I think this is so cute. For those of us who are leaders and small business owners. Volatility leads to Vision uncertainty yields to understanding complexity heels to clarity.

00:25:26So think about it like that. That's how you turn this around.

00:25:45The things you don't know about actually gives you space to be more agile.

00:26:13At least as an inasmuch, as you can understand it today. It makes it a lot more clear.

00:26:27Also lends support to what it is that you're trying to do.

00:26:42See, you all have Vision in a mission and goals to support achieving all of that.

00:27:01Because it's really easy to say why I'm going to do anything cuz everything's uncertain, but see now we've given you the power for how to do that. So, how do you reach your goals? It also seems like I'm advocating for you to be a panster meeting. Everything is so uncertain. I should just fly by the seat of my pants.

00:27:30I don't usually quote presidents and Generals but Dwight D. Eisenhower said something that is so true. So the answer for, how do you reach your goals is?

00:27:55Plans are useless planning is indispensable.

00:28:02It means that.

00:28:10That's useless. The reason why that's useless is your just following the plan without looking on the horizon and taking into consideration. What's actually going on in the world?

00:28:26Is actually really important because you've taken into consideration some of the things that might be happening on the horizon.

00:28:42achieving, your goals is comprised of

00:28:50That helped you get to where you want to be.

00:29:09And dividing your calendar out into Sprint today, like 90 days and measuring exactly what's happening. So that, you know,

00:29:24The possibly the most important thing.

00:29:31It's something that I learned in grad, school.

00:29:41Call destruction, flexibility.

00:30:00So you have room to navigate?

00:30:11And actually be more agile.

00:30:23And doing all of your projects, executing your projects are shorter timelines.

00:30:39Because what I want for you more than anything is for you to have the security to get out there and follow your dreams, and your goals and Achieve them.

00:30:55You are going to make the biggest difference in the world.

00:32:00We're ready to make a move. It just takes a few minutes at Jen mcfarland.com. Ready?