3 tips for focusing on when you are captivated

When are you captivated? What are the things that fascinate you? What are the activities that grab your curiosity and won’t let you go? Captivation is one of the gateways to being able to ‘flow’ and do fulfilling work. Let’s explore how you can follow these steps in your own way.

* You can focus on what you find captivating.

Where does this happen for you? You may be painting, gardening, building, bird-watching, cooking, designing, fixing problems, studying astronomy, encouraging people, trading or whatever. Sometimes these interests remain a pastime, sometimes they evolve into a profession.

“As a child I was fascinating by building things,” said one architect. “But I did not like Lego or kits that asked you to ‘paint by numbers’. My style was to invent different kinds of tree-houses, go-karts or whatever. I always liked to re-invent the world, which is what I do now. Certainly I must work hard to find clients who will pay for different kinds of houses – but it seems to be a growing market.”

Let’s explore what you find fascinating. First, describe the things that you find captivating. Second, focus on one of these activities that you want to spend more time pursuing. Try completing the following sentences.

The things I find captivating are:

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Looking at these things, the specific activity I want to focus on is:

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* You can be creative.

Sometimes you may simply immerse yourself in this activity. Sometimes you also want to do something ‘creative’ – be it to produce a painting, a meal, an article or whatever. Keeping healthy calls for getting the right balance between ‘consuming’ and ‘creating’ – between ‘taking-in’ and ‘giving-out’. Whilst it is vital to gather new stimuli, it is important to do something with the information. This does not have to be immense; it can be something relatively ‘small’. The key is to ‘give’ something to people, to the world or to the field you find enthralling. So are there any ways you would like be creative in your chosen activity? If so, try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I would like to do to be creative in the activity I find captivating are:

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* You can get concrete results.

People feel satisfied when seeing a finished product- but this is where you may need to be creative. Sometimes the ‘concrete result’ is very tangible, sometimes it is more elusive. If you love encouraging people, for example, do not link your own self-esteem to whether or not they succeed – otherwise you become a hostage to fortune. You can only do your best – it is then up to them whether or not they use what you offer. Some activities lend themselves to producing tangible results. You may love cooking a meal, drawing a picture, creating a model, building a house or whatever. Bearing these ideas in mind, try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to produce concrete results in the activity I find captivating are:

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The eternal themes remain. When are you captivated? How can you be creative in this activity? What can you do to produce concrete results? The answers often provide the keys to following your flow and doing fulfilling work.