Tomorrow: Focus Academy (full details)

Wohoo! Enrollment for the all-new [Focus Course Academy]( opens up in 24 hours... A huge thanks and welcome to all of you who have signed up for the waitlist. I have seen first hand how impactful the Focus Course is. Which is why it's so exciting to see folks getting ready to join us for this upcoming cohort. And I would LOVE to see you join us, too. And just yesterday I got an email from a past alumni who is going to send his company's entire leadership team through the Academy. I'm sure you've got questions about the logistics of Academy. So, below, I have listed out the full curriculum and schedule so you can know EXACTLY what to expect from Academy when you sign up to join us. You can't put together a puzzle if you're missing one or more of the pieces. Likewise... A good system will produce something that is greater than the sum of its parts. Yes, you are probably already be familiar with one or more of the components of a focused life: Your vision and values, goals, strategy, habits, time management, margin, and productivity. These individual components are each valuable. But... They are all part of an overall system. [If you have one without the others, then the whole is incomplete](. This is what makes Focus Course Academy so unique and beneficial: You get THE WHOLE SYSTEM. And you will learn how to incorporate all of it into your normal everyday life ([just ask David]( or [Andy](). * * * Anyway. With that said, let's dive into the specifics... Themes, Topics, and Unique Elements of Focus Academy Here is an unordered list of the themes you will discover and unpack during your Academy Cohort. Any one of these topics could easily stand alone as a 90-minute workshop if not a whole book or course for that matter. And yet we've distilled them down into actionable and practical nuggets so that you can understand what it is and fully implement it into your daily life to get the full benefits. - Margin: How to shift from overloaded to breathing. The necessity of breathing room and margin, and the only two approaches that work to restore it. - The 5 Components of a Focused Life: The overarching framework of The Focus Course. - The 4-Focus Method: My simple flywheel that I use to stay perpetually focused and productive in every area of life — for big projects and areas of responsibility, all the way down down to the small tasks each day. - Schedule-Value Fit and how to spend your time on more of the right things more often. - The 8 Laws of Focus and how to use them maintain your clarity and your direction. - What motivates you: balancing the roles in your life with your core values; drafting out your life's mission. - The Ownership Matrix: A tool that helps you cut back on the tasks and activities that are pulling you away from the more important things so you can eliminate or delegate your low-level tasks, and double down on the important things that only you can do. - Personal Integrity: The critical ability everyone needs in order to keep commitments to themselves and follow through with their goals and routines. - Success Strategies: How is it that focused people get (most of) the right things done day after day (most of the time)? (Hint: We don't get it perfect every day all the time. But we have a way to stay on track, even when we lose motivation or have a bad week.) - A simple task and time management approach that keeps you on track and can work with any type of app, tool, or schedule. - Cornerstone Habits and the connection between your big, desired outcomes and your small, daily actions. * * * "Shawn’s writing on focus is well thought through and well crafted." — Cal Newport, Best Selling Author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism * * * The Academy Curriculum Below is an overview of the main sections within Academy. I will personally be leading you through these sections live, each Monday, starting September 20. We will cover two sections each week. 1: The Components of a Focused Life The whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. These five components make up the core framework inside Focus Course Academy. You will discover what each component is, how they tie together, and then how to use them as a tool for both diagnosing and solving problems related to your habits, schedule, tasks, goals, and motivation. 2: Your Life's Mission Over the years, we've developed a unique and powerful approach to crafting your life's mission. Instead of leaving you with a blank sheet of paper and expecting you to pull something out of the air, we have a systematic template that helps you easily identify the most important areas and then funnel that into your own unique statement. From there, you get to refine and edit. 3: The Laws of Focus The primary expressions of focus in your life is twofold: (1) the attainment of focus in the form of a clear vision and priorities; and (2) the skill of focus in the form of your ability to direct your attention on to that which matters. As such, there are 8 Laws of Focus which you need to know and use in order to get and stay clear, and also to follow through on doing the important work that matters. 4: Goal Setting (Big and Small) You will identify life goals for each of the 6 major areas of your life and discover how your small actions tie in to the larger desired outcomes you have. 5: Your Habits Life is almost entirely made up of small, usually-inconsequential choices and moments each day. The little things we do (and don’t do) are what paint the picture of our life. If you want a different life, make a small change to something and stick with it. As F.M. Alexander says, "We do not decide our future. We decide our habits, and our habits decide our future." 6: Time Management and Your Ideal Schedule Managing your time is unto the living of your life. How you spend your time is, quite literally, how you are living our life. In this section on time ownership, elimination, delegation, and your ideal schedule we will discover how to reduce your commitments and priorities and how to establish time in your schedule for doing the things that you value and that only you can do. 7: Overcoming the Obstacles Any great endeavor will elicit resistance. No doubt you have set out on a goal before, only to be derailed at some point. We've identified 7 primary areas of resistance, what they are, and how you can overcome them so as not to get derailed. 8: A Life With Margin Margin is a necessary component of a focused life. Do you have the breathing room, health, and strength you need in order to lean into each area of your life? Margin exists for relationships and thus it enables you to be present for your most important roles and responsibilities in life. A life without margin is a life on the edge of burnout. 9: Your Focus Declaration I don't want to spoil anything. But this is something that I've never seen anyone else do. As you go through the Academy, you are going to be exploding with ideas, possibilities, dreams, and energy! It's a very fun and exciting process. BUT.... if you try to do it all right away, then you will not get the results you want. You will have to simplify and focus. Not only do we help you in this final step of the journey, but the whole process is amazing and unique... you are going to love it. Bonus: Pro Workshops with Special Guests and Q&A A handful of brilliant and clever folks are also going to be hosting some special guest workshops during the Academy along with times for Q&A. - [Marie Poulin](: Connecting your goals and your systems - [David Sparks](: Practical productivity, tips and tricks - [Sarah K. Peck](: Do Half (how to work better by doing less) - [Havilah Cunnington](: Better boundaries in work and life * * * “This was completely life changing.” — Jennifer N. * * * The Schedule Academy is a 4-week, live-online program. As a "cohort" it means everyone who signs up will go through the material together at the same time, with yours truly as your host. Your minimum commitment is roughly 2.5 hours per week. But, there is much more available if you want... We will have something available every day of the week for those who want to extract the most value and get the deepest change in the least amount of time. At a minimum, you will need to (a) join us for the Monday training (or catch the replay); and (b) fill out the pages in your Academy Workbook. All of which can be done in about 2.5 hours per week. - Monday: The primary, live training call. - Tuesday: Study hall sessions for the workbook material. - Wednesday: Pro Workshops with Q&A - Thursday: small-group masterminds - Friday: All-hands Q&A Most of the sessions will all take place at 3pm Eastern. And yes, everything will be recorded and you'll have access to all the replays even after the Academy wraps up. * * * "Just as I realized that I needed to rebalance things, I got the opportunity to take The Focus Course. It couldn’t have come at a better time, and I couldn’t be happier with the results it produced in my life." — John Voorhees, Managing Editor at MacStories * * * What to Expect The actual "end result" of academy is different for everyone. We've had alumni who paid of $18,000 in debt within a few months; others who wrote a book; others who completely changed their career; and many who simply got back some much-needed breathing room and clarity. Academy will help you to [uncomplicate things and get out of your own way](. We believe that your daily habits and actions should be directly tied to your big life goals and values. We will show you exactly how to make that happen. If you've ever tried a new goal or habit, only to fall flat — we get it. We know why that happens. And we've developed a simple approach that minimizes your chances of going through Academy only to end up back where you started. * * * Sounds awesome, right? That's because it is. It truly, truly is. Some of our past beta members include: business owners, managers, engineers, pastors, educators, stay-at-home moms and dads, college grads, freelancers and creators, coaches, lawyers, retirees, accountants, developers, and more. If you want to join me and the rest of the community of amazing folks who are going to be doing the Focus Academy this fall, then tomorrow morning you'll be able to [sign up]( and save your spot. Enrollment opens up September 1st, and Academy begins the week of September 15. — Shawn To unsubscribe, click [here](. Blanc Media, 714 Main St., Grandview, MO 64030, United States