Hello and welcome to Bri Books! In today’s episode, we’re talking about “Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence” by Daniel Goleman. Meet Paulana Lamonier, a multimedia journalist who loves to tell compelling stories.

• 2:05 - How I discovered “Focus” in a bookshop in Taipei (here’s an epi I recorded about travels to Asia.)

• 2:45 - When I finished the book on the flight, I didn’t feel bad about myself. I didn’t feel like, “I suck at focusing and this book confirmed it.” It was more, here are tools and different ways to think of focus. Don’t think of it as a single moment—it’s a muscle. It takes practice. You have to build up the muscle of focusing.”
• 3:37 - Paulana’s main takeaways from “Focus”: The importance of self-awareness
• 4:04 - How P. Diddy and Beyonce epitomize focus as a driver of excellence. “Their success isn’t built on breaking anyone down, but on edifying, improving, getting better, and focusing.”
• 4:30 - What Paulana has learned about focus from studying culture makers and how Beyonce and Diddy have mastered marrying self-awareness and focus...and how we can, too.
• 5:55 - “When you break down focus, it’s determination. Hard work. Discipline. Like you mentioned earlier, focus is a muscle. Yes, you’ll keep exercising and doing it. When you’re sore or tired of doing something, the muscle is expanding and getting bigger. Soreness is weakness leaving the body. So, when you’re feeling like you’re focusing on something, there’s gonna be times when you’ll be tired, but you have to push through that.”
• 6:40 – Daniel Goleman on focus and practice: “When practice occurs while we are focusing elsewhere the brain doesn’t rewire the necessary circuitry for that routine. Those who browse online while working out will never reach the top ranks. Paying full attention seems to boost the mind’s processing speed, strengthens synaptic connections, and expands/ creates neural networks for what we are practicing.”
• 7:39 – Goleman says, “You don’t get benefits from mechanical repetition, but by adjusting execution over and over, tweaking the system by pushing and allowing for errors at first as you increase the limit.”
• 8:26 – Let’s discuss #ComplexPleaseHirePaulana. “Complex” isn’t just a magazine. It’s a media company that focuses on culture—news, pop culture, entertainment, tech. They’re all about the culture. They were looking for anchors.
• 9:45 - Paulana lets us inside the thought process that led her to create #ComplexPleaseHirePaulana--and what came next.
• 10:15 - I’d seen that “Complex” had retweeted a man who wanted to be an intern for Chance the Rapper. His name is Hopsey. He created a website called Chancehirehopsey.com.
• 11:00 -  I added a few gifs in there (I wanted website to show my creativity and abilities and what I can bring to the table) to show I’m multifaceted and can entertain people.
• 11:15 - I bought the domain—didn’t have much money left, I had $20 to my name —I went to work, and within a week’s time I got the website done. I put a link to tweet for friends to send out.
• 11:35 - Long story short I ended up not getting the job, I felt like it was to prove to myself that, whatever you do just go 100%. It got me in the doors and it got me the audition, but it is what it is. I know that what’s for me is for me.
• 11:50 – I love what you just said! It went beyond focus as an idea/ mental state, and into focus helping you create something tangible. I think everything you’re talking about is the hard work element. That focus is a DRIVER of excellence—it’s not the be-all-end-all, but it’s the fuel you have to put into your brain and body. You put in that fuel. You focused on a goal, went all out, and finished strong. You did everything that YOU could. But you produced something out of your focus.
• 12:45 – You put yourself out there, and you put your focus out there.
• 12:40 – Paulana, the last thing I want to talk to you about tonight is hard work. For two whom college and the college years are fairly close in the rearview—we were talking before that we were in school for 18 out of 22 years, there’s a reward system of hard work wired in our brains that says, “Do the hard work, get a good job, move onto the next level.” And once you enter the professional world…
• 13:15 – Let’s talk about how we learned to work hard, even if hard work doesn’t get us gold stars.
• 13:25 – With hard work, you’ve got to accept disappointments but not dwell in it. Say, I’m gonna deal with it, but make sure you move past it. As women, we dwell in rejection and beat ourselves up. That’s what happened to me with the Compel thing—I went so hard and did it publicly! I went all out, and the fact that they told me no was like a door that shut in my face publically.
• 14:14 – But this is where the discipline comes into play. Plan A didn’t work out, what for plan B, plan C, so the train is still going on and the dream is still happening.
• 14:30 – And another thing with the site, I wanted to people that even if complex didn’t hire me, I’m gonna get a job before the end of the year. God didn’t give me this idea and I didn’t create this website for me to stay broke. Someone’s got to acknowledge that. They may not do it this month, but it’s gonna happen.
• 15:00 – You’ve gotta be so good. That’s what determines who you are—after you get rejected. That shows who you are as an individual—how do you cope with rejection and loss? Are you going to let that situation change who you are as an individual? Are you going to develop it? What do you do? How will this work out, and this is what I’m gonna do to move forward.
• 15:39 – Paulana thanks for joining me in my studio/ bedroom on this Friday night! You could be anywhere, but you’ve spent the last hour with me.

Paulana’s #bribooks: “Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life” by Ruth Soukup

Paulana on Twitter - @itspaulana

Paulana on Instagram - @itspaulana

ComplexPleaseHirePaulana.com

If you’re interested in my post-college story, I want to let you know I’m sharing all of my tips on the post-college job search, nailing informational interviews, and more on the Bri Books Podcast Newsletter.

@BriBooksPod - Instagram

@BriBooksPod - Twitter

What are you reading?! Show and tell using #bribooks

If you’re interested in my post-college story, I want to let you know I’m sharing all of my tips on the post-college job search, nailing informational interviews, and more on the Bri Books Podcast Newsletter.

@BriBooksPod - Instagram

@BriBooksPod - Twitter

What are you reading?! Show and tell using #bribooks

• 0:00-0:15 - Hello and welcome to BrI Books podcast. Today’s episode is all about “Get Your Sh*t Together: How To Stop Worrying About What You Should Do So You Can Finish What You Need to Do and Start Doing What You Want to Do” by Sarah Knight.
• 00:22 - I’m so happy to be back in front of the mic. It’s October 1. Hello,  Q4! It feels like just yesterday we were brushing off the cold and snow in January. Andhere we are staring autumn in the face.
• 00:45 - I’m thrilled to be in front of my mic today. I had a plan for an upcoming episode, but I figured we’d do a #unplugged session instead. I recently completed the book, and I’m positive Knight has slipped into our home and read our imessages, because this book is strumming my pain with its...pages.
• 1:30 - I first encountered “Get Your Sh*t Together” in early 2017. The book existed on the periphery of my reading list for most of the year. I’d heard about Knight’s bestseller, “The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving A F*ck.
• 2:20 - Finishing “Get Your Shit Together” left me motivated but also feeling internally empowered. I realized I have all the tools necessary to use the time, skills and energy I have in the most effective and vibrant way possible.
• 2:45 - Here’s the plan for this episode. First, we’re going to talk about what “getting your sh*t together” actually means. I find myself muttering it to myself under my breath when I’m shuffling through papers or search an email inbox. I think, “Gosh Brionna, pull it together. Wrangle your life up, because it’s out of control.”
• 3:10 - Reading this book helped me realize my “sh*t” didn't come undone in one day, so I can't expect to put it all back together in one day. Being an “adult” means strategizing, focusing on and committing to your goals. There’s a lot of mental clutter surrounding who we think we are, and the goals we ~think~ we should be setting.
• 4:00 - Sarah breaks down in “Get Your Sh*t Together” why it’s so important to STRATEGIZE, FOCUS, and COMMIT to goals tailor-made for YOU.
• 4:10 - Next, I’ll talk about my own struggles with getting my “sh*t” together, and how I’m applying new techniques from the book.
• 4:38 - First there’s strategizing: setting a goal and making a plan to achieve it in a series of chunks.
• 4:58 - This is where things get important. If you’re like me, you have a goal. Say the goal is to “Update my Linkedin”--a vague yet important task.  Instead, we getting paralyzed by procrastination and anxiety because of all the things swirling in your head (headshots, resume, connect with everyone, send out emails, etc.) See how it’s easy to psych yourself out? That’s why it’s so important to break goals into series of CHUNKS. Pick a chunk, and then focus.
• 5:55 - Focus is simply intentionally setting aside time to complete a chunk or task. This is an aspect of the professional world I’ve found myself struggling with--budgeting and allocating time realistically. I Tend to under budget those sorts of things can be fixed by understanding the series of chunks that go into task, and setting aside time to complete each chunk. If you’re like me, when you don't ocs you judge yourself and procrastinate and wonder why you ever set goal. Now time for third step. Commit.
• 7:00 - Reading “Get Your Shit Together” brought me back to a conversation hosted by Vinterlude. Vinterlude is a collection of women who host bespoke events for black women and black vendors as a method of modern political activism. I was invited by Depth and Candor host Hiwote Getaneh.
• 7:50 - At the end of the day, the main tenet is that practice is just practice. The point isn't mastery at the end of the session. It’s to strategize, focus, and commit on movement and improvement.
• 8:15 - I’ve shared my struggles with you, now i'm gonna tell you how i’m trying to get my shit together to finish the year strong. Let me know what you’re up to and how you’re doing the same. Use #brit books @bribookspod. Subscribe to Bri Books Podcast Newsletter.
• 8:52 - Brionna’s Q4 2017 theme:“Streamline, Strengthen, Fundamentals and Foundation.”
• 9:20 - “Strea: the theme is the streamline and strengthen fundamentals of my foundation.
• • Professionally, that means reading industry based books and finishing an online course
  • Personally, it means creating a sustainable volunteer schedule
  • As for the Bri Books community, my Q4 goal means staying disciplined and building processes into the Bri Books podcast foundation.
• 10:10 - The third stage is to COMMIT to set goals. I’ll be first to admit I struggle with discipline and telling myself, “no.” I’m Queen of #TreatYoSelf. But as part of streamlining and strengthening fundamentals and foundation, I’m learning that it’s not about how I feel. My procrastination may be a sign of discomfort, and discomfort comes with growth. So, instead of trying to return to a state of comfort (“Game of Thrones” marathon re-watches, anyone?!!) and when I find myself procrastinating, I say i'm not afraid of hard work. Also there’s no such thing as too hard, it’s just degrees of difficulty along an achievable continuum of goals.”
• 11:23 - Thank you for listening to this episode it was so fun doing this unplugged top of the dome style episode. Tell me what you're reading. If you’ve already read gyst, tag me using #bribooks. Of course we're at bribookspod on instagram, twitter, facebook. Bribookspod.com is where this stuff lives. I really am so grateful everyone here is listening. Have an amazing start to October 2017. Let’s get it!