Ep. 371: Areas of Focus Horizon  🔗 **Source:** [Ep. 371: Areas of Focus Horizon](https://share.snipd.com/episode/da300ab6-258e-454d-8e71-762a1976f7eb) ## Highlights - **Areas Of Focus Are Ongoing Outcome Statements** - Areas of focus are ongoing outcome-like statements distinct from next actions and projects because they represent standards you maintain over time. - Ana Maria explains they function as checklists of roles, interests, and accountabilities that guide what outcomes you manifest later. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez As you all know, our model for the horizons of focus, it's made of the ground level and then horizon one projects, horizon two areas of focus and accountability. Horizon three goals and objectives, horizon four vision backslash strategy, and then horizon five purpose backslash principles we have six horizons in in total that doesn't mean That are there only six horizons period they're probably more if you really think about of the in-betweens perhaps but these six horizons are what we have identified to help frame the Conversation, to help identify where tensions belong, to help identify where we have our attention, to help identify, you know, where outcomes belong to. And I'm going to take a risk here and try to help you begin to understand perhaps outcome in maybe in a more stretched way. Up until now, most likely you've heard us teach getting things done by saying what's your desired outcome as in what's your project title or if you were to give me your finish line so that We know how to title your project I need you to think about and let me know what's your desired outcome in other words when do you know you're done but if you really think about it when we're Looking at populating any one of these horizons from ground to five, and not that we're saying you have to populate them all, neither are we saying how much volume there has to be at any Level. People. But if you think about it, everything that you are organizing into any one of these levels are outcomes. It's more a matter of how far in time will they become done, if that's right English, I'm sorry, or how far in time will I be manifesting this outcome, right? So call mom to coordinate dinner reservations for the week of August 22nd when I'm visiting her in Spain. It is a next action, most likely organized on my calls list, but it's an outcome statement. Like I can see myself doing right, doing that, correct? Same is true with projects. There are outcome statements. You can see yourself, you know, when you get to that place and see yourself there that you're done and you can check it off. Different with areas of focus and accountability. So I'm going to pause there for a moment. But if you, and I'm going to jump over to horizon three, as well as horizon four. So I'm going to, I'm going to teach both simultaneously. You also organize outcomes at any one of these two, three or four, because there are outcomes that I, I've committed to completing anywhere from a year or two or three from now or three, Four or five years from now. ([Time 0:01:16](https://share.snipd.com/snip/1e55394c-9e6c-4846-8e16-95ce80d49413)) - **Use Areas Of Focus To Validate Actions** - Use your Areas of Focus as a checklist to confirm whether projects and next actions align with your commitments. - Ana Maria recommends asking “why” repeatedly (the why test) to trace an action back to its project and then to its area of focus. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez And there may be times when you review this list or this checklist and you may be, yeah, I'm up to standard. I'm good to go. I got nothing to do here. It's not triggering, like John was saying earlier today, it's not triggering a project to add to my system. It's not triggering an action to add to my system or goals or visions or what have you. You're good. And there may be times where, yes, it would trigger. It's necessary because somehow we didn't pay attention to that area of focus and accountability. Or, you know, it's a great list to have if you're changing jobs and somehow you need to know there's succession and there's a new person that's going to do your job. And it's great for you to tell them, hey, by the way, here's the job that I did. Here are my areas of focus and accountability. This is what that means kind of thing. So it has many applications and many uses. John Forrester I find also that speaking of the job, it can be something that helps you decide when it's time to look for the new job. I've had that happen at least twice that I can recall where I had my areas of focus and I looked at those and went, hmm, something's not in alignment with my professional life. And it was a clue that it was time for me to move into a new job. So you can work it both ways. Sometimes it's to transition to someone else. Sometimes it's just transition yourself. Ana Maria Gonzalez Yeah, yeah. And C, which John and I spoke about in preparation, it's also a great list to kind of help you confirm, right? You know, is what I have on, let's use my next actions list, what I ought to have or what I need to have given my areas of focus and accountability? I mean, back a couple of years ago, when we were teaching level one fundamentals, we had an activity where we had people test the why, and we call it the why test. Like kind of go back to each one of your actions on your list and ask yourself why, because, and kind of up to five times sort of, sort of it work, and you probably got the answer before five Times, but it was looking for alignment. Well, I have this action on my list because it belongs to this project. Why? Well, I have this action on my list because it belongs to this project, because I have this area of focus and accountability. ([Time 0:10:02](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b1f55b0c-954a-4594-8999-8a9967ccef87)) - **Schedule A Monthly Areas Of Focus Review** - Review Areas of Focus monthly by including one monthly check within your weekly review routine. - John and Ana Maria suggest a short 10–15 minute monthly pass to catch life changes (job, family, health) that require updating areas. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez We never say that because it's monthly, you're going to do a daily. We think maybe it's an overkill, but we suggest monthly. John Forrester And that's simply because things can change in any of those areas of focus. I mean, we all have lots of examples of things that have changed with family members, health, finances, job, lots of things can move around. So having a kind of a recalibration of those at least once a month could be very helpful for you. Ana Maria Gonzalez And also sometimes they also change because I think to what, I just read it very quickly, Doug, but you know, the daily volume or the, you know, the daily noise or however we want to refer To that, what we end up kind of clarifying and organizing at the ground level, you know, may start taking it as a complete different direction than what we're supposed, than the direction That we're supposed to be taking given areas of focus and accountability. Well, if that's true, then I am of the mind of hey then by default you're you're actually accepting a new area of focus and accountability but by de facto right because now you you have Been completing actions and have been completing projects so perhaps it's not so much going on the wrong direction perhaps it's updating my areas of focus and accountability so that It really then um represents my current reality which is there's this new thing that by de facto i've been kind of doing yes if you're taking action on some area of focus that isn't listed John Forrester Yet, then the simplest way to realign could be add that to your areas of focus so that what is on your ground level and projects matches what's on horizon too. ([Time 0:18:30](https://share.snipd.com/snip/43cc536d-58f4-4aa2-b11d-d9409e8e154c)) - **Pets List Showed A Stale Areas Of Focus** - Ana Maria discovered her Areas of Focus list still listed deceased pets and lacked new ones, which revealed the list needed updating. - She corrected the list immediately, illustrating how infrequent reviews let reality drift from the list. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez The other day I was looking, John, and I have an area of focus and accountability um pets and i was like okay half these pets are dead i don't have the new pets added onto the list i'm like I think it's an update uh oh i laughed at myself because i was like you know pets are always you know i i they are in air focus on accountability but I I I had listed their names and now it was John Forrester Like these are not the pets right if you just have pets it doesn't need to be updated but if it's very specific and one of those pets was getting older as Ana Maria and I both know pets get Older and things change These ones were dead. Ana Maria Gonzalez And I had new ones. And I did have the new ones there. And I still had the dead ones there. So it was a little crazy list. So I updated. John Forrester Got it. Yeah. ([Time 0:27:53](https://share.snipd.com/snip/844be107-2156-4adf-ac02-93e3cca5c02e)) - **Runway Mode Means You Need Higher Horizon Checks** - Operating in project/runway mode is normal because day-to-day work happens at the ground level, but unresolved higher-horizon reviews cause misalignment. - Ana Maria warns regular weekly and monthly reviews reduce that distress by reconnecting daily work to broader commitments. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez Do you now are telling me that I also have to do a monthly review? No, I'm just saying that one of those reviews, make sure you go even one horizon higher, your areas of focus and accountability. So yeah, of course, John, there's nothing wrong with, you know, operating or functioning or working off from a project mode. But I don't know that that to be true for all or applicable to all. What I do know is that as we're doing our, in continuing to do our weekly review, we won't be saying is, oh, I'm always working off my runway. Well, of course, that's the level that we work off from. Life happens at the runway or at the ground level, new vocabulary. So there should be no conflict with that because we don't, as you know, guys, we like to say, you don't ever do projects. You have projects. So there should be no stress within you in relationship to working off the ground level. That's where work gets done. That's where life happens. Everything else, it's the future or some vision or some dream or some idea about something that you want to manifest. ([Time 0:31:33](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c01cd860-ecd3-4991-895a-c27c5434e0c6)) - **Make Areas Of Focus Match Your Real Agreements** - Record as many Areas of Focus as agreements you actually hold, not an arbitrary target; trim or merge items that duplicate or dilute focus. - John and Ana Maria suggest ~10–14 total (personal+professional) as a practical average, adjust to your context. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez Remember, GTD is really, you know, at a very deep level or basic level, however you want to define that. It's about identifying agreements. It's about managing effectively your agreements. What we're teaching you is to manage effectively your agreement. So what agreements have you made? How many areas have you said yes to, or you haven't said no to? John Forrester And then we get on to quantifying it. This is definitely an average. Right. Ana Maria Gonzalez On average, you can have anywhere from five to seven on personal and professional, anywhere from four to eight. There's no perfect number. But if I was coaching you and you show me, well, I have 20 areas of focus and accountability on both, I may say, well, let's take a deeper look because maybe we're duplicating some, maybe We're confusing one thing with the other. So still it's, it's, it's, it's useful, I think to have some sense of number of, you know, kind of what, what, what do they were able to manage? To be honest, I don't know that if it's right or wrong, it's more like how things do you want to spread yourself? You know what I mean? Like, yeah. John Forrester And if you have, if you have, so if you add these numbers up, you, we come up with something like 10 to 14 areas altogether. Instead, it could be that you've got those subdivided a little more, you know, a little smaller than you need to. ([Time 0:34:50](https://share.snipd.com/snip/12019da4-9415-40b0-a473-710987e1d689)) - **Areas Of Focus Work As A Filter For Right Work** - Areas of Focus act as a filter to judge whether the projects and actions you crank through are the right ones. - John notes they help reveal if work is 'the latest and loudest' rather than truly yours or aligned. Transcript: John Forrester So that's something that the areas of focus can really help you with. You can use it as a filter to look at your ground level and your projects and go, well, yeah, those are clearly defined actions and projects. But are they the right actions and projects? And right, of course, is entirely up to you. Yeah, or if you just want to ask yourself, or do they belong to me? Ana Maria Gonzalez If you don't want to have, you know, the right or wrong connotation, it's like, well, yes, they're correctly defined, I see a desired outcome, and yes, their next action is a physical Visible activity, but are they mine? ([Time 0:39:47](https://share.snipd.com/snip/3b690b03-0312-4bc5-b2b9-101f5088d8ef))