“Un-distracted” in an Age of Wild Assaults

“To write a great book, you must first become the book.”

Naval Ravikant

Bob Goff becomes the books he writes. At least, he lives the book before he writes it.

Undistracted:

Capture Your Purpose

Rediscover Your Joy

Somehow, Bob freed himself from distractions in his own life to write a book that he hopes will help readers capture their own purpose and joy.

Bob oozes authenticity from an oversized personality that spills onto the pages of the books he has written. Going. Blowing. Doing.

“When it comes to the words we use, we’re never shooting blanks.”

Bob Goff

Bob wants to help other people realize the fullest potential in their lives. He coaches and cheers from the sidelines to reach as many people as he can touch using words.

Capturing My Attention

In the beginning of his book, Bob compares distractions to a thousand paper cuts. OUCH!

As a member of the book’s “launch team,” before the March 1 release date, I purchased and read an advance copy of Un-distracted––Capture Your Purpose/Rediscover Your Joy. (available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other book retailers.)

In Bob’s earlier books, readers meet a fun-loving Enneagram 7 with enough enthusiasm to spill his half-full glass of optimism on Everybody Always. Living Water refills keep him going because Love Does.

Bob sees that you and I live distracted lives. Ever-increasingly distracted, you and I can find ourselves spending (exchanging? or even squandering?) our most valued resource––TIME––looking for love in all the wrong places.

The Pursuit of Happiness

One exercise Bob suggested: use a paper plate to make a pie chart to track how you spend your time. Goal: Make new routines. Form new habits.

Bob writes, “I want this book to nudge you in the direction of who you are becoming rather than leave you wrapped around the axle of who you have been.”

In other words, STOP. LOOK. LISTEN.

Pay attention to your life.

“Distraction can capture your calendar and hijack your happiness.”

Do Hard Things

“Doing things that matter doesn’t mean just doing things that are easy.”

Pointing to the Power behind living beyond mistakes, Bob discusses improving relationships, getting rid of obstacles to our own success, and breaking away from people who are not “safe.”

“The clarity of purpose, undistracted energy, selfless love, and unselfish pursuits you bring to the world will be your legacy.”

Bob Tells Stories

Near the end of the book, he says, “These are remnants of stories . . . ” Put together, these make a quilt that covers countries and continents. Bob’s stories will amaze.

I force myself to read beyond Bob’s Dream Big visions to consider my own small life and my small dreams without comparing my life to his. He writes,

“This is not how life has to look for you if you aren’t wired this way.”

In a chapter titled “Pinocchio’s Nose,” Bob says, “When you let your real self out, you will attract the people who like how you uniquely live and see the world. Those are the ones who long for a real relations with a person like you, not a relationship with a version of you that doesn’t really exist” (p.134).

Did you catch that? “. . . a version of you that doesn’t really exist?”

Does that include too much time worrying about someone else’s opinion of how you or I live our one life? Or hustling for approval? Or stalled because of previous mistakes?

“Distraction robs us of the ability to both live in the moment and discern what lasts . . . looking for things that last is always a good long-term play”

“What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. . .

The words to this hymn came to me as I considered writing about Bob’s new book.

This book, more than any of the previous books Bob has written, describes his own faith in Jesus.

“Look for virtues, not flaws, in the people around you and you will find a beautiful path forward in your life.”

He talks about finishing the work God gave each of us to do, the way Jesus said He had finished the work His Father had given him.

“Following Jesus means being constantly misunderstood. Sure it hurts. . . . You don’t need thicker skin; you need more awareness and perspective and an unwavering sense of purpose. . . “If we learn truth without acting on it, we turn a Savior into a mere teacher.”

Adventure Awaits

Bob Goff is a real life LIFE coach who reminds everyone that you have permission to live your best life.

In other books by Bob Goff, Love Does, Everybody Always and Dream Big, Bob has practiced what he preaches and now coaches life participants––not the spectators of other people’s lives.

“There’s lots of people who are full of opinions but parched in their own lives because they simply aren’t thirsty anymore. . . Be among the thirsty ones . . . Don’t just know the Scriptures but delight in the freedom they can bring you if you are willing. As Sweet Maria [Bob’s wife of 34 years] tells me all the time: Keep your eyes on your own paper.”

For thirsty readers prepared to live “off script,” Bob offers a tall drink of water.