Quote:
I have a hard time keeping my frame of reality focused.
I've struggled with this a lot but am finally getting to a point where I can maintain focus. Here is what has worked for me:
Write stuff down on paper!
I don't care how much you think about stuff, talk it over, or post it online. I've been there and thought it worked and I was wrong. Writing it down on paper makes it real. The key from here is what you write. I decided on three separate journals:
1) Random thoughts that come up on what is happening in my life. This is a traditional journal and I write in it typically once every 2-5 days.
2) My list of life goals. The first two pages are the list of things I want to do in life. The rest is used for adding details. I write in this one very rarely but I read it every single day. This keeps my long-term focus on what I want to achieve in life.
3) My Success Journal. Every day I write out my success in improving my skill at social interactions in general and pickup specifically. I think about every little success I had and write it out even if overall the night was a failure, then I write out my ideas for improving on my mistakes. I underline those ideas so I can read through them later.
I found writing all this down and analyzing it keeps my long-term focus absolutely solid. This long-term focus flows down to maintaining frame when I'm out practicing for two reasons. First, it provides an outlet for what happens so that I don't get lost in past failures while I'm trying to focus on what is happening now and maintaining my frame. Second, it keeps me focused on what I need to work on instead of trying to do everything at once (walk before you run).
All this keeps me living in the present instead of dwelling on the past and worrying about the future, which in turn keeps me in frame. I am far less likely to think about a failure because I know I will be learning from it in the morning. I am far less likely to worry about the outcome because I have specific issues I know I am working on overcoming and the night will be a success if I make any improvement on those issues even if I don't close.