A TV pundit commented that peoples’ fixation on the stock market was neither helpful nor healthy. (President Obama tried to explain away the importance of the stock market by likening it to a “trailing political poll.” Uhm, sure….or maybe it is an indicator, among other things, of the market’s confidence in the future.)
An obsessive fixation on anything is rarely if ever helpful. Leaders stay focused on what is important, but they don’t fixate.
Here’s why:
1. Fixation assumes that the object of its attention is the singular most important consideration.
2. Fixation keeps us from looking at other important information and indicators.
3. Fixation dwells on what is happening; focus is about what needs to be done. None of us control the movement of the stock market; we all choose how we invest.
4. Fixation usually becomes demoralizing. Obsessing about things you can’t control drains us of the energy necessary for appropriate action.
Are you focused or fixated?
