Faith and Focus: Staying Committed in a Distracted World
Episode Summary
What’s the #1 tactic the enemy uses when he can’t defeat you? Distraction. In this episode, Jim explores why distractions are more than just lost time—they rob you of clarity, creativity, and calling. From the “rocking chair effect” of busyness that feels like progress but goes nowhere, to perfectionism and the fear of being seen, Jim unpacks both the psychological and spiritual sides of distraction. Anchored in Hebrews 12 and Ephesians 5, this conversation will challenge you to refocus, lay down your shiny objects, and take one step closer to your God-given mission.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
[01:00] Why distraction spirals so quickly for creators.
[02:00] The spiritual component: distraction as a weapon of the enemy.
[03:00] The hidden costs of distraction—time and creativity.
[05:00] The story of Peter on the water (Hebrews 12) and how quickly focus slips.
[06:00] How trauma and avoidance fuel distraction, and the “rocking chair effect.”
[09:00] Shiny object syndrome and why unfinished callings drain us.
[14:00] Safe zones vs courage zones: busy but not brave.
[15:00] The enemy’s tactic of distraction (Ephesians 5).
[16:00] A challenge to name your shiny objects, lay them down, and refocus on your true calling.
Key Takeaways & Memorable Quotes
- “If the devil can’t defeat you, he’ll distract you.”
- “Busy doesn’t always mean brave.”
- “Movement without mission is just noise. But focus anchored in Christ? That’s power.”
- Hebrews 12:1–2 reminds us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the ultimate source of focus.
- Ephesians 5:15–16 calls us to make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.
Weekly Challenge
Identify your shiny objects—the distractions that keep you from doing the things God has called you to. Write them down, lay them down in prayer, and replace them with one small act of obedience toward your mission.
Resources Mentioned
- Join the Newsletter: www.leadwithjim.com/nl
- Full Episode Show Notes & Transcript: www.leadwithjim.com/podcast
- Book Mentioned: Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Connect with Jim
- 🌐 Website: www.leadwithjim.com
- 🎙️ Ask a Question: leadwithjim.com/ask
- 📱 Instagram: @leadwithjim
- ▶️ YouTube: Lead with Jim
Support & Engage with the Show
- Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio
- Leave a Review: If this episode encouraged you, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts—it helps more Christian creators find the show.
- Share: Send this episode to a friend who struggles with distraction.
Thanks for listening!
Never miss an episode of Online Business for Christian Creators. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app—and if this resonated, share it with a friend who needs to hear the truth about influence.
Transcript
If the devil can't defeat you, he is going to try to distract you.
Speaker A:Let's talk about that.
Speaker B:Welcome to Online Business for Christian Creatives, the show that helps you build a business that honors God, fuels your creativity, and actually pays the bills.
Speaker B:I'm your host, Jim Burgo, leadership coach, Faith first, entrepreneur, and a guy who's made just about every mistake so you don't have to.
Speaker B:Let's get into it.
Speaker A:Have you ever sat down to try to get work done?
Speaker A:Like you want to be super productive today you have everything scripted out.
Speaker A:You went ahead and you did the three points and you're like, these are my goals for this morning.
Speaker A:And you sit down, you're like, I'm going to finish the podcast episode.
Speaker A:I'm going to write that chapter.
Speaker A:I'm going to actually script out a YouTube video.
Speaker A:And you're doing this and you're, everything's going great.
Speaker A:You're working hard.
Speaker A:And then you tell yourself, I need a break.
Speaker A:I need to give my mind a break.
Speaker A:Step away.
Speaker A:And where do you find yourself on tick tock on YouTube?
Speaker A:Just take.
Speaker A:Because you tell yourself you're going to take that moment, take that second, and then three hours later you come to and you don't know how you got down this social media hole and you don't know why that you've been watching all these videos and then you're trying to figure out why the penguin is wrestling a cat and where the hat came from on the penguin.
Speaker A:If you ever been there, so have I.
Speaker A:And today we're going to unpack that because there's something deep to why this happens to you.
Speaker A:And it's not just a psychological thing.
Speaker A:There's a spiritual component.
Speaker A:And in when both hit, you're, you're being distracted not because for distraction's sake, but because the enemy and it you are the enemy is the defeated foe.
Speaker A:Let's get that straight.
Speaker A:Because if you accepted Jesus Christ as your lord and savior, the devil cannot defeat you, but he can distract you.
Speaker A:Because why a distracted adversary, which you and the you and I are the enemies of the devil.
Speaker A:If you're accepted Christ, the distracted adversary will delay the person from actually completing their mission.
Speaker A:So we start this episode with an understanding that the enemy is trying to delay you from the completion of your mission.
Speaker A:And to do that, he's going to hyper distract you.
Speaker A:Now, if you're a personality type that is already predispositioned to distraction, it may actually be a lot harder for you to stay focused.
Speaker A:But we're going to dive Deep.
Speaker A:We're going to get some tools, we're going to get some understanding.
Speaker A:And by the end of this, you're going to walk away with some things that says, okay, I can do this and get one step closer to my mission.
Speaker A:So let's begin.
Speaker A:We've got to understand the hidden cost of distractions.
Speaker A:See, we think distraction feels harmless.
Speaker A:We're like, man, this is only going to be a few minutes.
Speaker A:And we pull out the phone and we go in and we start scrolling.
Speaker A:We're like, oh, that's cool, that's cool.
Speaker A:And then we start telling ourselves, well, I can look things up, I can begin to see things.
Speaker A:But there, what we don't realize is two things are happening.
Speaker A:We dive into this feeling of harmlessness, but in reality, it's robbing us of our time, because time is the only commodity you will never get back.
Speaker A:So it is the most precious thing that you have.
Speaker A:So when the more distracted you are, the more time is sucked from you.
Speaker A:The other thing is, is the more distracted I am, the more voices I have.
Speaker A:And have you ever been in the place?
Speaker A:Like, I'm very sensitive to a lot of sound.
Speaker A:So if I go into a mall and everybody's talking, I'm trying to listen to every conversation at once and it really, it hurts almost.
Speaker A:It's like I can't do it, but I'm trying and I become overwhelmed.
Speaker A:When we are hyper distracted, we have so many voices running through us that we don't, we lose our ability to create.
Speaker A:And if you are a business owner, if you are a leader, you are a creative by nature, especially if you're listening to this podcast.
Speaker A:You're creative by nature, and if you put too many voices in there, you are not going to be able to draw upon the purity that's inside of you to create out of that.
Speaker A:So if we understand that the hidden cost is our time and our creativity, then we can start really diving in and putting an emphasis and a priority on the fact that if I enter into this and there's no shame or guilt, when we're distracted, we all do it, but we got to fight against it.
Speaker A:We got to have guardrails.
Speaker A:But when I enter into distraction, I am risking or I am using the currency of my time and my clarity, which equals my creativity to spend on said distraction.
Speaker A:Hebrews 12 tells us, Fix our eyes on Jesus.
Speaker A:But let's get real.
Speaker A:It's hard to fix our eyes on Jesus for any length of time.
Speaker A:We want to.
Speaker A:We want to make sure we're always Fixed on Jesus.
Speaker A:But we tend not.
Speaker A:So we even see this in Scripture.
Speaker A:Peter, like when Jesus was walking on the water, Peter, Jesus.
Speaker A:Peter's like, can I get out of the boat?
Speaker A:Jesus like, come on, get on the water.
Speaker A:And when he got on the, he walked on the water.
Speaker A:And then you remember the story is that when he took his eyes off Jesus, he was what?
Speaker A:Distracted?
Speaker A:He began to sink.
Speaker A:There are spiritual overtones to the, to our distractions that when we take our eyes off of Jesus, we will begin to sink and become overwhelmed.
Speaker A:But thanks be to God, because why?
Speaker A:Because Jesus was there to lift him back up and pull him out of that overwhelm, out of that distraction, out of that basically drowning because it was water.
Speaker A:Let's get the literal side of that.
Speaker A:And he offers that to us too, when we fix our eyes on Jesus.
Speaker A:Now if you've taken your eyes off Jesus, here's an, here's an opportunity to put them back and be like, all right, God help me every time I move my eyes.
Speaker A:And it'll happen 5,000 times a day.
Speaker A:But that's okay.
Speaker A:God has the patience for us and we just need to continue to make the decisions to say, I'm not going to spend my time and my clarity on things that are going to take me away from my purpose.
Speaker A:So if we have these things and we're intentional and we fix our eyes on Jesus, we can begin to take the necessary steps towards completing the mission God has for us in our lives.
Speaker A:But let's go a step further.
Speaker A:Let's push the barrel just a little bit into the realm of the uncomfortable.
Speaker A:Because here's the ideal is that you'll never grow in comfortable situations.
Speaker A:So I'm going to push you a little bit further and I want you to walk with me in this is simply this.
Speaker A:Now listen and tune in for a second.
Speaker A:The distractions we often engage in are more coping for our trauma than they are anything else.
Speaker A:There are avoidance mechanisms.
Speaker A:You know, in psychology it talks about a lot about the fact that we use things to avoid dealing with the things we need to deal with.
Speaker A:Part of that is, is diving into our phone.
Speaker A:And some people may have some touches of ADHD and are easily distracted in many areas.
Speaker A:And we acknowledge that.
Speaker A:I do have a case of that, some level of that.
Speaker A:But I also understand that through a lot of my own personal therapy and my own poster stuff that I will find myself in intentional distractions to avoid some emotions that I don't want to deal with.
Speaker A:And they become co coping mechanisms.
Speaker A:And then here's what we do is we start doing things, we start doing a lot of things to feel good about it.
Speaker A:And here's.
Speaker A:I call it the rocking chair effect.
Speaker A:You've probably heard of it, but it's.
Speaker A:You ever been in a rocking chair and you're just rocking really, really fast and you're moving so fast and it feels great and you're excited.
Speaker A:But then after doing this for 20 minutes and you're.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:You're almost like on a racehorse and you're like, yeah, I'm going fast, I'm going far.
Speaker A:You realize you never moved from that one spot.
Speaker A:I think in business and life, we do this too.
Speaker A:It feels good, but like the rocking chair, it doesn't make the right progress because not all things we do for pushes us into the place of our purpose.
Speaker A:Sometimes we do things that feel good, that have nothing to do with our purpose, and actually keeps us standing still.
Speaker A:And it convinces us that we're doing something of importance when in reality we're doing nothing at all other than trying to cope with the fact that we don't want to deal with the hard, the hardness of what it needs to take in order to take that next step.
Speaker A:So when instead of taking the next step, instead of dealing with the big emotion, instead of hiring the therapist, instead of doing the things that are going to push you out to become very out there and live on social media or doing whatever it needs to do, we do is we overload our.
Speaker A:Our schedules.
Speaker A:And we don't face the silence, because remember, it's in the silence we hear the voice of the Lord, the best, but we overload our schedule.
Speaker A:So we don't give ourselves time for silence.
Speaker A:Or we chase shiny object projects, but we chase shiny projects and we never finish any of them.
Speaker A:And God literally told us, hey, do this and we'll start.
Speaker A:And we're like, yeah, we got the dopamine.
Speaker A:Hit what's next?
Speaker A:We go to the next one and we never finished the first thing God said.
Speaker A:And then we wonder why God actually never continues to talk to us.
Speaker A:Well, he never stops talking to us.
Speaker A:But a lot of times my friend is.
Speaker A:He's trying to tell you, and I don't go to the next project.
Speaker A:Go back to the first one.
Speaker A:I told you.
Speaker A:Because that's where the anointing is, not into where this is.
Speaker A:And because we're so distracted and we do it intentionally a lot to ourselves, the enemy will do it to help us.
Speaker A:Because we don't want to deal with the uncomfortableness of of what it takes to grow personally, what it takes to grow as a leader, what it takes to grow in a relationship with Christ so that your business can grow, your business can thrive, so that your.
Speaker A:You can sell the book, you can get on the stage.
Speaker A:But we'd rather live in obscurity thinking we're doing a good job instead of saying, you know what?
Speaker A:What does it really take to actually do the job God's called us to?
Speaker A:So we stay busy.
Speaker A:And then for some of us, especially if you're an entrepreneur or a ministry person, you make sure that busyness is a badge of honor.
Speaker A:Like, I'm so busy, I'm doing six ministries, or I have five businesses.
Speaker A:We use this as badges of honor.
Speaker A:And we stay so busy because we're actually afraid that if we slow down, we'll have to face the things we're running from.
Speaker A:And that thing you're running from could be a wound, could be just something that happened in your childhood.
Speaker A:It could be your calling itself.
Speaker A:I remember I ran for my calling for years.
Speaker A:Years.
Speaker A:Because I didn't want to face it, because I didn't think I was good enough.
Speaker A:But the moment I slowed down, I started saying, okay, I gotta face this.
Speaker A:Because I. I'm.
Speaker A:I'm living a life that's unfulfilled.
Speaker A:Yes, I was super busy.
Speaker A:Yes, I was getting on dozens of podcasts, making decent money, but I was unfulfilled.
Speaker A:And people's lives weren't being changed because I was doing things I was good at, not things God called me to, not things that I was anointed at.
Speaker A:And because of that, that.
Speaker A:That thing.
Speaker A:And I felt good in the one thing I wasn't feeling fulfilled totally.
Speaker A:So the reality was when I slowed down and I said, you know what?
Speaker A:I'm hyper distracted, which I still struggle with my friend.
Speaker A:And I'm working every day to get stuff done and be less distracted.
Speaker A:But I said, I'm going to be doing this.
Speaker A:And so out of it birthed this podcast.
Speaker A:And I'm still working on the names, and I'm still working on the episodes and the directions, but it's.
Speaker A:I'm on episode 55 now.
Speaker A:I think this is episode 55.
Speaker A:And you do the thing God's called you to, and you take the journey to see where he's called you to do it.
Speaker A:And this is where it gets real, it gets heavy, because to do that, you've got to.
Speaker A:You got to recognize that you're distracted, and then you've got to make the shift to say I've got to do these things and confront these things to get into the places I'm supposed to be.
Speaker A:The places you were always meant to be.
Speaker A:Because, let's face it, we talk a big talk.
Speaker A:We talk like we want to make millions of dollars.
Speaker A:We talk like we want to have dozens of books.
Speaker A:We talk about all of this.
Speaker A:But the reality of it is we don't actually get to do these things because we're honestly afraid of being seen.
Speaker A:We distract ourselves, whether we allow the devil to distract us, or we intentionally do it to ourselves because we want to be hidden while simultaneously trying to tell the world, I want to be seen, I want to be heard, and I want to make an impact.
Speaker A:Yet we do things and we diminish ourselves to live at a level where.
Speaker A:Where we feel that people will tolerate us so that we don't get hurt again.
Speaker A:Because that's what we're doing is protecting ourselves from being rejected, abandoned, or hurt.
Speaker A:So we're afraid to be seen, because if we're not seen, we can't be hurt, we can't be abandoned, we can't be rejected.
Speaker A:So we'll play super small, and then on social media, we'll tell ourselves we need to play big, we need to go big or go home.
Speaker A:When in reality, we're so afraid to be seen, to put the offer out there, to put the podcast out there, and just have the willingness to be wrong.
Speaker A:But I'd rather be wrong in the public than to be hiding, wishing I was wrong in the public.
Speaker A:But if you.
Speaker A:If you launch that thing, and here's an exhortation for you, and that's an encouragement, a commanding encouragement, if you want to look at it from a biblical term, is put the thing out there imperfectly and let it grow with you.
Speaker A:Because I promise you, as you get out there and you start testing the waters and it grows, you're growing to grow as a person.
Speaker A:You're going to develop as a leader.
Speaker A:God is going to develop you as a leader, and you're going to find that the things that you're putting out there is rudimentary now, but mature as you mature.
Speaker A:There is no gift of perfectionism in the.
Speaker A:In the spirit of God.
Speaker A:There is no gift.
Speaker A:He is the only perfect one.
Speaker A:You and I are not.
Speaker A:The gift is in our imperfections, is because we are imperfect beings serving a perfect God who loves us in our imperfections.
Speaker A:And we're just out there creating, because that's what we were created to do.
Speaker A:Create it to.
Speaker A:For a purpose, on purpose.
Speaker A:To do a purpose and just being bring life to people.
Speaker A:So distraction really becomes the safe zone.
Speaker A:And if you cannot grow in the safe zone, you can only grow in the uncomfort places.
Speaker A:It becomes our safe zone.
Speaker A:Busy, but not brave.
Speaker A:Doing things but not courageous.
Speaker A:And that's not what you're called to, my friends.
Speaker A:You're called to be a lion.
Speaker A:You're called to be a light.
Speaker A:You're called to be brave.
Speaker A:You're called to be courageous.
Speaker A:So let's stop being so busy and start doing the right things and filling up our calendar with what matters, not just what makes us hide better.
Speaker A:So let's get a little blunt.
Speaker A:The enemy doesn't need you to make that step.
Speaker A:The enemy doesn't want you to make that step.
Speaker A:He doesn't want you to be seen.
Speaker A:He wants you to live in insecurities and lack of identities and all these things.
Speaker A:Because the moment you step into your calling, you become a problem to the enemy.
Speaker A:Because if he can keep you distracted, you cannot be in the fight.
Speaker A:If you're not in the fight, then he gets to win this little victory over whatever he's trying to win in this area because the war has already won.
Speaker A:He knows he can't win, but he's trying to use little victories.
Speaker A:But just think about it.
Speaker A:Instead of praying, we're scrolling all day.
Speaker A:Instead of creating, we're making comparisons.
Speaker A:Instead of building the mission of God, we're building excuses.
Speaker A:Ephesians 5 says this.
Speaker A:Be careful how you live, making the most of every opportunity.
Speaker A:Because the days are evil, my friends.
Speaker A:Distraction is not neutral, it's a weapon.
Speaker A:Staying committed doesn't mean never getting distracted.
Speaker A:You will get distracted.
Speaker A:It's going to happen.
Speaker A:It's going to happen a thousand times a day, but every day we want 1% better.
Speaker A:So maybe tomorrow you get distracted 999 times instead of a thousand.
Speaker A:And every day you live, you get distracted one time less.
Speaker A:That's getting 1% better.
Speaker A:It means coming back again and again every time you fall, every time you fail to the focus and the faith to say, okay, I was distracted, this needs to be done.
Speaker A:Going back to doing the thing and making the intentional decision to stay focused.
Speaker A:So your challenges this week is going to come.
Speaker A:Simple is number one is going to be identify your shiny objects.
Speaker A:What are the distractions you have?
Speaker A:What are all the things that you want to do that keep you from doing the things you need to do?
Speaker A:And then we're going to lay it down in prayer.
Speaker A:We're going to write it down and then we're going to put boundaries up to say, okay.
Speaker A:If it's your notifications during this time, all notifications off.
Speaker A:If it's your emails during this time, I don't check my emails.
Speaker A:Put them on your calendar block schedule.
Speaker A:Do the things that's going to help you.
Speaker A:Replace it with one small act of obedience towards your true calling.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Start taking incremental steps to big things.
Speaker A:And then also you make sure you want to make sure that you Jump on the newsletter I'm gonna do a shameless plug jump on the newsletter www.leadwithjim.comnl where you can join over 400 other entrepreneurs and Christians who are who are learning and growing together.
Speaker A:I send out weekly news updates and encouragements and some Bible study stuff that you're not going to hear in the episode.
Speaker A:Because at the end of the day, movement without mission is just noise.
Speaker A:But focused, anchored in Christ is power.
Speaker A:Don't be somebody on mission who's creating noise.
Speaker A:Be somebody who's anchored to Christ, creating impact.
Speaker A:So thanks for thanks for hanging out with me today, guys.
Speaker A:I just want to encourage you, challenge you and just really push you to a place of doing the thing God called for, called you to.
Speaker A:Because we want the what God put in you to come out of you mature and be the impact it was supposed to be.
Speaker A:And I'll see you on the next episode.
