Hi there – my name is Mike Torres and I’m a father, blogger, author, martial artist, strength coach, and a Vice President at Google among other things.  Like you, I wear a bunch of hats and as a result, my focus shifts constantly from week-to-week, day-to-day, and even hour-to-hour on busy days.

About 15 years ago I became riveted with the area of focus, specifically what I call self-directed focus or the ability to apply your focus at will to whatever requires your attention.  I’d been itching to start a blog on the topic for some time and in early 2009 decided to just “go for it”.  This is that blog.

Refocuser is about focus.  And about me at times.

This is not a pure productivity or “life hacks” blog.  There are already enough Getting Things Done (GTD) blogs on the net and many of them are fantastic and well-written.  But just checking things off of a to-do list can feel meaningless without seeing the bigger picture.  This blog is more about realizing your potential as a human being through self-directed focus; and you can never learn enough about that.

Refocuser will cover:

• Goal setting
• Flow
• Fear management
• Work/life balance
• Conflict management
• Productivity and yes, some ‘lifehacks’ occasionally
• Nutrition and supplementation (fuel for focus!)
• Exercise and activity
• Philosophy
• Positivity
• Purpose
• Sleep (it matters more than you think!)
• Simplicity
• Creativity
• Leadership

When you’re truly focused, work, play, and love are where they belong – synchronized and using each other for counter-balance.  Self-directed focus means you can be 100% committed and “present” in whatever you’re doing – not wondering why you’re doing this and “not that”.  When you’re sitting down to read to your child, you should be planning to do so without distraction.

This blog will cover a number of systems or methodologies at times, but it primarily will help synthesize information so you can pick and choose what would work best for you.  Think about the information what you see here as pouring water over an ice cube tray.  You don’t always know which blocks are full and which are empty until you run water over the tray.  If you have a solid block of information, new information won’t change that. But if there’s a spot that’s missing or cracked, water will fill in or solidify the block for you, just like new information can help fill gaps in your knowledge.  It’s a good way to think about learning in general for me.

I’m going to drill on the basics as this is something I’ve learned works best.  As in anything, the basics are what separates a white belt from a black belt, not fancy technique.  Getting better at the basics is what will make you a black belt in life.

More About Me…

• I live in gorgeous Seattle, and have two wonderful children.
• I’m originally from New Jersey.
• I’m a Vice President at Google.
• Prior to Google, I spent over 10 years at both Amazon and Microsoft.
• And prior to that, I helped start or was part of a few high-tech startups and saw some bona fide successes (and some bona fide failures).
• Between audiobooks, Kindle books, and real books I set a goal each year to read more than 40 non-fiction books annually.
• I’ve been practicing martial arts since age nine and have a few black belts, instructorships, and a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  Still love it and still not that good at it.
• I have a degree in Psychology (with a concentration in computer science) from Cornell University.
• I am a Senior Instructor in kettlebell, barbell, and bodyweight strength with StrongFirst.
• I am a certified personal trainer (ACE).
• I’ve been blogging (on different blogs) since 2002.
• I co-authored a book on blogging in 2005 and was interviewed for the top blogging book, Naked Conversations, back when my personal blog was in the Technorati top 100.
• Years ago I was featured in Fitness Life (read the article; note the email address is no longer active) and have also appeared in USA Today, World of Boxing, and Black Belt Magazine.
• I workout 5+ times/week between strength training and martial arts.
• I published my personal vision as part of the Twelve Goals program if you’d like to learn even more.

You can also find me on my Twitter feed which is full of random quips and even more geeky stuff.  And if you still want to see more about me, my home is at http://michaeltorres.com.

What next?

Browse through the site and start filling your own toolbox.  Email me with questions if you have any.  Or just sit-back, relax, and subscribe to updates via Twitter or RSS. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it!