By BIS Contributor Ana Loi
I’ve learned something with one of my most powerful mentors: Your focus determines your reality and what you focus on expands.
At first this sounded a little confusing as life goes on and our focus can change by the second. Then I learned a second thing, we create our focus and therefore we can change or modify anything we want.
Give it some thought. When you wake up in the morning and think about the tasks you have to do that are not very pleasant, you’ll have a miserable day. When you wake up and focus how wonderful your life is, you’ll have a great day.
\When we let our attention jump from one thing to the other, the natural tendency is to have a busy, fractured and unproductive day. When we focus on one job, we immerse ourselves in that job, and it will not only be the most productive day, it’ll be very rewarding. The sense of accomplishment you get is priceless.
In my experience, focus is extremely important and it will determine whether you’ll achieve a goal, change your mind, set or create a new habit.
Pay attention to your focus and what you are creating for yourself during your days. What are the results you are having? If they are not the ones you want, you have to change your focus.
Once, I decided to to a very harsh workout program and I was full on. Suddenly on the third or fourth day I was supposed to do 15 military push ups. I could only do 4 and my focus became: I am not capable, I am not fit enough and so on…. Hours later I went to pick my daughter up at school and that day I wasn’t as happy as I usually was. She asked me what was wrong and I told her that I was only able to do 4 of the push up’s. She said: Mom, please don’t tell anybody that and think about something. The majority of people we know will probably not be able to do even 1, so you should be proud of yourself. I was quiet for a second and then I thought, what is my focus? My focus is in what I cannot do instead of celebrating what I have accomplished. I changed my focus completely and in a month I was doing 15 military push ups!
Let’s look at some of the ways you can use focus to change different aspects of your life.
- Focus on the now rather than the past or the future. If you stay in the past you bring depression into your life (the past is dead) and when you go to the future, it will make you anxious and unproductive.
- Focus on one task or goal at a time and stay with that focus to the end of the task. You need to get rid of all distractions and focus completely on the task you set for yourself. It takes practice but you will definitely get results.
- Focus on the positive, and positive things will came right back to you. Be aware of negative thoughts, and replace them with positive thoughts. There will be times that will be difficult but with practice and consistency it will became easier and your most powerful new habit.
Although seemingly simplistic and unnatural at first at the same time, the power of focus is a force that can and will change your life. The results will be happiness, accomplishments and achievements!
Coach Ana
