Choosing Your Compass Heading
The Unexpected Power of Focus
Have you ever noticed how much you tend to be drawn towards whatever you’re focused on? It’s an interesting phenomenon that’s familiar to many people, including skiers, motorcyclists and parachutists. In simple terms, whatever you focus on becomes your destination. It seems that we instinctively veer towards whatever we’re looking at.
Despite the fact that we’ve selected a clearly-defined target, the moment we turn our attention towards a different objective, our energy, our movement, our direction all shift towards the new – and often unintended – compass heading. The reaction overrides the conscious mind’s attempts to stay on track. One moment we’re heading towards our chosen directive. The next – we’re rushing towards something completely unexpected. How does this happen? And what can we do to make sure that we stay on course?
The direction of your focus is the direction your life will move. Let yourself move toward what is good, valuable, strong and true.
– Ralph Marston
The key to this particular problem is the way that we can become distracted by anything that appears to pose a threat or a danger. We’ve evolved to shift our attention immediately to any possible source of harm. It’s a natural part of our survival mechanism. If we didn’t notice the possible danger, we might not survive to pass on our genes and enjoy another fruitful day hunting and gathering. It’s an archaic and instinctive reaction that still prevails today.
However, when we shift our focus to the problem and the looming threat demands all of our attention, it then becomes the focal point of our energy. And that’s when we feel drawn into its realm. As we devote more energy and attention to the danger, we lose sight of everything else. We lose our objectivity and we lose the broader perspective that would place the problem in a clearer context.
We only have a certain amount of energy for each day. If we use it for the wrong purpose, if we focus on the negative or dwell on whoever hurt us, then we’re not going to have the energy we need for the right purposes.
– Victoria Osteen
Whether you’re driving, skiing, parachuting or taking care of the day’s essential activities, keeping your focus firmly directed towards your goal is the only way to ensure that you’ll reach your chosen destination.
So, the answer to the problem is to keep your focus firmly fixed on your destination. When problems arise – and that’s just a natural part of life’s daily round of challenges – the key to remaining firmly in control of your responses is to create a sense of distance between yourself and whatever’s causing you concern. Distance is the ingredient that lowers the stress response. After all, a threat on the horizon produces a very different reaction when compared to a danger that’s right under our noses. Distance changes everything. It’s part of the principle of detachment. When we feel that we are not directly threatened by a situation – either because of its distance or its context – we are more likely to behave rationally and consider a more creative response than does not involve fear, stress or anxiety.
Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives:
where we focus our attention.
– Greg Anderson
It can be very helpful to consider the focal point as the direction we’re bound to follow. For example, when we concentrate on problems, difficulties and obstacles, these are precisely the things that we’re more likely to notice. Suddenly, the road ahead seems to be full of problems. And that’s because we’ve shifted our attention to notice them. The problems may well exist – but that isn’t the issue. It’s the way that we inflate their importance and diminish our creativity that turns proverbial mole hills into exaggerated mountains. Distance and perspective change everything.
When you re-affirm your goals and provide images that fully support and reflect your carefully-chosen destination, you avoid the temptation to become distracted by the inevitable crises that show up.
Life offers countless moments and intrusions to distract us from our quest. The most natural place for you to maintain your focus is on your goals and objectives. This will help you to remain calm and collected in the face of challenges. Rather than fixing problems to make them go away, your actions will be considered in the light of developing your goals. This is a more powerful way of assessing your situation and solving the difficulties because your motivation will be to further your plans rather than simply react instinctively to any setback.
One of the secrets of a successful life is to be able to hold all of our energies upon one point, to focus all of the scattered rays of the mind upon one place or thing.
– Orison Swett Marden
So, the unexpected advantage of maintaining a clear focus on your goals is that it makes you more resilient to stress and more likely to engage your creativity to solve your problems. You feel more stable, more balanced, more in control. Problems do not throw you off track. You feel a deep confidence in your ability to pursue and accomplish your goals. And that’s a wonderful way to demonstrate your personal sense of empowerment.
I believe the only thing that we really have control over is our attitude. If we focus on the positive things in our lives and learn how to cope with all the surprises, we will be happier people.
– Brandon Jenner
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Greg Parry created The Wellness Foundation and the Cognitive Empowerment Programs specifically to help people master their stress, overcome their limitations and explore the power of their true potential.
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