The TRIO [ Focus, Goals & Fears ]

"Your life is controlled by what you focus on"

It seems easy, right? Yet we all find it difficult to apply practically.

'The art of racing in the rain' by Garth Stein very well narrates on how racers focus while racing & why our lives are no different. 

Needless to say, racing requires utmost focus as even a minor mistake can lead them into the fence with all the momentum of 250kmph plus speed & high g- forces. Isn't that enough to develop fear within the racer to lose focus? Yet, they manage to cross the finish line and at times get themselves placed on the podium.

Goals 

To cross the finish line & get on the podium. Both of these aren't even visible practically while racing yet they set their vision on it & firmly believe in it.

Analogy: Goals we wish to achieve are most often not visible to us but we need to believe in them.

Fears

The fence and competing cars with similar speeds. Racers are well aware of their presence and constantly keep observing their relative position to mend the strategy. But they do not focus on them. Shifting focus from the goal to fears might end up with the racers crashing into one of them.

Analogy: We often get into the trap of focusing on policies, society, competitors, etc. and end up losing our focus from goals.

"Where one should NOT focus is as important as knowing where one should focus"

Focus

The Racing Line & the car Limits. Racers know WHERE to focus but what about HOW to focus? They follow the racing line which leads them to their goals by leveraging the entire potential of the car pushing them to their limits.

Analogy: Our strategy, our knowledge, our team & tools can guide us to stay focused on our goals

It seems very simple yet we fall into the trap of it. 

As it rightly says in racing "Your car goes where your eyes go" 

- Sunit Shah