Episode 130: What is Your Focus?

In Episode 130 of the Wandering But Not Lost Podcast, cohosts, Jan O’Brien and Matt Emerson offer up tips that will help you to align your vision and goals so that you can achieve success faster and more frequently.  Mindset is everything.  Let's jump in.

Taking Personal Responsibility 

Have you ever noticed how so many people focus on what they don’t want or have rather than on what they really want?

So here is the real question, do you take 100% responsibility for your actions, your life, where you are right now at this moment?  Or, do you blame your current condition, state of being, attitude, and/or current life condition on someone or something outside of yourself? Is it really your environment, the market, your boss, the economy, your significant other, the “fill in the blank” that is responsible for where you are now – mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually? Are you the Victim or the Victor?

And, if you are not happy where you are right now – what action are you taking to move toward your desired outcome?

One of the most effective techniques, I use in life coaching and in my personal life is to remember that it is always BE – DO – HAVE.
Your State of Being, it comes first.  It’s not contingent on anything that you do and it does not rely upon anything you have. Many people live  Do - Have -  Be or Have - Do - Be.

 “I will DO this thing.” (Lose weight) “So I can HAVE this other thing” (Self-Esteem) and I can BE this thing. (Happy and Confident.)

When I HAVE more (money), then I will DO more ( with my family, traveling, etc ),  and I will finally BE ( free, happy )

If I HAD more time, then I would do more of this (working out, spending quality time with loved ones), and then I would be (stress-free, joyful).

When you begin changing on the BE level of your life, then the DO level and the HAVE level follow more easily.

Take personal responsibility for where you are at this exact moment.  All of your thoughts and actions have led you to this specific place in time.  If you are not entirely pleased with your results, then change your thoughts and take action toward what you want to create.  Be deliberate and intentional in your thoughts and actions.
Ask yourself:  “What am I focusing on right now?”   

“Am I focusing on what I want or what I don’t want?”  Are your thoughts positive or negative – towards or away from what you desire?

Most people pay attention to their current reality and attract the same. Focus on what you want to experience instead.  And now BE that person, BE in that desired state, act as if it has already happened! In order to effect true positive change in your experience, you must disregard how things are — as well as how others are seeing you — and give more of your attention to the way you prefer things to BE.

It’s not enough to just think about what you desire.  Positive thoughts with real feelings behind them (or in the words of Napoleon Hill “a burning desire”) is the first step.  The next powerful step to manifesting your reality – your outcomes or goals – is to take the right and appropriate action toward not away from it.  If your thoughts are dwelling on the fact that you don’t have it yet, things never work out for you, or other negative self-talk – you are moving away from what you want.  Simply recognize the negative thoughts and change them!  Practice makes perfect.

By the way, if you are looking for some inspiration and motivation then read (or re-read)Napoleon Hill’s classic Think And Grow Rich.   This book is truly THE classic self-help, inspirational, and success book of all time.

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” “There is one quality that one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants and a burning desire to achieve it.”