Tag: focus

What you focus on grows

When you focus on the positive, you’ll see (and get) more positivity in your life. When you focus on the negative, you’ll find more negativity in your life. It’s really that simple.

This is why starting and ending your day with a prayer, thinking about what you’re grateful for, stopping and taking a moment of silence, etc is so helpful. These things can help you be intentional and focus on how great your life really is.

There will always be bumps in the road. Life is not always going to be easy. But at any given time, there will be something you can be grateful for…

So focus on the positive. Actively seek it out. Surround yourself with other positive people, read positive/inspiring quotes and books, listen to positive podcasts or books, and stop watching the news (which mostly conveys negative information). What you focus on will grow and you’ll tend to find more of that thing.

A man who chases two rabbits catches neither

A man who chases two rabbits catches neither​
A man who chases two rabbits catches neither.

Focus on finishing one task before moving on to the next one.

In today’s ADHD world, it’s easy to get distracted by new ideas or to think you can multitask effectively, but the truth is if you are constantly chasing after two dissimilar goals, you’re unlikely to accomplish either of them.

Be focused, not finished

Some of us set goals (or have New Years resolutions) and feel like we did something just by writing them down.

Some of us start out with good intentions to accomplish the goals we wrote down, but when motivation wanes, when things get tough, or life gets in the way, we conveniently forget about our goals or discard them.

Some of us accomplish our New Years resolutions early in the year, not because we’re overachievers, but because we set the bar too low (almost like a checklist that has “brush teeth” on it).

And some of us achieve our goals and then relax or return to bad habits to celebrate the accomplishment. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating wins (big and small), and I actually think it’s important to note how far you’ve come. But don’t get complacent. Don’t celebrate too long or get too far off-track. It’s time to get back to work. Just because you’ve accomplished a goal doesn’t mean you’re finished. After all, you’re still alive, right? Everyday, you can get better. Strive to be better than who you were yesterday.

Focus on the good, not the bad

When you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have. When you focus on what you have, you will always have enough.

Be grateful for what you have. Chances are that if you’re reading this you’re way better off financially than the majority of people in this world. Focus on the good in life and seeing the silver lining in every situation. Train your brain to find what is good and to make the best out of any situation. If you only focus on what is going wrong in your life, eventually that is all you will see.

Changing your perspective like this will change your life

“Nothing is perfect in life. Trying to make things perfect is the foolish mistake. It’s about trying to manage things as they are and as they come.” – Paraphrased from Andrew Santino on The Joe Rogan Experience (podcast).

There is no such thing as perfect, so don’t drive yourself crazy trying to have a “perfect” life. Life is amazing because of its imperfections. When the kids are acting up, when the dishes aren’t done, when the house is a mess and the toys aren’t put away…that’s part of the trade off of having kids. But I wouldn’t change any part about it.

Yes, we should focus on teaching them to pick up after themselves, to treat themselves and others with respect, to not throw tantrums, and to help with chores around the house, but if we only focus on what’s “wrong,” we overlook so much of what is right.

We are fortunate to have kids – so many people can’t. We are fortunate that we’re healthy – so many people aren’t. We are fortunate to call a place home – so many people are homeless. We are fortunate to have a job – so many people are jobless.

If we focus on what we don’t have, we’ll lose what’s right in front of us. And no matter how much we have, it will never seem like it’s enough. But if we focus on what we do have, we won’t even notice what we’re “missing.”