The Power of Focus

By Walt F.J. Goodridge

Special to the Saipan Tribune
Originally published: Wednesday, August 18, 2010


The only way to take control of your life, raise your standard of living and move beyond merely surviving is to create your own unique product or service that you offer to increasing numbers of people in exchange for the things of value that you desire. This simple formula applies to countries as well as people. A self-sufficient economy has its own products or services of value to export to the world. Similarly, a self-sufficient individual has something of value to exchange in the global marketplace. That thing of value is based on your natural talent, skill, or interest—in other words, your passion!

 

Step 4 in the Creative Process

 

       In the previous three weeks’ columns [“The Power of Clarity”: July 29, 2010; The Power of Visualization: August 4, 2010; The Power of Acceptance: August 11, 2010], we spoke about the need to have clear and specific descriptions and images of your goals as the first step in bringing them into reality. We covered the need to visualize (or sensorize) your desired reality as often as possible.  We also discussed removing any of the mental and emotional blocks that may prevent us from committing to, pursuing and achieving our goals. This brings us to Step 4 in the 7-Step Creative process: Focus.

 

       There are two important concepts to keep in mind when it comes to focus:

 

1.You attract and create what you pay attention to.

       By now, the concept of the Law of Attraction is fairly well known, and is becoming increasingly accepted in public’s consciousness. The law of attraction simply states that whatever you think about, you attract. As one speaker put it: “You get what you think about…all day long.”

       The life you are currently living has been attracted and created by the dominant thoughts, actions and expectations you’ve had up until this point. Therefore, if you wish to have something different in the future, you must begin to think, act and believe differently now. Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want. The previous steps in the process are all designed to help with this.

 

 

2. The more energy you can devote to focusing your attention, the more quickly your goals will manifest.

       A friend and reader of this column recommended a book to me entitled The End of Overeating, which, among other things, illuminates the effect that the Standard American Diet (SAD, for short) has on one’s body and mind. She wrote in an email to me, in response to last week’s power of acceptance article:

 “…even if I wanted to lose weight to be more attractive, and I had subconscious sabotage going on, the brain on "fats, sugar, and salt" is an equally real if not greater challenge to reaching that goal.”

       I agree. Our ability to focus is a function of the condition of our brain and body. If your brain and body are polluted and not operating clearly, then it becomes more difficult to focus. That’s why any advice on goal achievement must include a physical component as well.

       The goal is to return and maintain the body to a healthy state so that your brain’s mental functions are not impaired. I suggest:

 

Cleanse the body

       Years of neglect and misguided notions of what is truly healthy have created toxic bodies. Internal cleansing programs for the colon, liver, gallbladder, blood, in addition to fasting and juicing as ways of helping the body to remove the built-up toxicity, mucous, and unhealthy accumulations.

       There are also a wide range of simple health-promoting practices that many people are unaware of. For most people, the strategies and practices required to achieve a healthy lifestyle, require a complete overhaul of how they think about health, diet and sickness. A good book to start with is Natural Cures They Don’t Want You To Know About by Kevin Trudeau.

 

Quiet the mind

       The mind, too, is often toxic and in need of cleaning. The fast-paced, high-stressed, negatively-skewed nature of our daily lives and interactions with the world create a level of tension and “noise” that makes it difficult to truly focus on what we want and to hear the still small voice within which can guide us to the achievement of our goals.

       Our society is not designed to encourage the skills of mental focus that are necessary for success. We are bombarded and distracted at every turn by persuasive advertising and depressing news. Our attention spans have been getting shorter and shorter with each generation as we feed on a diet of high-tech, fast action video games, movies, and music videos. Turn off the television, reduce your consumption of news, unplug from the virtual world, connect in the real world, and take a walk in nature. Meditation, Qi Gong, breathing exercises, and yoga-- are just a few of the ways to help restore a more centered and balanced state for the mind-body connection.

 

 

Summary

Think about this for a moment, and ask yourself if it makes sense. Think about two electromagnets that attract each other. The greater the energy of the magnets, the greater the force of attraction. Attraction, therefore, is increased by energy. Similarly, the more energy you can create in your mind and body, the greater will be the force of attraction of the things you focus on.

Your task over the next few weeks, therefore, is to use the previous steps of clarity, visualization and acceptance and focus them on a particular outcome that you desire. Increase your body’s energy by beginning an exercise and cleansing regimen. At the same time, increase your mind’s energy by practicing a technique (of your choice) for becoming still.

Don’t let anyone fool you. There is a direct connection between the state of your mind and body, and your ability to focus on and achieve the things you desire.

 

 

Next time: Step 5 in the Creative Process

 

Inspired by Paul Scheele

 

 

Note: Fans and followers of the book, Jamaican on Saipan, may order a copy on jamaicanonsaipan.com.

 

Note: Ever wanted to direct your friends and family to a set of websites that revealed the best things about Saipan? Do what I do: send them to www.bestofsaipan.com!

 

Until next week, remember, success is a journey, not a destination!--Walt

Send article suggestions, entrepreneur nominations and feedback about this article to walt@passionprofit.com