Switch Your Focus
I talked to a close friend the other day, and when I asked him how he was doing, he declared, “I’m terrible.” He went on to say how awful his life was. It didn’t matter what he talked about; he had a negative take on it. I asked him if he was pursuing his dreams, and his response was, “I don’t have time.” he proceeded to give me a list of excuses as to why he wasn’t able to follow his dreams and pursue anything worthwhile. He felt trapped; he felt like he was going nowhere.
I just listened and tried to share a few laughs. I’ve learned that people don’t always want a pep talk; some people want to be in a dark place, and any positive thought to the contrary seems like a fairy tale.
When he described his life, I saw all the reasons why his situation was perfect to follow his dreams, but he could only see why it wasn’t. Granted, I’m not in his shoes, and I’ll never know what he’s going through. While that is true, we only need to look at history to see that people have lived in much worse situations than most modern-day Americans and still have gone on to achieve unbelievable victories.
It boils down to what you concentrate on and what you think about most.
When you see a giant standing in your path and want to defeat it, do you focus on how big and strong it is? Or do you focus on how slow it is and how hard it’s going to fall?
So many of us overlook the good stuff and ONLY see the bad. We only see the evil in the world, and we rarely recognize the good.
If all you think about is the problems, the obstacles, the barriers, the stumbling blocks, and why you cannot overcome them, then you never will; you won’t even try.
On the contrary, if you think of victory and why you can rise above circumstances, new possibilities will emerge, and opportunities will arise that you otherwise wouldn’t have noticed. What you choose to focus on is probably the most crucial factor in accomplishing your dreams.
What you believe about your future is everything. What you think about your future usually results from focusing on victory or defeat.
Some would argue that our thoughts have nothing to do with the outcome of a situation. It seems to me they have everything to do with it. If you don’t believe you can accomplish what you want. You’ll become a victim of circumstance and be blown by whichever direction the wind blows.
When you go through your day feeling frustrated, stressed out, constantly complaining, and thinking about all your problems, you won’t imagine the possibilities. If all you do is amplify the negative, you’ll never live with faith. When you cannot live in faith, you aren’t living up to your potential.
When you’re having trouble believing, think of this quote by Napoleon Hill, “What the human mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
When you begin to believe, motivation will come, inspiration will take hold, you’ll become a more dynamic person, you’ll start to realize all the reasons why you can, and you’ll begin to move towards the life you want.
When you venture into the land of giants intending to take their land, you must only focus on all the reasons why you can defeat them. Never think of why you cannot. Your mind is where you’ll fight the most significant battle.
Although it can be difficult to stop focusing on the negative in your life, it’s not as difficult as you think. It’s as easy as changing your mind. We all change our minds every day. When you change your mind to the positive and leave the negative life behind, you’ve changed; you’ve changed the structure of your brain and have started to walk down the path of becoming a different person.
When the sun rises again tomorrow, you have the chance to change your expectations and the way you think. You’ll have the opportunity to think of all the reasons you can. When you do that, you will be moving in the right direction.
