Where is your focus?
What you focus on expands.
In a team meeting yesterday we talked about morale and how things were going in the department, and in the company as a whole, and what we might be able to do to turn things around. We threw out several ideas; team building events, team breaks to the local coffee shop, happy hours, etc.
And then it hit me…
It was a simple thought really. It was so simple that I almost didn’t share it. I was afraid that because it was too easy, others wouldn’t really see the value in it. So I held it in and let the meeting continue. We started talking about other issues and discussed plans and strategies and issues…and all the while this simple thought had taken root and was beginning to grow within my head and heart.
Thinking of all of the items on the issues list, looking at the actions that needed to take place, hearing everyone else talk about all that they were working on…I felt the overwhelm coming on; it was subtle, it was a slow build but the pressure to perform and perform at a high level was starting to take over. And then there was this “idea growing inside me”…there was a lot going on and I started to feel the anxiety build and take over.
It was getting crowded in there…
Right at the moment I felt I was going to take my last breath I decided to focus on the idea for a moment and “see what all the fuss was about” and so I turned my focus to this simple idea and found that it was greater than I could ever have imagined.
At that moment my lungs captured life-giving oxygen molecules that rushed to my body and at that moment a sense of release and peace washed over me. At that moment I found freedom!
At that moment I felt relief!
At that moment I spoke up and shared what had been growing inside of me without fear or hesitation.
What you focus on expands.
It’s a simple truth. It’s a simple idea. It was a simple thought the took root inside me and became larger than life and has now consumed me.
Before you brush over this and move on, consider it for a moment.
What are you focused on?
Some of us focus on what we do. Some of us focus on what we want out of life. Some focus on who is in their life, others focus on who isn’t. Some focus on what others have while others focus on what they don’t have.
What are you focused on and how does this move you?
I realized that I was focused on everything I had to do and felt like I was never going to catch up or get ahead..and that thought moved me to feel insufficient and inadequate. Not a good place to be for me.
Sometimes “doing work” feels like digging a hole that never gets deeper; you shovel and shovel and throw dirt out but the more you throw out, the more dirt there is to dig. I have found that no matter what I do, there is always more to do. I can check every action item on my list and when I wake tomorrow there is always more to do.
At that moment the thought that took over my head and heart was not to simply focus on what I have to do, and not even just what I have done, but how have I grown in the process…even if it is one simple step forward.
In a previous role, we used to look at the 1% growth that happened during that day. Simply put: What is one simple action that you took today to expand your horizon and set you up for growth?
Whatever your focus, are you moving in the direction of personal growth?
My life goal is to be a better version of myself each and every day; no matter how small the step I want to constantly move and better myself.
I have been so focused on what I had to do that missed what I had done.
I have been so focused on who isn’t in my life that I missed who is in my life.
I have been so focused on what I don’t have in life that I missed what I do have and how truly blessed I am to be at this place in my life!
What you focus on expands.
Take time right now to lift your eyes and look around. What do you see? What have you missed in life because your focus has been in the wrong place? What can you focus on right now to move you past the feeling of want, need, regret, or overwhelm?
Reclaim your power by putting your focus on that which expands and fills you with the strength and power for which you were created!
You know what, forget that: reclaim your life by focusing on that which will expand fill YOU…period!
Sometimes it’s not about greatness, it’s about living. Sometimes it’s about taking that one breath that keeps you from drowning in the stuff of life in order to gain the strength to take one more step.
Listen…that idea was small and grew into something huge for me. That simple breath right now may not sound like much but I invite you to take it. Lift your eyes, take that breath, focus on that which fills you…and repeat
That my friend is the real “stuff of life”. Life is meant to be lived. Let’ live it!
