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By Casey Grey
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2020 will be a year of focus. 20/20 vision so to speak.
Focus is a powerful skill although it needs to be directed properly. If you are focused on the wrong things, the outcome may not be what you were hoping for. "What's the one thing I can do that will make everything else obsolete or easier?" is a good question I learned from The One Thing. It gets your brain thinking about what's most important as oppose to what's easiest. Another way of thinking of this is in terms of energy. Here's the analogy of the field mice and the antelope by Newt Gingrich from Tools of Titans: "A lion is fully capable of capturing, killing, and eating a field mouse. But it turns out that the energy required to do so exceeds the caloric content of the mouse itself. So a lion that spent its day hunting and eating field mice would slowly starve to death. A lion can’t live on field mice. A lion needs antelope. Antelope are big animals. They take more speed and strength to capture and kill, and once killed, they provide a feast for the lion and her pride. A lion can live a long and happy life on a diet of antelope. The distinction is important. Are you spending all your time and exhausting all your energy catching field mice? In the short term it might give you a nice, rewarding feeling. But in the long run you’re going to die. So ask yourself at the end of the day, “Did I spend today chasing mice or hunting antelope?" What are you going to focus on today? When you are committed to something, you get it done no matter what. You give it the time it deserves, no matter what.
Commitment is a scary word for most people. Perhaps it signifies lack of freedom. For me, it's power. It forces me to focus on what I know is most important. It's freedom for the mind. "If you keep doing what you have always been doing, you will continue to get what you have always gotten."
A lot of people have been quoted as saying this (or a version of this) such as Henry Ford and Albert Einstein. I've been thinking about this a lot recently. Although I believe in this wisdom, there is also importance in having patience. Giving things the time they deserve. People pivot too quickly these days. That being said, we all have habits that are not serving us. Habits that continue to give us the results we have always gotten that we are not satisfied with. If you continue to have health problems but continue to eat junk food, don't expect something different. If you continue to have problems with your relationships but don't work on yourself, don't expect your relationships to improve. If you continue to have money problems but don't track your money, don't expect your finances to get better. Remember though, improvements are sometimes small and hard to see. Perhaps all of those things above ARE getting better but they just aren't where you want them to be. In that case, you may need to continue what you are already doing. Be patient and persistent. Today, I'm trying something new. Energy Healing with Jasmine at Younion. But it's only part of the improvements I have been implementing into my life. I'm looking forward to seeing all the good that comes from this. This holiday try something new that will serve you and those around you. Is your life comfortable? Is it okay? Perhaps it's not bad but it's not great either... What about your job or your business? Is it comfortable or are you being pushed beyond your perceived limits? Does your partner encourage you to reach further? What about your friends? Do they challenge you? Are you doing something that makes you uncomfortable every day? Over the holidays, it's nice to be comfortable. To relax and enjoy what you have. But the rest of the time, comfort will only slow you down. "Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone." What is the most important thing you need to do today? Is it the most daunting task?
Start with that and the rest of your day will be a breeze! Being the owner of a business, I have noticed that people often tell me what they think I want to hear as opposed to what I need to hear. I sometimes don't know there's a problem until it's too late and then I'm brought in for damage control.
I'm fine with problems. Problems are inevitable. What I'm not fine with is when problems are brought to me without any effort put forward into solving them. Here's a simple tip on how to present a problem: "Hi Mr. Boss, here's the problem we have and here is what I propose we do. What do you think?" Heck, that's what I do with my clients! They are my boss. "Hello Mrs. Client. We have come across problem X but we have already implemented Y and we should be back on track by tomorrow." Nobody can get mad at somebody who has already solved a problem they did not know existed.
"This is a story about a tiger named Mohini that was in captivity in a zoo, who was rescued from an animal sanctuary. Mohini had been confined to a 10-by-10-foot cage with a concrete floor for 5 or 10 years. They finally released her into this big pasture: With excitement and anticipation, they released Mohini into her new and expensive environment, but it was too late. The tiger immediately sought refuge in a corner of the compound, where she lived for the remainder of her life. She paced and paced in that corner until an area 10-by-10 feet was worn bare of grass. . . . Perhaps the biggest tragedy in our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns."
From Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss This was exactly what I needed to read. I feel like I've been in a 10x10 cell for the last 10 years and I'm about to break out. I've been playing the same old patterns and I'm done! It's scary as shit though... What's out there? What's going to happen to me? Who am I going to meet? What new obstacles will I need to overcome? Who will I become? Only one way to find out...
Imagine a world that worked for you.
Imagine a place where your wildest dreams came to reality. Imagine a universe that plotted to do good for you. You are in that place. You just have to work that imagination muscle. You get what you think about most. "Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Today we helped Natasha's grandma move. Change is not easy for the average person. Change when you are 84 years old is a whole different level of change.
Change is inevitable though. At some point it has to happen. Your school is going to change. Your responsibilities will change. Your friends may change. Your hair is going to change colour. Your body is going to change. And the list goes on... Usually change comes at the most inconvenient time as well. But as Confucius said: "An inconvenience is an unrecognized opportunity." Get comfortable with change and seize the opportunities! When things are simple, the mind says "that can't be right." It has trouble trusting things that are simple. It wants an explanation.
A tree, for example, needs good soil, water and sun to grow. Simple on the surface but complex when you dig into how it does this. Do I need to know the complex workings of a tree to understand and trust the process? No, but the mind wants it. When I think of my life, simplicity comes from my intuition. Deep down I always know what I need to do and what is right for me in that moment. But then my mind gets in the way and tries to rationalize everything and turns it into a complex mess that takes me off track. My heart and gut have never steered me in the wrong direction. My mind on the other hand... Well... Let's say I'm still working on fixing those complex workings. Where are you adding complexity to your life that, if you listened to your soul, would be simple? |
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