| We all love to achieve our goals, and I suppose most | | | | they get such-and-such a goal. What are they |
| of us experience some twinge of envy when | | | | focussing on? Like an endless loop tape, they are |
| someone gets something that we want too. What | | | | focussed on all the negatives in their life all of the |
| have they done that we didn't? Why should they | | | | time. |
| have all the luck? | | | | The second meaning of focus has to do with where |
| It's lovely to blame luck because then we can | | | | you "shine the spotlight." When things don't work out |
| absolve ourselves of responsibility for not achieving | | | | as planned, many people have a tendency to talk and |
| our goals. Unfortunately, "responsibility" has become | | | | think it terms of their "failure." Then, before long, |
| synonymous with "blame" and they are not the same | | | | they give up on the goal. What makes this worse is |
| at all! "Response-ability" is our ability to respond, as | | | | that they can easily and quickly find a couple of |
| you can now see from my deliberate mis-spelling of | | | | dozen drinking buddies who will clap them on the |
| the word, and that response is our ability to shift our | | | | back and yell, "Join the club! Now you know it doesn't |
| focus. | | | | work too! Another beer?" |
| Do not underestimate the power of focus. The | | | | It is imperative that you focus on the fact that |
| human facility for being able to consider things from | | | | success is possible. Barriers have been broken |
| many different angles can and will shape your | | | | throughout history. Roger Bannister's four minute mile |
| destiny. Your entire life will be shaped by how you | | | | - considered impossible until he did it, is now a |
| choose to look at things. I seriously urge you to take | | | | relatively common achievement. Edison's electric light |
| responsibility for what happens to you, and your goal | | | | bulb, which, according to legend, had Edison |
| achievement prowess will be instantly magnified a | | | | discovering almost a thousand substances that would |
| thousand fold! | | | | not produce a light bulb, provoked someone to ask |
| Focus has two meanings in this context. It means | | | | him how he felt about having so many failures. |
| being clear - really clear - about what you actually | | | | Edison's now famous, and we presume, slightly |
| want. Clarity in the same sense that you might focus | | | | astonished reply was: |
| a camera lens. It may sound daft to talk about being | | | | "I didn't have any failures. I simply found nine hundred |
| clear on what you want, but if you want to achieve | | | | and ninety nine ways that didn't work." |
| your goals, take heed! In my experience most people | | | | Edison never focused on anything other than his |
| do two things that are significantly different from | | | | successful outcome. Now you can decide which is his |
| that. First, they harp on endlessly about what they | | | | greater legacy: the light by which you may well be |
| don't want. They will tell you how situation X or | | | | reading this, or the lesson he taught us that can |
| circumstance Y is no longer going to be there when | | | | change your life now. |