Read about the important “Law of Focus” and what it means for us in practice:
Law 6: THE LAW OF FOCUS
What you focus your attention on grows
This law teaches us that whatever we focus our attention on grows.
This is a far-reaching and very empowering discovery. It means we energize whatever we focus our attention on. Our attention “brings to life” out of the vast field of infinite energy or pure potentiality whatever we focus on. This has now been confirmed by Quantum mechanics which has proven that observation by a conscious observer is responsible for the collapse of the wave function (Heisenberg principle) into actual particles in the field of potentiality. In other words, the waves of energy or potential that make up the field of reality that we live and move and breathe in become actual time-space events when they are observed. This is how phenomenon pops out of the field when we focus our attention on it.
The power of attention
Attention, it seems, is the magic wand of creation—at least when it comes to your experiences and mine! So let me ask you—how are you using your power of attention? How are you using this, amazing ability, this priceless gift?
Are you focusing on difficulties, lack, and illness or are you focusing on all the blessings in your life right now? What exactly are you doing? If you want to live a happy live, it’s important to take the time to take a good look at exactly what you are doing. Ask yourself—what is the general tone of your thinking? Is it a prayerful song of gratitude from morning to evening for the blessings of life—or is it one long complaint? And what is your experience? If you look carefully (and are honest) you will see that your experience is a perfect reflection of your focus. Always! And again this is because thought is cause and experience is effect. So when we look at the power of our thinking in terms of what we focus on, we see it is all about learning to use the power of our attention wisely. This is an extremely important key when it comes to understanding why our lives are like they are. And it’s also extremely empowering because we can learn to consciously direct the power of our focus.
So let’s look more closely at this phenomenon.
Focusing on this moment
Here’s a big one. What is the general drift or tendency of your mental life? Do you spend a lot of time dwelling on the past? Or are you one of those people who is always worrying about the future? And does the thought of the future give you anxiety and sleepless nights? So much so that you fail to actually notice this moment?
Or do you actually notice this moment? Are you mindful enough to actually be able to focus enough on what is happening right now? Are you able to actually experience and enjoy this moment? It’s embarrassing but the honest truth is that most of us have a pretty hard time doing this. Most of us spend most of our lives somewhere else (at least in thought)!
And frankly, you might not even be conscious of what you are doing. And if you’re not conscious of what you are doing, you might not be aware of the fact that you actually have a choice! You might not realize that you can actually choose what you focus your attention on. But of course to do this, you must first notice what you’re actually doing. So you have to start by watching yourself for a while so you become aware of the general drift or tendency of your daily thinking. Once you become aware of this, you can begin to exercise the power of choice and begin to consciously choose what you focus your attention on.
And yes, it sounds simple, but it’s not always easy to do—especially in the beginning. And no, there’s isn’t any magic wand or secret formula that makes this happen all at once and forever. Rather learning to focus the power of your attention is a lifelong project.
But don’t despair! Just the fact that you are becoming aware of your thoughts and how you are using the power of focus is a great step forward. Especially if you can see that you are using the power of your attention in a negative way. This awareness means you are beginning to understand the way the mind works and that you are more and more able to see the cause and effect relationship between your thoughts and your experiences. This is crucial if you want to become the master of your focus.
It’s also important to realize that choosing our focus is our only freedom. This is where we exercise our free will. So keep noticing what you are doing and keep practicing. Make up your mind to focus on the Highest and Best you can conceive of. And do it again. And again! This is the magic and joy of life. This is the great adventure. So enjoy your adventure and enjoy learning. Amazing things will happen as you become better and better at focusing on the wonder of this moment!
Focus and health
What is your focus when it comes to your health? This is a very interesting and challenging question for most of us. When you’re not feeling well, do you focus on every ache and pain—or do you focus on the wonderful strength and healing power of your body and of Life itself? You can see this is a most important question and crucial choice, especially when we know that whatever we focus our attention on grows.
According to the law of focus, if we feel weak and then focus our attention on feeling weak, we will feel even weaker. Because whatever we focus our attention on grows. And if that is the case, then the reverse must also be true. If we focus on strength—on whatever strength we do have—we will feel stronger. Which means we have an amazing power at our disposal in terms of health and healing—so why not use it?
When you think about it, it’s quite fascinating to realize that we have this amazing power at our disposal and we’re not using it! How can it be that we’re not using this priceless gift? Obviously because most of us don’t know about the power of focus! We don’t know it exists because nobody taught us how the mind works. So we don’t recognize this power or understand what it is and how to use it. Instead we are walking around in a daze, asleep to our true power.
But now you are waking up! So claim your true power and think about the law of focus when you’re feeling ill. And use this wonderful power wisely. Watch yourself carefully and see what you are thinking and saying and focusing your attention on. And if you discover that you are sabotaging yourself and your recovery, you can start changing your focus now! It’s never too late.
Focus and challenges
The same holds true for all the many challenges and so-called problems we face in our daily lives. What is the focus of our attention when we face so-called difficulties? Do we focus on the potential in each situation and how everything in life is supporting us or do we focus on the hassle, the inconvenience, and the irritation? When you know about the power of focus, you can see how important your choice is.
So make up your mind that whatever it is, you are going to grow stronger because of it and evolve into a more magnanimous and compassionate person—and watch yourself turn every situation into a true blessing, for yourself and everyone involved!
It’s your choice
So we see that what we focus our attention on grows. You focus your attention on something/someone/some thought and then you get to experience what you focused on.
It is also important to remember that the focus of our attention is always our choice—always! We are the choice-makers—always—whether we are conscious of what we are choosing/doing or not.
I could build a practice on this one question. “How do we get that spark back?”
The answer is shockingly simple. Be the person you were when you had spark. It’s no secret that in the beginning of a relationship we are on our best behavior. However, a more subtle reality is that falling in love makes us feel our most alive. In that high vibration, sharply alive energy, to put it simply, it’s easy to be exciting, sexy, and engaged. Not too mention your formerly single self was doing a lot of cool and exciting things – that you may or may not do any more.
Fast forward a few months or years and in many cases that highly charged vibe wears off. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “We have bills, pets, kids, cars, jobs, and responsibilities up the wazoo. I am run down and drug out most of the time. I don’t have the energy to fake being ‘madly in love’ ”.
Here’s the trick. You have to get back to what turned you on before the relationship. What made you feel the most alive and engaged? What brought you the most bliss and joy. If you want to get that spark back in your marriage, you have to get that fire lit underneath yourself again. Working on your marriage never really works. You really only have yourself and your energy to play with. So, why not do just that. Play.
You may be wondering, “But what about my spouse??? It takes two to tango. Don’t they need to do some changing too?” Maybe, maybe not. However, you stand a lot better chance of getting someone else to change by leading that band energetically then you do by begging, pleading, fighting, and nagging. If you get get yourself turned on and lit up again, chances are very, very high your beloved will follow right along, probably because they are curious about where all the fun is.
So, pull out your photo album. Find some pictures of yourself right before you met your honey and the first few weeks you were together. Who was that woman? Where did she go? I can guarantee you this. If you can find her, you are at least 90% of the way down the road back to, not just sparks, but fireworks in your marriage.
EVEN A LITTLE BIT OF RECOGNITION CAN GO AN INCREDIBLY LONG WAY IN A PERSON’S LIFE
JOHN MAXWELL
I am often astounded when I see how unappreciative people have become. I am not talking about buying someone a vehicle or sending him or her on a boat trip around the world in appreciation here. I am talking about something much more simple. What I have in mind is the simple and low energy activity of moving your lips and forming the words, “Thank you.” Society has become sour, critical and self-centred and takes far too much for granted. I will start with children. Children today begin at a very young age to become takers and usually sustain this parasite behaviour habit into adulthood. I have seen many parents go without to ensure a good education for their children. I have seen how parents worked two jobs and forfeit their health and best years of their life to ensure that their ungrateful offspring can go around with “designer or brand name” clothing. I can feel the veins in my neck popping when I see how ill mannered children treat their parents as if they are brain dead morons. Appreciation usually only enters the picture when the spoiled child needs to lay his hands of the wallet of their “well worn” parents.
The inability to express appreciation is rife in society today. Not only children go around taking things for granted. When last did you catch someone expressing honest out of the heart unsolicited appreciation? People are starved of this vital ingredient in all levels of society today. People blush and become embarrassed when you thank them or express your honest appreciation. You can detect that they are out of practice receiving appreciation. The sudden rush of “good chemicals” from their brains that are released when you feel appreciated makes them dizzy and tend to stun them.
I WILL TODAY EXPRESS MY APPRECIATION AS IF I HAVE AN ENDLESS STOCK OF IT IN THE STOREHOUSE OF MY MIND
If you want to exert serious influence on people, learn about the power of honest appreciation. Express and show your appreciation more often and see what enormous difference it can make in the lives of people. The rumour that has been around that appreciation cannot be experienced when you become older or when your hair turns grey is just an urban legend. You never grow too old, rich, or fat to enjoy appreciation. It is something that you obtain free of charge and that will not bankrupt you if you hand it out in generous proportions. You can freely use this powerful tool on parents, gardeners, strangers, and even intimate friends.
Invite people to tell you more about themselves, their hopes, their fears, and dreams. Show real interest in what they have to say. Learn to take the focus off your own needs, fears, and ego driven aspirations for a while. Most people are so ego driven that they find it very difficult to listen. Do not try and top every story they tell with one of your own that makes their achievement bleak in comparison. Send people “thank you “ notes. I have seen mothers treasure a thank you note for decades that a son or daughter wrote them in a moment of weakness. You also do not need to wait for special occasions to show your appreciation. A single flower or a one-minute phone call can often do more for a worn out mother or father than the medication he or she takes for his or her depression or insomnia. Become a strong source of influence today by giving your appreciation freely to everybody you meet. The amazing thing about giving appreciation and recognition is that it also makes you feel good and worthy.
Separate brain regions firing in unison may be what keeps us focused on important things while we ignore distractions.
A deluge of visual information hits our eyes every second, yet we’re able to focus on the minuscule fraction that’s relevant to our goals. When we try to find our way through an unfamiliar area of town, for example, we manage to ignore the foliage, litter and strolling pedestrians, and focus our attention on the street signs.
Now, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered that the brain’s control center syncs up to its visual center with high-frequency brain waves, directing attention to select features of the visual world.
“It’s been known that the prefrontal cortex plays an important role in focusing our attention, but the mystery was how,” said neuroscientist Robert Desimone, who led the study, published in Science Friday. “Now we have some insight into how it has that focusing role — through this synchrony with our sensory systems.”
This novel understanding of attention may inform future studies on disorders like schizophrenia and ADHD, in which patients are easily distracted and the prefrontal cortex is thought to be impaired. The region’s newly discovered role as a source of synchronized brain activity may be crucial to understanding these diseases.
Humans enjoy playing board or computer games, provided the games are difficult and there are obstacles. We enjoy planning, scheming, being tested and challenged in order to finish the game. The challenges and obstacles make the game enjoyable and hook us to play for hours. Life would be senseless and meaningless without problems, hardships, setbacks and obstacles. Without the crises we experience, we will not appreciate the successes or peak experiences. The Chinese symbol forcrisis comprises two characters, namely danger and opportunity. Every crisis may elicit feelings of apprehension, but it also presents an opportunity for change, growth and self-mastery. We do not always understand why certain difficult people come into our life, but there are no coincidences.
We do not always believe or accept that every person comes into our lives for a reason. We do not make mistakes or poor decisions because everything that happens to us, happens for a purpose and can be perceived as a lesson. The universe will present you with the problems and challenges that you need for your spiritual growth. Every situation, especially the adverse situations, is an opportunity to learn and to discover who you really are. If people betray or hurt you, it may be to teach you about trust or forgiveness. When faced with adversity, you have the opportunity to develop qualities such as inner strength, courage, resilience, self-discipline, willpower and resourcefulness. When people disappoint, manipulate or use you, they present you with opportunities to control your temper, to transcend your ego and to develop qualities such as patience, tolerance, unconditional love or forgiveness. Difficult people give you the opportunity to behave pro-actively and to access more light in order to attain self-mastery.
There is a starting point for everything. Nothing that you ever owned or experienced historically or might experience in the future cannot be traced to a specific starting point, a specific moment when it sprouted and began it’s growth cycle. You must thus start from where you are and not from where you would like to be if you want to become wise. It is important to understand that you are without insight and wisdom if you simply filter each new moment or event through your historical perception filters. Wisdom is already in you, but it is hidden under many historical layers of perception and belief systems. The knowledge and wisdom at your core is waiting for you to proceed one moment at a time. You arrived on this plane with wisdom in your heart and core, but it was soon blotted out by those that took it upon themselves to indoctrinate you into their perceptions about life, death, religion, race and politics.
Take 10 minutes somewhere today to contemplate the information I shared with you today. See if you can understand that what you current think is knowledge and wisdom might just be stuff that you endlessly repeated from early childhood because you have been conditioned to be a copy “machine” for concepts and perceptions that might not be based on truth.
Everyday you make a thousand choices. You choose what to wear, where to go, who to meet, what to eat and what to do. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, YOU decide WHAT TO THINK. One thing is sure and that is that your day will not be better than your thoughts. ...................
Just close your eyes for a moment and see if you can visualise this open toolbox and if you can see the hundreds of tools that are neatly placed in this toolbox. Now look if you can see the maker’s name on these tools. The creator of these tools (thoughts and perceptions) is you. You created thousands of thoughts and perceptions (tools) about everything since your childhood. ..................
When confronted with any situation or problem you reach into this toolbox and take out what you think the most appropriate tool would be and then attempt to fix the problem. It is estimated that your mind thinks at least 2,500 thoughts an hour. Every thought that you think is a tool (perception) that you have that you imagine would work best under specific circumstances. This thought process continues day and night and will do so for the rest of your life. .....................................
I am convinced that we think ourselves to a standstill. We never stop playing with these tools in our toolbox and can hardly ever really relax for a while. If we are not faced with a problem or task that needs completion we still continue to take out these tools and mentally rehears and contemplate how we will use them should something that we fear become a reality. ............................
We are forever thinking and scheming and never become still and tranquil inside. Our bodies might seem relaxed, but deep inside our heads this thought process continues churning around. What I am most worried about is that most of the tools that you have in your toolbox are very old and outdated. .......................
Many of the opportunities, problems and obstructions that you face daily cannot be repaired while you are using old and outdated tools. If you take a modern mechanic’s toolbox and you place the toolbox of a mechanic of fifty years ago next to it you will find that there are major discrepancies. When you are confronted with something that needs repair and you do not have the right tool for the task at hand it can be very frustrating. We usually improvise and try using some other tools and hope that it will also get the job done. ........................
When you are faced with a problem you need to select the right tool for the task at hand. If you do not have the tool in your toolbox it can complicate your life. What most people seem to ignore is that it is sometimes better not to reach for your toolbox when faced with a problem. Sometimes you need time to pass or need to leave the problem with its rightful owner. How well you use your tools is usually reflected in the world you see around you. What would you do if you were faced with any or all of the following? .........................
You get a flat tire on your way to an important customer or meeting. You can fall apart, develop a migraine and think that life is against you or you can take out the right tools (patience and reality) and take care of the problem in a relaxed manner. ........................
You have been working on the computer for hours and suddenly lose all your work. You can drop dead with a heart attack; think that God hates you or you can take out the right tool (sanity and reality) and begin over and this time remember to make a backup of your work. ....................
A lover or wife possibly cheated on you. You can go crazy and get an assassin to take out the potential threat to your relationship, think that you are a failure or you can take out the right tool (no fear of loss) and get on with your life. .......................
When you have the right tools in your toolbox it makes life a lot easier. The choices we make are vital in our lives. The more quality choices we make during any given day the higher the probability of success and peace of mind. ................
I suggest that you equip your toolbox with the best tools you can lay your hands on. It is important to upgrade if you discover that one of your tools are outdated or that a more modern version is available. How would you react if your TV packed up and a technician that obviously knows very little about electronics arrived at your house with only a sledgehammer and a few other primitive tools in his toolbox? I am sure that you will send him away and find someone better qualified and equipped for the task. .....................
You might sometimes be like this incompetent and poorly equipped technician indicated above if you do not often update your tools (thoughts) in your toolbox. You can also have all the right tools in your toolbox and never use them because you are afraid that you might make a mistake. ..................
You must remember that happiness and success is always just one thought (tool) away. You should remember when you find it difficult to cope with something that one new tool (thought) could change your life. One fresh thought and one new idea can change your life from pain and suffering to success and peace of mind. ........................
You are today what you were programmed with yesterday. The choices that you make on a moment-to-moment basis decide your fate and future. You can never feel or perform better than the ongoing thoughts and feelings that you allow to occupy your mind! .......................
The mistake we make is that most of us live our lives on a reactive basis. We start and complete our day in a reactive state of being. Something comes to our attention via our five senses or via a thought in our mind. We automatically slip into the “role” that we created for ourselves many moons ago. We act, react and experience the same feelings and emotions that we embedded with our scrip at its inception. We do exactly the same when new stimuli push the previous “drama” off the stage in our minds. We sustain this reactive mode of thinking until we finally go to bed at night. Most of our days are made up of a tapestry of “roles” that we played in our own colorful way. It is important to understand that nothing is going to change until we do something different. We cannot repeat the same old recipes and expect a different outcome. ....................
You can use the “Portable Life Skills Wisdom” book to develop a range of appropriate scripts that you can use when you are faced with a problem or project that need your attention. You will if you apply the scripts in this book find that you no longer run your life on a reactive basis. The new scripts will help you to live your life in the moment. You will become more realistic. You will treat each event on its own merit. How do you do this? ......................
The Process ....................
Read the first message in your book. Write it down if at all possible. It will assist you to absorb the data provided. Now sit back and close your eyes and visualize how you will apply the specific message in the various areas of your life. See yourself on the screen of your mind using the message in all your day-to-day activities. It is important to attempt to feel and experience the benefits that this new mode of thinking will bring into your life. Do this for ten minutes. Then open your eyes and begin to apply the wisdom on all occasions where appropriate in your activities on that given day. ...........................
Proceed to do the same with second message etc. in your book tomorrow. You will upload almost a thousand powerful recipes if you sustain the process indicated above. You can in less than three years upload a powerful “tool” system that will serve you for the rest of your life. This can be a life changing experience if you apply it daily. You will discover that the ten minutes you invest daily will upload countless new strategies into your subconscious computer. Build a successful and happy life. The key however is action. You can have the best tools available to man and still fail if you don’t use them daily. Wishing you the very best with this endeavor. .............................
Daily Support System (This Blog) ................
You not only have the massive key ideas in the book that you can use when appropriate you also receive daily posts on a wide range of subjects that will expand this system to a level never offered before. Visit this blog daily for fresh new ideas with a sprinkle of historical wisdom that stood the test of time. ..........................
Rene
PORTABLE LIFE SKILLS DAILY WISDOM GUIDE 