“I don’t spend time wondering what might be next; I just focus on trying to savor every day“- Trisha Yearwood
Today when I started writing, I was stuck for a very long time, I just could not jot down my thoughts. Putting my thoughts into words has never been this difficult for me. And as I peeped into my mind, I could see my poor brain getting tired in wandering between my home, my work, my future and what not .That moment, I understood that the reason I could not write is that I am not able to focus on one thing. For the sake of my dear little brain ( the sole source of my bread and butter), I stood up, started walking up and down the room, took my imaginary broom, swept across the thick clouds of vague and random thoughts and then I found it, my article, hiding behind all these random thoughts. As I focused on it, it shone bright and that is how this paragraph came through.
Now that I have given you a nice virtual tour of my brain, it is the time to peep into your own brain and say hello!! While you are reading this article, what other things are you thinking about? Approximately how many thoughts do you have in a day or while doing a particular piece of work? So may that you can’t even count.
Have you ever woken up in the morning feeling already tired? Yes, you read it right, tired in the morning before doing anything at all. Why does this happen? Weren’t you supposed to feel all energetic and fresh?
Before you attribute it to a psychological disorder or any sickness, let me inform you that it happens mostly because your mind was burdened with endless thoughts, his facebook post, her tweets, that whatsapp message, that character in that movie, those harsh words of that friend, those photographs, that dinner, tomorrow’s meeting, Sunday’s date, Saturday’s party and the list goes on and on and on..
How could you not be tired in the morning when your mind has been running this “thought marathon” all the night? When you are going to sleep, clear your mind of all the thoughts and focus only and only on rest and sleep and see how fresh you will feel in the morning.
While you are at it, do not stop just here; apply this approach to everything you do. Focus only on the present, on the work in hand; do not let your thoughts wander here and there. Put all your energy, your thoughts, your concentration and all your focus on what you are doing right now and put all other thoughts, problems, and worries on mute. This will help you feel less tired and less burdened. You will feel lighter and thus become faster.
Focusing on current does not mean losing the sight of your goals or your vision. Your ultimate focus has to be on your goals only. You cannot afford to lose the sight of your goal while focusing only and only on the present work. But didn’t I say we need to focus only on the present? Is it confusing?
Let’s make it simple, if your goal is to travel the world in a stipulated time, how would you accomplish it? You would allocate a particular number of days to each country, plan your journey and start from one country. Imagine you are in the first country of your plan and all you are focusing on is how many more countries are left, how much time it would take and so on. Would you be able to enjoy it? No.
Now reverse the situation, you are travelling in a country and all your focus is on seeing it, enjoying every bit of it and you get so lost in one place that you forget all about your plan and extend your stay. Would you be able to accomplish your goal? No.
Consider one more situation, while you are in one country, you focus only on being there, exploring and enjoying it but at the same time you have your goal in the rearview mirror and as a result you know when you have to start focusing on travelling to another country. Would you be able to enjoy every bit of your travel? Yes. Would you accomplish your goal? Yes. Simple as that.
Now that we know what to focus on when, it is important to address the how part too. How would I be able to focus? How can I stop my mind from wandering? How can I reduce the endless thoughts in my mind? How can I stop worrying? The answer is:
- Always see your glass as half full and not half empty,
- Appreciate what you have; don’t keep whining about what you don’t have.
- Remove all distractions,
- Focus on one thing at a time,
- Focus on the present, the now, don’t linger too much in the future
- Schedule your work, set deadlines for your long term goals.
- Set your priorities and focus only on them, forget everything else,
- Be determined,
- Be completely dedicated to whatever you are doing in a particular moment,
And whenever you feel your mind is becoming a trash bin of unnecessary thoughts, take the imaginary broom of determination and sweep your mind clear and keep that one thing shining bright which you have to focus on.
Remember, “The direction of your focus is the direction your life will move. Let yourself move toward what is good, valuable, strong and true”- Ralph Marston
Wishing you Peace and Abundance…