Focus
Now, this is a little different from all the practical stuff I’ve been teaching you here. Today, however, we’re going to look at a certain power that you have. All of us have that power. It’s the power of shaping our mind.
Duh, I hear you say. Not that again. It got old long ago.
Hang in there. You probably know The Secret and other books of that kind. You may even have heard of “Think and Grow Rich” (which really IS old). And if you care to go further back, what I’m trying to explain here can be found in many religious teachings as well. Not that I’m going down that lane, but I’m just saying this to make you realize that the power of the human mind has always fascinated those who really think.
And this is how it works: We receive millions of bits of information every second of our lives. Sensory input is gigantic. You can test this if you just close your eyes for a few seconds and listen to what’s around you. I’ll wait for you.
See? Now that you were paying attention, you heard lots of things that you usually ignore. (I heard the cars on the road in front of my house, for example.)
Our brain filters all input we get. The gatekeeper (which is called the amygdala) only lets those bits of information pass that it deems important to us. And in fact, we tell the amygdala what is important by what we think about and by what we pay attention to.
Basically, we get what we focus on, in a very literal sense. We get more information served up by our clever brain. It decides which headline actually gets noticed, which ad makes our eyes stop for a moment, and what else enters our busy heads. And it’s all based on our daily thought patterns.
Turn those around, and you can actively determine what comes into your life by what you think about and what you pay attention to. You will always get more of the same. Make sense?
There is a trick to this: The brain doesn’t understand a “NO”. So if you’re focusing on not getting ill – well, you’ll notice all kinds of illnesses and focus on that because the words “ill” and “sick” capture your attention. If you focus on staying healthy – you will notice entirely different things like information about good foods or fun exercise.
“But how can I change my thoughts?”, you might ask.
You can track your normal worries and turn them around, so you shift the focus to something you want, rather than something you do not want. And then your brain will start serving up different information which will help you make different choices and this in turn will gradually change your life – into a direction that feels much better.
Here’s a tapping round to help:
KP: Even though I’ve always run on autopilot, just letting my thoughts and worries run wild, I’m okay the way I am and I’m open to the possibility that I can take better control of my thoughts and actually change my life that way.
Even though I have never thought about what I’m thinking all the time, and it seems that I’m always worrying, I’m okay the way I am and I’m open to the possibility that it could even be fun to change my thinking.
Even though I never thought it was important to look at my random thoughts, I’m okay the way I am and I’m open to the possibility that maybe the focus of my thoughts is important after all.
IE: Heck, I’m just letting my thoughts run wild.
OE: I’m just letting everything get at me.
UE: My job, my worries, my family, what if I get ill …
UN: Man, it’s a jungle in my head!
CP: I never realized that!
CB: My whole mind talk is a mess!
UA: No wonder I’m tired all the time.
AW: My thoughts are just running wild.
Take a deep breath!
IE: Funny thing, really.
OE: I never paid attention to my thoughts before.
UE: But now I see they are really running wild.
UN: Maybe I can actually tame them.
CP: It feels like a waste to let them wander all over the place all the time.
CB: Especially if my thoughts are leading to inefficient choices.
UA: Maybe I can try this new idea.
AW: Maybe I can actually focus my attention.
Take a deep breath!
IE: I wonder what would happen if I change my thoughts?
OE: Would that really change my life?
UE: Of course, I don’t really have anything to lose, right?
UN: If I do nothing, I stay where I am right now.
CP: And if a little effort on directing my thoughts could change that …
CB: I could give it a try.
UA: After all, it’s not exactly fun to worry all the time.
AW: So I’ll turn my worries around.
Take a deep breath!
IE: I choose to focus on solutions, rather than worry.
OE: I choose to think happy thoughts rather than complaining.
UE: I choose to find something nice to think about every morning.
UN: I choose to think about good results.
CP: I choose to pay attention to my thoughts and shape them anew.
CB: I allow myself to have fun with this, too!
UA: And it’s much nicer to think about solutions than worry.
AW: I feel better already!
Take a deep breath!
What are your classical thought patterns? And what’s the turn-around? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
If the abbreviations don’t mean anything to you, you can sign up free my free ebook on the right hand side. That will help you to learn EFT, and use the tapping rounds I provide here. You’ll also receive a complimentary subscription to my newsletter.
Image source: F. Moebius