On the Focus of Attention

A person afraid of being judged will catch every whisper behind his back, every fleeting glance and smirk — even when none of it has anything to do with him. A person afraid of snakes will see snake-shaped silhouettes everywhere: in a rope that happened to fall on the path, in a garden hose. A jealous man will find confirmation of his fears in every glance another man throws at his companion, in her passing smile. Someone short on money will notice even the tiniest bump in prices.

That’s how our focus of attention works: without meaning to, we zero in on the people, objects and events that hold some special value, interest or danger for us.

But this mechanism has another, enormously powerful side. When we see our goals clearly, our focus of attention starts working toward reaching them:

— We intuitively pick out the right people, opportunities and solutions from a sea of options.

— In every “chance” encounter we spot the resources, the advice or the connections that will help our work grow.

— In any book, or even a passing phrase, we find an idea for a new project or a step toward our own growth.

— In every event we notice the positive turn, and read it as a happy sign of fate.

When it feels like things are arranging themselves on their own, as if by the will of the universe, and luck is on our side — that’s a sign our focus of attention is tuned and locked in. It means the task we handed to the subconscious truly reflects what we want, and that it has accepted it. Because if deep down we don’t believe in our own intention, the unconscious will ignore every signal pointing toward it.

There is no more important skill than learning to manage the “programs” of your focus of attention.

The focus of attention works like an operating system: it “runs” the settings, beliefs, fears, principles and goals loaded into our subconscious. If we want to change the algorithm, we have to find and delete the old “apps” that hold us back, and install new ones that fit what we’re reaching for.

Negative settings push us to look only for confirmation of failure, surrounding us with people who are stuck in their problems and blaming everyone around them. A positive frame, on the other hand, helps us “attract” people who are thriving, and to keep finding more opportunities and more open doors.

Here’s to keeping our attention focused on our most ambitious goals! 😎