Focus, Focus, Focus...

I’m repeating this because I need to remember it myself. Focus is vital, essential, magical in your life. Without focus your photographs are lacking clarity and perspective, they are flat and confused. The same happens in your life; without focus there is nothing that stands out, your energy is scattered and you float in the haze. 

Focus directs your attention, conveys your interest, your energy and your motivation towards a single point. When you focus you restrict your power in a laser beam and point it exactly where it should go; no smudging. When you get used to doing this and keeping the beam pointed, without distractions, you give the best of yourself to the task you are focused on, and you become super efficient and super effective. The more focused you are, the quicker you create your own results. 

I know from experience that when I’m able to stay focused for a long time I can produce "peak experiences" and, above all, I can experience the feeling of being absolutely present in my life; a feeling of abundance and wholeness, where time ceases to be perceived and exist. I think this is exactly what Eckhart Tolle calls "the power of now". Focus is by its very nature selective: if you focus you exclude something else and, as such, the focus perfectly summarises your personal power that you express through choices.

Focusing: I’m exercising my power of choice

Keeping focus: I’m exercising my power of creation

So why do you choose to distract yourself or get distracted? Why do you consciously choose to fill your "dish" with many things and fragment your attention? Why do you jump from task to task? Why do you not feel content with doing one thing at a time and being there just for that? Essentially, this comes down to two reasons: fear and ignorance.

We grow up with the mistaken belief that only by doing so much and only by doing everything right we will be truly appreciated. We grow up with the fear that if we do not catch all the trains that pass we will lose opportunities. We grow up with the fear that in choosing something we will deny ourselves something else that may be important. We grow up with the fear of choosing the wrong thing, while everyone else is making better choices than us. We ignore what our real personal power consists of and we learn to delegate it or give it to someone else. We ignore the meaning of our existence and often are afraid even to begin to explore it.

Do you recognise yourself in any of these statements? For years I have believed many of these assumptions and I have denied myself the pleasure and intensity of a simple and focused life. I filled my life, but I often lived in a hurry to move even further and add more without really enjoying it. Such a pity. Because, in reality, in adding more I lived less, I embodied and created less for myself. Only now can I truly understand this. And now that I see it so clearly, I do not want to forget it.

Focus. Less is more. I choose to put my attention and energy in one place and, as with a gardener, I dedicate myself to growing that idea, that project, that aspiration, with undivided care.

I’ve learned to cultivate trust and patience, to go much slower and see more. When there is less, you see everything much better and you create a very close bond between you and what you are experiencing.

Those who learn to know their mind know that focus is the power to make things happen. True leaders are not multitaskers; true leaders delegate extensively to avoid being distracted in their direction.

We women in particular must learn to understand that taking care of everything and everyone, creating miracles of balancing things out, does nothing but weaken us and make us less effective in giving direction and meaning to our lives. We are searching for appreciation through our ability to hold everything together, but when we close the gate on our full days, we often feel so desperately empty and tired. This is not just physical fatigue, it is a sign of a lack of meaning: we are misusing our focus and our vital energy.

Be ready to focus more. Your life will change. And for the better.