“Change follows the focus of your attention.” — John Maxwell
Before we dive into this teaching, I want you to ponder on that quote just for a moment. It’s a powerful statement and I think about it a lot. I guess you could say I focus on what I’m focusing on!
It’s easy to keep our focus on the negatives. As sad and true as that is, it’s because the negatives tend to scream louder than the great things in our lives. It’s also the same reason why it’s easier to adopt bad habits over good habits. Bad habits feel good in the moment, and good habits sometimes take years before we see the return on our investment. Negative things require our attention right now. And no matter how far we try and hide from them, they’ll find us! And the worse thing we can do is be in denial that they need attention. But there is a proper way to and ratio to focus our attention and energy.
I had the privilege and honor to speak at a few sessions on building teams and leadership development at Hardscape North America and Equip Exposition in Louisville, KY just over a week ago. There were over 27,000 attendees at the Kentucky Exposition Center for this incredible event that I encourage everybody in the hardscape or landscape industry to attend. There is nothing else like it to expand your thinking as a leader and / or business owner. In conversations with dozens of leaders after my talks and during network events, one of the common themes I observed is what leaders are choosing to focus on. All but a few had anything to say about the people and things they were focusing on that they wanted to pour fuel on to expand that they were grateful for, what was working, and where momentum was starting. Yes, we want to improve the things that are maybe toxic or energy draining. But when we don’t give attention to the great people we have around us (our families, our rockstar team members, supportive clients, etc.) and we continue to focus the bulk of our energy on the negative, people will get tired of the drama and move on to what they feel are greener pastures. The common trend here is that most people pour more energy and focus into the lowest common denominators in their lives and leadership and not enough into the right things that we should be expanding on!
This quote hit home by Robin Sharma. He said “What you focus on grows, what you think about expands, and what you dwell upon determines your destiny.”
How many of your lives and leadership feels like you’re entering each and every day like a reptile? The only goal today is to “not die”. There is no thoughts or energy going to getting better not just for others, but even for yourself. You just want to “get through another day”. You have to change to change that “stinking thinkin”!
Here are some of my observations from many recent conversations I’ve been a part of and what led me to this timely blog.
Our actions follow our thoughts. What you think about naturally influences how you behave. The things you do or don’t do. If your thoughts are negative or you feel helpless in your leading (which is a sad reality how many leaders truly do feel helpless right now), then your actions will follow suit. Leaders, you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you today. This is because your thoughts drive your actions. When you or I spend time really thinking about an idea, a habit, or an opportunity, those thoughts will inspire us to take action towards those items! If you focus on crap, crap will expand!
Our attitude follows where our mind is at. When you fill your mind and meditate on things that are true, reputable, authentic, compelling, and what you are grateful for – the best things and not the worst things; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. When we fill our minds with things that are healthy, good, inspiring, helpful, and positive, it’s tough to maintain a bad attitude! There is so much negativity and toxicity all around us, it’s no wonder the attitudes are following suit.
Good thinking requires focus. One of the more interesting ideas i’ve been sharing with leaders is how a thought can start out simple, but the more you focus on it, the more complex it becomes. That’s where most people give up; once the thought gets complex, they turn their attention right over to something else that is simple and easy. But maintaining that focus helps you fight through the complexity until you have a simple thought again. But now it’s a thought you deeply understand. This is where leaders resort back to their comfort zone because it’s what they know. I encourage you to carve out intentional quiet time daily to think what you want to focus on for that day. This needs to happen daily. At least until you make proper focus a habit.
Positive change requires attention. Here’s what I know: if I’m going to see transformation happen in my world, then I must give it my attention; I have to commit the necessary time to think about and dream about what lasting positive change is needed, and how that transformation can be achieved. Focus on it until it comes to fruition.
I don’t know where you find yourself today in your journey. You might be reading this and you’re not even done yet and your focus is already thinking about what you’re going to have to deal with today. You can’t even get through this read without checking your phone for a problem that just arose. But I want you to know that you go where your thoughts go, because, “Change follows the focus of your attention.” I encourage you to set aside a few minutes, take a pen and piece of paper, and capture some of the thoughts that go through your mind. Just jot them down as they come into your brain. Do this for 5 minutes, or maybe 10 minutes, or longer if you’d like.
At the end of your time, take a look at the thoughts you’ve jotted down. Are they positive or negative? Hopeful or hopeless? Full of dreams or full of worries? From there, separate them into categories. Focus Category and Improvement Category. Give 80% of your attention to the focus category, and 20% of your focus to the improvement category. Take time to have gratitude for all of the great things going on in your life. Imagine what our lives as leaders would look like if we took time to think about every day before we kick the day off what we are going to and NOT going to focus on today!
What we focus on expands!
Remember that the change you desire in all areas of your leadership follows the focus of your attention. If you focus on crap, crap expands. If you focus on positive change, positive change happens. Your health and wellness, your spiritual journey, your relationships, your company culture, your marriage, your kids, your hobbies. I could go on all day! Get that list going of the areas you want to see improve in your life.(start simple with just 1-2 or you’ll get overwhelmed). If you want to really get vulnerable, send me your list once you get it started and we can talk about it. Focus wisely and don’t give up. Your people need you at your best!