What you focus on you get more of…

Hi everyone

In the Star Wars movie, The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gonn Jinn says to Anakin:

‘Always remember, your focus determines your reality.’

It’s a slightly corny moment in the movie but the words highlight something that seems to often be true… so well done for the smart writing George Lucas!

A person’s focus in certain situations does seem to have an influence over what they attract in life. Have you ever noticed that when you buy a new car, suddenly you start to see that car everywhere even though you didn’t notice it before? This also happens when you are thinking about a holiday and then spot travel advertisements everywhere. Were they there before?

Yes …but your brain wasn’t scanning for them and so you didn’t notice. Focusing on a thought, or having a certain mind-set, seems to inform your brain that something is important to you and so it helpfully looks around for what it thinks you want. It reminds me of a good mate of mine who has a penchant for redhead lasses. I’ve been out with him when he has spotted a lovely copper-haired lady about 1km away! It’s quite a gift……

The more you focus on something, the more your brain looks for it. This can work in a strong positive way when you are focused on achieving a goal. The more laser-like your focus becomes on that goal, the more your brain will try and help you get there. Unfortunately it can also work the other way round. The more you focus on negative things and stuff you don’t want to happen; your brain goes looking for that in quite an unhelpful way.

For example, if you have formed an opinion of yourself that people don’t like you and you believe that people will reject you if you approach them; you tend to see rejection everywhere and actually bring it on yourself in a subconscious way as you behave in a manner that makes people withdraw from you.

‘All that we are is the result of what we have thought.’– Buddha

Most people are not aware how much their behaviour is driven by their subconscious mind. The majority of what you do is influenced by what is stored in your subconscious and this is largely unknown to you – like an iceberg of which only 10% is visible, while 90% of the structure is hidden….hello…anyone see the movie Titanic?!

Sigmund Freud, the great psychoanalyst, speculated that this part of the mind was not directly accessible to awareness. In part, he saw it as a dump box for urges, feelings and ideas that are tied to anxiety, conflict and pain. These feelings and thoughts have not disappeared and according to Freud, they are there, exerting influence on our actions and our conscious awareness. The job of the subconscious is to attract circumstances and situations that match the images you have within. So what does this mean?

It means you can only really become aware of what is in your subconscious mind by your behaviour and then it’s often too late and very frustrating. In order to change your focus you need to try and shift the beliefs stored in your subconscious and this can, in time start attracting different outcomes. This can be challenging but if you can affect change in your attitudes and feelings about yourself and others, your focus can shift in many positive ways.

Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. Be aware of your thinking patterns and the beliefs you have about yourself. It sounds corny but looking for the positive in people and situations really can make a difference and help you get what you want.

Take care and be kind to each other

Janine