Whatever You Put Your Focus On…

Have you ever noticed that whatever you focus on, you get more of?

When I was in my teens we lived in a cul-de-sac of about a dozen houses at the end of a fairly busy street. My brother Richard was flexing his boundaries and stayed out way past his bed time.

It was late, and the neighborhood was very quiet as he stealthily made his way along the street and up the path to our front door. All of a sudden, out of nowhere there was a cacophony. Lights snapped on, curtains swung open and shouts could be heard in the street.

Apparently, under the stress of thinking about what would happen if he was caught coming home so late, he forgot about the empty glass milk bottles standing like soldiers guarding the entrance to the front door. Normally, in the morning they’d be magically replaced with full bottles of rich, creamy milk.

He was so focused in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the milk bottles … until he walked right into them, and sent them crashing down the stone steps making enough noise to wake the whole neighborhood.

After he had been reprimanded by my mum, not just for being so late, but for making such a commotion, I asked him what happened. He said, “I don’t know. I was trying so hard to not make any noise. I didn’t want to wake anybody up, especially mum.”

He was so focused on what he didn’t want, and that was exactly what he created.

The subconscious mind doesn’t understand “didn’t” or “not”. It just notices where your attention is, and assumes that must be what you want more of. Otherwise, why would you be spending so much time thinking about it?

Have you ever looked at your life and wondered why it didn’t always match what you really wanted? Consider the possibility that what you say you want and what you spend your time focusing on may not always be the same thing. Whatever you put your focus on, you get more of!