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The Reality of Focus 
Has anyone ever asked you if you see the glass as half-full or half-empty? Most of us canprobably remember hearing this expression at one time or another. Although the real essence of the question, are you optimistic or pessimistic, is an important lesson, there is an even moreimportant and subtle truth here. This truth is that the conscious mind can only hold one thoughtat a time. The previous question asserts this when it asks if you see the glass as half-full
or 
half-empty, there isn’t an option for half-full and half-empty even though this option would beaccurate. In other words, the conscious mind can only focus on one thing at a time.Look around the room you are sitting in right now. Look at your chair, the things on the desk,even the various icons on your computer. Until I pointed them out, you were probably notthinking about them at all. Think about your breathing or your posture. Unless you have arespiratory problem or you are in an uncomfortable position, it is doubtful that these wererecently the subject of your thoughts as well. Yet, all of these things have been an influence inyour environment since you started reading this article.Surrounding you right now there are an infinite amount of things you could be focusing on, yetyour mind can only hold one. This principle of focus is really the key to staying happy,succeeding in goals and solving problems. Because there are an infinite number of things thatyou could focus on but only one that you do focus on, the principle of focus is essentially adecision. A decision about what to focus on. This decision is so important thatAnthony Robbins lists it as the first decision you have to make.How do you feel right now? Are you depressed? Content? Happy? Ecstatic? How you feel comeslargely from what you have decided to focus on. If you are depressed, then chances are yourfocus is on negative aspects of your surroundings. Similarly, if you are happy then chances areyour mind is focusing on positive aspects of your reality. Unfortunately, most people have beenconditioned to believe that their focus represents an average or accurate representation of reality.Nothing could be further from the truth. Your focus merely represents one very minute detail of reality. A similar analogy would be looking at one blue pixel of your computer screen andassuming the screen is blue. This is exaggerated even more in reality. While a computer pixelmay be surrounded by a few hundred thousand other pixels, you are surrounded by
infinity
.What I am really getting at is that there is a large enough sampling of choices in your reality tocreate any feeling you want. At any moment you can focus on something that makes you feelinspired, enthusiastic and joyous or you can focus on something that makes you feel angry,depressed or hateful. The decision you make also affects not only your emotional state but alsoyour ability to solve problems and take effective action. If you have a lot of things to do and youfocus on how large your task is you might never get started. If you instead focus on just doingthe very first task before moving on you can get it done.Let’s meet Bob. Bob just lost his job. During this moment there are an infinite number of thingsBob could focus on. Bob could begin to focus on how unfair this is. He could begin to focus onhow he will have less money for his family. He might then start to focus on how he just bought anew house and how he has no idea how he can keep paying his mortgage. He may also think that
 
this financial and career set back may put extra strain on his already stressed marriage. He thinkshis wife may leave him and take the kids. She may have to get a job to support the children,maybe in a place far away. Bob will be left alone and miserable, hopelessly in debt without thechildren he loves.Bob could also focus on other things. Bob could focus on how this represents a greatopportunity. He may focus on this as an opportunity to start his own business and do work thatreally inspires him. He could focus on how this adversity could allow him to really put hispriorities on his family. He knows it may be difficult, but his wife and children will support him.He can focus on how this jolt will snap him out of his complacency so that he won’t take thingsfor granted and be more grateful to his wife and kids. Bob will strengthen his relationshipsthrough this and it will become an opportunity for him to pursue even more purposeful andpassionate work.Now some of you might be thinking, well Bob isn’t being very realistic. Unfortunately you arefalling into the trap we identified earlier. Both of these are completely realistic situations. As Istated earlier, reality is infinite, it is only perception that is limited. There is also anotherimportant point here. That point is that much of what Bob is focusing on is simply his predictionsfor the future. In other words, Bob isn’t even focusing on just his current reality but hisimagination of his future.The truth is that our perceptions tend to form a self-fulfilling prophecy. If Bob were to focus onthe first picture he may start to get irritable and behave in a way that starts to add further damageto his relationships. As a result Bob’s own focus and intentions ultimately manifests his reality inthat image. Similarly by focusing on the latter image, Bob may take initiative to restore hisrelationships and start his business. Once again, the focus creates the reality. Focus doesn’t justchange the way you feel, it changes the way you behave. When you change the way you behaveyou change your future.Focusing is the essence of goal-setting. All goal setting really is the ability to focus your mind onan objective. By setting written goals you are focusing your mind on what you want andtherefore harnessing your power towards that aim. Writing your goals, visualizing outcomes andaffirming them are all methods to change your focus. Goal setting works so well because of thisself-fulfilling prophecy aspect of focus. Focus becomes reality.Now at this point you may be thinking that this sounds great but it really can’t be that practical. Imean, if it is possible to change your focus to things that empower you and create a brighterfuture while simultaneously making you feel positive emotions, why doesn’t everyone just dothat? The answer is because we aren’t in complete control of our process of focus. Biology andenvironmental factors have greatly shaped what we tend to focus on. If a lion was runningdirectly at you, nature has told you to focus on the potential for impending death not the prettybutterfly flapping its wings in the distance. Some people have also developed habits that tellthem to focus on how they are in a hopeless and desperate situation when they encounter aproblem. These conditioned patterns, both genetic and environmental have guided much of ourfocusing process without our conscious guidance for our entire lives.
 
So how do you take control of focus? You know I wouldn’t have led you up to this point withoutoffering some methods to override past conditioning and take control of this incredibly importantfactor in your life. In my research and experimentation I have found three incredibly effectivetechniques for being able to change your focus. By using these techniques you can begin to focusyour mind on the things that empower you and make you feel great.
Questions
This first tool comes from Anthony Robbins. Anthony Robbins says that questions are thecontrol key to focus. By using questions you can immediately direct your focus onto somethingelse. I have found this tool incredibly effective for changing my own focus, but I must remindyou that it is a habit. Unless you get used to using questions automatically when you encounternegative situations, you may not immediately think of a question to control your focus. Still,there are a handful of questions I like to use all the time to change my focus.
“What is great about this?”
 This is a question Anthony brings up frequently in his tapes that I also use frequently. As long asyou are persistent you can find something great about any situation. A lost job may represent achance to get a fresh perspective on your working life. A failed goal may give you the painnecessary to really grow. A dying relative may affirm your need to really live life to the fullestbefore you too fade away.
“How can I solve this?”
When you encounter a problem, once the problem has been defined, immediately focus on thisquestion. By focusing on this question you are directing yourself to the positive element of thechallenge, not the negative one. By asking, “Why is this happening to me?” you won’t createsolutions.
“Why is my life great?”
 Assuming you ask this question without sarcasm, this can also direct your focus to all the thingsyou really value in life. By focusing on these aspects you won’t get bogged down in the littleinsignificant problems.I’m not going to talk more about questions, but if you are looking for more information you maywant to check out some of Anthony Robbins work on the subject.
Environmental Changes
 As I said previously, we all have conditioned habits that tell us what to focus on. By utilizing thisprocess we can interrupt our focus by simply altering our environment. If you are focusing on areally depressing problem, you could try an activity or environment that causes you to shift yourfocus. Although this method won’t work for the truly overwhelming problems, shifting your
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