WHERE YOU SET YOUR FOCUS, IS WHERE YOU’LL END UP.

A few years ago, I went Downhill Mountain biking in WHISTLER. I hadn’t ridden a bike in 10 years. Now here I was going full speed down a mountain. Talk about a test of focus!

As we explored the trails down the mountain, there was a lot of single track. There were a few wider paths, with all kinds of little rocks. Then one BIG one.

Guess where I was looking.

I couldn’t help but directly stare at the big rock. I ended up hitting it! A dislocated shoulder set me back 4 months.

Oddly, we tend to focus on what can trip us up. When it happens, we say things like I knew it! And it’s easy to give up. But in reality, we should be looking at the larger path – the possibilities and think about what could happen. How do we get around that rock that stands in our way?

SET AN INTENTION

Before getting to concrete goals, we need to have a broad idea of where we want to end up. A bird’s eye look at what we want our future to be like. And most importantly, WHY we want it.

Simon Sinek’s fantastic book and TED Talk, START WITH WHY, implores us to do just that.

WHY – HOW – WHAT.

Sometimes we know what to do (eat less, exercise more). Usually we know how to do it (eat veggies, go for a run). But the part that inspires action is often tough to get out. This is when our WHY makes all the difference.

A WHY will keep us looking in the right direction, but we need to make sure we have that goal in focus.

BREAK IT DOWN

Having a big goal is fantastic, but we can’t make most jumps in a single bound. So what to do?

We need to set actionable, bite-sized steps in order to achieve anything worthwhile. So if our intention is to lose weight, we need to dissect it a little further into something achievable.

“I want to lose 10 lbs”

Great! When do you want to lose it by?

“2 months”

Cool – how are you going to get there?

This leads us to the next step.

MAKE AN ACTION PLAN

Once we have an intention, and we begin to break down the intention into goals, it’s time to take action. Here’s where we get to schedule our workouts, plan our meals and otherwise do the work required to see our intention come to fruition.

Now this blog wouldn’t be complete unless we bring it back to the start. If we keep our intention, goals and action plan front in center in our minds, we will get there. But our attention works the other way as well.

If we focus on why it won’t work, we may end up finding reasons to derail our objectives. If we focus on our past failures, we will be reminded of the weight loss program where we gave up and gained weight. We will think about the injury which kept us from running for 6 weeks.

Getting to an objective isn’t easy, but it’s really simple. Focus on where you want to go, and you will get there. But keep your thinking strong. Keep looking where you want to go. Don’t worry about what could go wrong. Set your intention, break it down and take action.

If you do this, you will avoid the stones that cross your path. The best is yet to come!