photo credit: Jer­rychar­lotte

“I don’t care how much power, bril­liance or energy you have, if you don’t har­ness it and focus it on a spe­cific tar­get, and hold it there you’re never going to accom­plish as much as your abil­ity war­rants.” — Zig Ziglar

Focus.

It’s an inter­est­ing thing…focus is. 

At this very moment, I’m focused on writ­ing this piece here at the Jun­gle of Life.  Except…except it is easy to wan­der, to let my mind drift else­where.  And when I do this — my focus shifts.  It’s not that I’m no longer focus­ing.  Instead, it’s that I’m choos­ing to focus on some­thing else.

Per­haps the new snow on the ground out­side.  Or what I’ll have for break­fast.  Or Face­book.  Or why that car cut in front of me on the high­way ear­lier today.  Or any num­ber of things — things that may or may not really deserve my focus.

When I do this — when I shift my focus from what I’m doing to some­thing else — that thing I’m work­ing on loses impor­tance.  More than that, even — my drift­ing focus keeps me rooted in what has always been.

What?

Have you ever said (either aloud or silently) some­thing like “I really want to ______.” (where the blank space rep­re­sents some­thing you have said).  And then — that thought leaves you, per­haps to never be revis­ited again, or per­haps to come up days/months/years down the road — with a twinge of regret for never hav­ing acted upon it.

Why?

We can all have these great thoughts of things we want to do/try/be.  And then…it is easy to fall into the trap of doing what we’ve always done.

We let our thoughts drift…from one thing to the next.

And before we know it — another day/month/year has passed, and there we are doing what we have always done.

Today, I chal­lenge you to add some clear focus to some­thing that has mean­ing to you.  Maybe it’s some­thing you’ve dab­bled in.  Maybe it’s some­thing you have really put a lot of time and effort into already (very awe­some!).  Maybe it’s some­thing that has just kind of lin­gered around in your brain (and in your heart, especially). 

Up the focus!

And be very clear about this — it’s not about “upping the focus” in every­thing you do (there is prob­a­bly not a need to be more focused on mak­ing that daily pot of cof­fee, for instance).  This is specif­i­cally about tak­ing one aspect of you and upping your focus fac­tor in that area.

This is not about mul­ti­task­ing your way through life — this is much more about single-tasking.  And in that — focus­ing on that very thing you are doing, at that moment. 

In this case, espe­cially, though — it is about choos­ing one thing of mean­ing to you — that you will really up the focus on this year.

Some moments when you are focus­ing on this will be easy.  Some will be chal­leng­ing.  Through it all — know that your mind is a pow­er­ful force — and that you have the choice in what that amaz­ing mind of yours focuses on.  As you begin down this path of delv­ing more into some­thing of mean­ing to you — in the moments that you are in that space — be fully in that space (phys­i­cally and men­tally).  Focus.  Focus on that one par­tic­u­lar thing for the duration. 

Do this — and your life will unfold in amaz­ing and mean­ing­ful ways…

photo credit: Joel Olives

“How does one become a but­ter­fly?” she asked. “You must want to fly so much that you are will­ing to give up being a cater­pil­lar.” ~ Anonymous

Com­fort Zones

Mmmm…that big cushy sofa in your liv­ing room.  The bed you’ve had for ten years.  The same fam­ily vaca­tion spot you’ve vis­ited as long as you can remember.

There’s com­fort in these “zones”. 

The j-o-b you’ve been doing for the last ten years.  The tele­vi­sion show reruns you con­tinue to watch.  The rela­tion­ships you con­tinue to hold onto.  The …_______ {fill in the blank}.

There’s com­fort in these “zones”, too.

Let’s look at that a bit deeper.  That sofa.  You’ve had it for years.  Evenings, after a long day at work…there’s a true com­fort in plop­ping down there.  The feel, the look, the way it forms to you…is com­fort­ing.  There’s some­thing that draws you to that place, wel­com­ing you in.

It’s nice, isn’t it — how you “feel” when you plop your­self down into that sofa (or what­ever it is for you that’s a real source of com­fort and joy).

What about that job you have, though?  The one you’ve been doing for years.  Or those rela­tion­ships you con­tinue to hold onto. 

Things you do because you’ve always done them — and there’s com­fort even if there isn’t joy. 

There’s a com­fort in the know­ing that it’s (what­ever “it” is) there.  (good or bad)

And the whole thought of step­ping out of that com­fort zone…well, it feels really daunt­ing.  That, and — you know — maybe that “out­side your com­fort zone” thing you’ve been think­ing about…well, what if you look like a great big fool when you try it.  What will every­one think? 

Hmmm.…

Yoga

Per­haps it seems strange to segue into yoga from here.

Let me explain…

I’m not unlike you.  I can quickly get pretty damn used to those com­fort zones in my life.  And, well…some of them are good.  Some also hold me back, though.

Let’s go back a cou­ple of years…

The idea of try­ing yoga is some­thing that has kept appear­ing before me.  And I’m drawn to it — and to the whole mind/body con­nec­tion.  There’s this thing, though — it’s out­side of my com­fort zone.  I’ve never tried yoga — cer­tainly not pub­licly, in a class.  I don’t have any of the equip­ment.  The few peo­ple I per­son­ally know who prac­tice yoga are all female.  Whoa!  Lots of com­fort zone red flags.

And guess what?

Because I allowed myself to be lim­ited by the walls I built up around my area of com­fort, I also let the oppor­tu­nity to prac­tice yoga elude me. (can you relate?)

Change

Change.  It hap­pens every day.  Some­times it hap­pens around us, and there’s noth­ing we can do about it (think road con­struc­tion, the new fam­ily that moved into the neigh­bor­hood, etc).  Some­times change is pre­sented to us — and from our “com­fort zone”, we accept it (think new respon­si­bil­i­ties at work, a new time for your favorite tv show, etc). 

How about get­ting out of those com­fort zones, though?

When we actively choose to change, and to make those changes — we ARE actively step­ping out of our com­fort zones. 

Back To Yoga

Think of a time you have actively cho­sen to make a change in your life…to step out­side of that com­fort zone.  How did it go?  Even if it didn’t go as well as you had hoped, I’m sure you can still take some­thing from the expe­ri­ence (espe­cially when it’s some­thing that’s spo­ken from your heart). 

About a year ago, I chose to step out­side of that com­fort zone I had cre­ated — the one around exer­cise and what I could and could not do.  I signed up to par­tic­i­pate in a weekly yoga class.

Was it scary? 

Think of that first day going to school, or your first day on a new job (espe­cially when you don’t know any­one).  Yep, it was pretty much like that.  Thoughts going through my head:  would I look like a fool, what if I couldn’t get into some cer­tain posi­tion, would I look like a novice amongst experts, would I feel out of place, would I slow the class down…

And guess what??

They were just that — thoughts in my head!  In fact, I walked into a class (and instruc­tor) that wel­comed me.  When I didn’t “get” one of the posi­tions, help was right there.  When I couldn’t do some things (okay — there are just cer­tain posi­tions my body is not ready for yet!) I also real­ized there were oth­ers there as well. 

Today I con­tinue prac­tic­ing yoga, at the same stu­dio I began at one year ago.   The shift:  by actively choos­ing to change, this place of fear and unknow­ing has went from feel­ing like it was too far out of my com­fort zone to try — to today where it is a com­fort zone.  And this new com­fort zone — it’s one that I actively look for­ward to, much like the bed I sleep in. 

What’s It Mean To You

So, actively look at your life.  Be hon­est with your­self and see the com­fort zones you are allow­ing which limit you in some way. 

How can you change, to step away from these places and more fully into the com­fort zone of your soul?

---

by Lance Ekum