Focus

The more focused your mind is, the quicker your results will be. A good analogy is focusing the sun’s rays with a magnifying glass, to create fire. In the same way, you can focus your mind on your objective. Another word for focus is concentrate and that is exactly what you should do – concentrate.

 

Be Specific

Be very specific about your goals and dreams as much as you can. Think of your subconscious as an ever-faithful servant. Whatever request you give it, it will act upon, sometimes literally. Ask it for more money and it may go and find you 1p. So be very specific about what you want. See my book  Done: How to Achieve Your Goals and Make Your Dreams Come True, where I go into a lot more detail.

Cut out the Unnecessary

To help you to focus, you must cut out all the unnecessary distractions in your life. As your focus becomes scattered, so do your results. Firstly cut down (or even cut out) TV, radio and surfing the net. Much of today’s media is commercially lead. Program makers want you to be distracted; they want you to think in a certain way, so that you buy their products. Cut down on your information and you will allow you mind to concentrate.
Next, review all your commitments. I’m not going to tell you what you should commit to, but if there is too much going on in your life, you will make slow progress. I’m also not suggesting that you become like a single-minded Olympic athlete, who only lives for one moment every four years. Although the closer you can get to this state, whilst maintaining balance, the better.

Adopt the Positive

Cutting out the unnecessary is a constant process, be discerning about what goes on your radar. Whatever you allow your attention to focus on, adopt the positive. Life happens, but if you can find the positive in as much as you can, then your life will transform. Having a positive mental attitude is not the same as deluding yourself. If you are in debt, telling yourself you are not is delusional. However if you ask the following question, you can start to change anything round.
What is great about this situation?
This is one of the most powerful questions you can ask. Asking yourself this question forces you to search for an answer. You trigger the Reticular Activating System in your brain, to search for an answer. This answer probably won’t come straight away, but it will come eventually.

Affirmations

Belief is the foundation of all achievement. If you believe you can do something, you will. If you suspect that you don’t believe in your goal, you can change this by the use of affirmations. You can saturate your mind with positive expectation, until you believe.
If you think about it, we come into the world as babies with no beliefs, we are a blank page so to speak. Our beliefs are then formed by experience, repetition, indoctrination or suggestion. There are a thousand and one ways; such as throw away comments by well-meaning relatives such as:

“You’ll get fat if you eat that” (not necessarily)
“Clear your plate so you grow up big and strong” (what even when my stomach is full already?)

If you repeat something often enough it becomes a strong belief. Therein lies the solution. In my book on The Habits for Fat Loss, I go into how you can identify limiting beliefs. If you can identify your limiting beliefs, then the next stage is to write out an opposing positive belief, in the form of an affirmation. For example if you identified a belief such as “I don’t like the way I look” the opposite would be “I love and value my body, I am perfect as I am”. Write out your positive affirmations on a card and read them out aloud as soon as you get up and just before bed. Read them throughout the day, as much as you can. It may feel awkward at first, you may not really belief what you say, yet. You will believe soon. So how long should you do it for? You do it for as long as it takes.

Repetition

How often should you look at your goals and recite your affirmations? Once or Twice a day? – do it as much as you can as often as you can. You need to brainwash yourself. (Wash your brain?). Live your goals and dreams now, so that you can see them and feel them in your mind as you go about your day. Live your vision of your future now.