STOP and Take Command of your Focus

Focus shapes our actions and experience.

Or as Wayne Dyer used to say, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

This is a message I constantly remind myself and those whom I coach.

Yesterday I heard three different people complain about the weather. They were all visibly upset. Yes, we got snow and it was cold in my area, but our winter overall has been very mild especially when compared with the many other places in the country that have experienced extreme weather.

If you focus on how “Bad” the weather is, what will your mind feed you back?

If you focus on how “Bad” you played or your day was, what will your mind feed you back?

What if instead you focused on those things you did well and what you can do better?

What if instead you focused on what’s good in your life?

What if instead you focused on three things you are most grateful for?

Psychologist Matt Killingsworth said, “The human mind is a wandering mind. And a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.”

Either you take command of your mind or you’ll wind up complaining about the weather, and your day, and your game play, and the traffic, and your job, and your life.

A quick mindful practice to help just STOP the complaining:

S - Stop and notice what's happening in your body/mind.
T - Take a Breath and feel it especially as you exhale.
O - Observe where your mind is at now
P - Proceed to the next moment or go back to the "T"