Where Focus Goes, Energy Flows

Up until now, I’ve introduced the big parts of what it takes to change your life. Moving forward, I’ll be presenting different ways of looking at the different parts. These will include small teachings and some fun stories, and hopefully, they will all help you move to where you want to go. 

First, a little exercise. Take a look around you. Doesn’t matter where you are. While looking around, I want you to pay attention to every green object around you. Take a few seconds to do this. I’ll wait for you.

Got it? Do you know where they are?  Ok. Now tell me where all the blue objects are.

Were you able to recall where you saw blue? Did you see it perfectly in your mind’s eye, or not as well as you would like? The reason for this exercise is because of your Reticular Activating System, or RAS for short. Your RAS is there to filter out information and help your brain focus only on the things you need to focus on. If your RAS wasn’t there, your brain would be overloaded with all the different sounds and sights around us! So, when I first asked you to focus on the color green, your RAS filtered out every other color. Have you ever bought a car and “suddenly” you saw them all the time when you drove? They were always there, but it wasn’t on your radar, so you didn’t notice them. That was also your RAS at work.

So, what can we learn from this exercise? Simply put, when you focus on something, your energy moves towards where you’re focused. A simple example was prior to the birth of my son. I focused on exercise, nutrition, and rest, so I was feeling pretty good. However, once my son was born, I was so busy not sleeping that I stopped playing tennis and staying in shape. Pretty understandable, right? Is it bad or was I being irresponsible for not staying in shape? I don’t think so. That time of connection with my wife and son was some of the best times, even though I was so tired.

This brings me on a slight tangent, but I think it’s worth saying. I’ve met so many people who judge themselves for not doing things, such as staying in shape, when really it was because they were focused on other important things. The judgment quickly turns into guilt and shame, which then prevents the person from picking it back up again.

This is where it turns into the dark side of focus. If you focus on the bad of being lazy or not motivated, then your brain finds more reasons why you’re bad. If you don’t catch yourself and stop this way of thinking, you find yourself being someone who is lazy and unmotivated.

So, I’m wondering, what have you been focusing on? Is there something else that could use a little more focus? Let me know!

Kevin Koo is a professional coach who specializes in personal, business, and leadership development while trying to lose weight. Contact him at kevinkoocoaching@gmail.com