Years ago I read a story about a mental asylum...

One day a visitor was being escorted around the asylum by a superintendent. The building was drab and paint on the walls were chipped. Those within looked like they were caught in a heavy fog.

After being shown the regular wing the visitor was taken to a balcony where the most dangerous “lunatics” were kept.

To the visitor’s amazement, there were only three guards watching over one hundred dangerous lunatics!

Shocked, he turned to the superintendent and asked:

“Aren’t you afraid those dangerous lunatics will gang up on the guards?”

The superintendent calmly replied, “No, lunatics never unite.”

It dawned on me that many of us unconsciously live our lives like we’re in an asylum.

Trapped inside a fog, unaware we have the keys in our hands and can walk free.

We stay in the fog...

…listening to a 100 different voices, fears and conflicting desires pulling us in 100 different directions.

One minute, we are pursuing one task… only to be interrupted moments later by the latest headline from social media or a ‘BREAKING NEWS’ story hijacking our precious attention to something less important.

Sapping us of one of our most precious resources necessary for achieving success in 2021:

UNIFIED FOCUS.

Without focus - time just keeps slipping by.

Progress stagnates.

Situation go from bad to worse.

When we are united in thought, feeling and purpose with a sense of urgency to create a better life – anything becomes possible.

But if our thoughts are divided and attention spread too thinly - we are almost certain to fail.

And when we fail to accomplish what we set out to year after year – we get pulled back into the fog…

…where everything seems muddled, noisy and it’s hard to find a route forward.

Know what I mean?

It’s 8 days into the new year and according to research millions of people are less than a month away from giving up on their goals.

Why?

Because they are being overrun by disunified thoughts.

The conscious mind can only handle so much.

Their attention is being bombarded from within and outside of them.

It’s enough to drive anyone MAD!

But most can’t see this because - the crazy house has become the new normal.

If you recognise you are in a fog, if you have high ambitions for this year but worry about how you will achieve them the first thing is to realise…

…as Jack Nicholson’s character, in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest said…

“You’re not crazy!”

People who enjoy great success learned to master their focus.

To command their choice.

When you train yourself to move with singleness of thought, feeling and purpose.

You unlock a tremendous power to get stuff done.

And then accomplishing what you want becomes far, far easier.

In the meantime, for the rest of today, try turning off the noise and distractions.

See what this does for your focus.

Share this article: