“As I Have Shifted My Focus from What is Wrong with the Planet to What is Right, My Creativity Has Exploded.”

I met the author of the quote that serves as the title of this article the evening of my 40th high school class reunion. We’d spent some time in the same fishbowl all those years ago but in a school of 3,000+ students it’s easy to miss someone. She was talking to my wife while the two of them put finishing touches on decorations that would ado the tables where 300 near-60-year-old high school students would gather again to share cocktails, tell stories of triumph and tragedy and dance to the music of the Woodstock generation. Through a series of incidents that are not relevant to this essay Janet and Irnmet again via a social networking site; she was a friend of a friend and when Irnsaw her picture I clicked on it to visit her home page. While there I discovered that she was an artist with a website and a blog. It was on the latter that Irnfound the quote. There are a couple of important implications in Janet’s statement. The first is that we have a choice as to what we pay attention to. And the second is that how much or how well we create is dependent on the first implication—what we choose to focus on. “But”, you say, “I’m not a creative person; what does ‘focus’ have to do with me?” Ah, but you are in fact a creative person! You do not have to be a painter or a writer or one who sculpts figures from stone to be ‘creative’. You’ve been creating since you were born—you’ve been creating your life. Creation is the process of turning thought into substance. Everything that man has created from the beginning of time originated inrnthought. It would have been impossible for Henry Ford to build the Model “T” without first having worked out every detail of its construction in his head. And it would have been equally impossible for you to have created the life you now live without having worked out every detail in your head. Earl Nightingale’srnadage was right; “You become what you think about most.” The idea of creating my life hit home about a day after I was introduced to ther Law of Attraction (does it really deserve to be capitalized?). In case you’vernmissed the hoopla its basic premise is that we attract the events and circumstance of our lives by what we think. The idea is nothing new and has been around since recorded history began. It’s recently been cleverly re-packaged byrna TV producer from Australia who made a very popular DVD entitled “The Secret.” I watched “The Secret” video with my wife and while I agreed with the core philosophy, the cynic in me dismissed much of what I heard as New Age drivel. Would you really suggest that losing my mother to breast cancer as a two-year-old was something I created with my thoughts? But after dismissing the chaff I began to think about my dreams and aspirations when I was younger inrnregards to how my life would play out. As college students my (now) wife and I imagined a place in the country where werncould live peacefully with dogs and cats and horses and gardens and open spaces. After eight years in the suburbs we found that place and I had to admit that we’d spent the last twenty years living a part of our lives that once existed only in thought. Neither of us have anything against children but I don’trnremember ever dreaming about or even seriously discussing having any. The household we created with our thoughts did not include children and we are one of those rare couples who are childless by choice. A roommate once asked a group of us how much money we thought we’d be making when we were fifty years old; had I known then what I do now I’d have predicted something significantly higher because as I recall my prediction turned out tornbe fairly accurate. My clothes are LL Bean; neither Wal-Mart nor Ralph Lauren. The car I drive (a Honda) sold for about $23,000 brand new; more than a Fordr Focus with crank windows but a lot less than a 7-series BMW. I remain madly inrnlove with a woman I first met in high school; I am not obese; I still play some guitar; I enjoy being outdoors; I exercise some but not a lot; no surprises. Irncame to realize that my life turned out pretty much the way I thought it would turn out—I had in fact created it with my thoughts. How different is your life than you thought it would be? Are you richer, healthier, happier? Are your clothes and cars ofrnsubstantially different quality or condition than you envisioned as a child? How about your home; did you think about living in something bigger or smaller, maybe in a different type of neighborhood? Would you consider yourself of a different socio-economic class than you grew up in? Have you ever noticed how infrequently people “jump class”? Kids who grow uprnpoor tend to become poor adults. Substitute “rich” or “middle class” for “poor” and the statement tends to still be valid. I wonder how many teachers, doctors, lawyers, salespeople, thieves, child beaters, and businesspeople had a parent that did the same thing. I believe the reason this happens so often is that werncreate the life we know. I grew up in a middle-class household where I learnedrnhow to think middle-class. I did not know how to think rich and I did not know how to think poor. I did not know how to think teacher, doctor, lawyer, thief orrnchild beater—but I did know how to think “salesperson”. And despite hating sales, it’s what I’ve done for most of my adult life. “You come in here with a skull full of mush and you leave thinking like a lawyer.” That was professor Kingsfield addressing a room full of freshman law students on their first day of class in The Paper Chase. What Kingsfield said was nearly as profound as Janet’s statement. He knew a vital secret of creation: that inrnorder to change the creation you must change the thought process that initiates that creation. You want to create wealth? Start thinking like wealthy people do. You want create a doctor? Learn to think like a doctor wannabe. Reprogram the software that’s running your creation computer. You’ll play hell trying to create a document in a spreadsheet program and you’ll play hell getting out of the ghetto with a gangsta’ mindset. “As I have shifted my focus…” You have a choice as to what you pay attention to. And what you pay attention tornwill affect the way you think, which will affect what you create. Most people have an innate sense of the first part, that they can choose what they focus on, but that’s where their understanding ends. It’s like an unused talent, something that if they developed would make a seismic shift in their life. Imagine walking in a room with two TVs on. One is airing the CBS evening news and the other is showing “Wheel of Fortune”. Your family members are glued tornthe news, captivated by the story of an earthquake in China that collapsed a school building and killed 200 children—and there’s lots of gory video. “What’s everybody watching?” you wonder. You’re vaguely aware that someone isrnhaving great fun while getting fabulously wealthy on the other TV but without making a conscious choice you join you family members and view the carnage with them. What are you thinking about as you watch? What is that creating? Is it creating a mental state that you find enjoyable and empowering? My guess is that your life at this moment is overcome with sadness, despair and anguish; you may even be angry at God for creating this disaster. Not fun. What would you have created if you’d made a conscious choice to watch “Wheel” instead? Amused, happy, entertained, excited all come to mind. Much more fun. We are not accustomed to exercising our option to change our focus. Our lives are on auto-pilot much of the time as we’ve developed ways of doing things that produce predictable, if not totally desirable, results. Consequently, we create much mediocrity. Or in worse cases, we focus on that which is negative and emotionally debilitating; then we create internal anarchy. But just as not choosing our focus has become a habit so can making a conscious effort to do so. How? Feelings are our internal barometer that let us know if what we’re focusing on is inspiring thoughts that aid or abet our desired creation process. For example; while driving to work I was able to create a state of apprehension and anxiety in less than two miles from my home. While this is not terribly uncommon for me, the suddenness and intensity of the mood caught me by surprise. “What the hell are you thinking about?” I asked out loud. And the forthcoming answer read like a litany of petty, inconsequential annoyances. At that point Irnchuckled at the absurdity of the situation and chose instead to focus on the multi-colored canvas that Mother Nature was providing. My heart rate slowed, myrnblood pressure ebbed and I began savoring feelings of joy and gratitude. Pay attention to your feelings. Begin to think of negative emotions as a trickle of blood from an open wound. When they appear ask yourself “What am I focusing on, what am I paying attention to?” Wait for an answer. As you do this a couple of things will become apparent. First, you’ll begin to recognize habitual patterns in your thoughts. Next, you’ll realize that what you’re conce ed about is likely either something trivial or something you can do nothing about. Then ask yourself “What is this frame of mind costing me? What is the price I amrnpaying for focusing on these things? What am I creating by allowing these thoughts to dominate my thinking?” The answers to those questions should allow you to segue nicely into the fun part. Find something to focus on that brings you joy; who do you love? Who loves you? What can you be grateful for? Listen to music. Read something uplifting and inspiring. Take a walk. Enjoy Mother Nature. Or just do what I did—realize the absurdity of focusing on those things which sabotage the process of creating the life you want and say “Screw ‘em!” Your life is your art. Begin to choose consciously the colors and textures you will apply to your palette and create the masterpiece that dwells within you. By focusing on that which uplifts and inspires you your life will become a pursuit of passion and pleasure.