What You Focus On Grows

What you focus on grows. I have often fell into the trap of focusing on the wrong things. This is a huge trap that can rob forward progress and momentum. In a workshop I teach give an example of someone who really shows the power to choose what to focus on.

There was a client of mine who had completed our program, he had done well, had lost a lot and reformed himself from coming out of the unhealthy environment of 5 years in prison. He got a job in the construction field and worked very hard. He was doing interior kitchen cabinets and finishing carpentry. He worked a lot harder and was a lot more productive then the rest of the crew. He was determined not to go back. The holidays came around and as he went into work his boss called him into his office and sat him down and my client thought here comes the holiday bonus. . .

The boss instead hat to lay him off. This was painful of course, but the choice was his to decide what to focus on. This individual came from an empowering place. He could have walked out of the office and felt all beat up, he could have left with anger and resentment, he could have burnt that bridge, he could have played the victim. Yes all of these things he could have done. The more important thing to understand is how open would he be to seeing another door open if he was merely looking back at the door that just closed.

The choice he made was different though. He decided to walk out of the office and consider some of the things he had learned. First off, don't jump to hasty conclusions. He began to think about how hard it was for the boss to let someone as valuable as himself go. He knew he was valued, he had sensed some layoffs were coming because of the holiday slow down. People don't want there kitchens torn up during the holidays. So he continued to think it through: " Lay off, I wasn't FIRED, I had a lay off. This is a change, I can still get a letter of recommendation for new employment, wow. Even if I have to get a job at the Mall over the holidays until the door opens back up, I can do something, it is the holiday hiring period." All these thoughts began as a new pattern of thinking.

The story gets better for this client, more adversity and opportunity but the point is clear. What you choose to focus on grows. Which of the two choices put him closer to being re-hired which one further.

Joshua Andrus
http://www.hiresite.info/