Focus on the Destination

My wife, Tiffany, absolutely hates to fly. I don’t mean it’s an inconvenience or an annoyance to her; I am talking about a full blown, has-walked-off-a-plane-moments-before-a-flight-departed, utter disdain for flying. It used to be so bad her anxiety would start building several days, even a week, before a flight.

For years she simply didn’t fly. But as our family grew and kids started hearing about this magical land of beaches and sunshine called “Hawaii”, the pressure mounted for her to get back on a plane. It wasn’t just the kids either; the cold, dark Alaskan winters also added some serious motivation to face her fears and start flying again.

In order to get on that plane headed to Oahu, Tiffany said she forced herself to envision kids playing on the beach and the beautiful ocean and warm sun. She had to look past the flight itself and direct her attention on why she was getting on the plane to begin with. Tiffany was focused on the destination.

It’s a natural reaction to dwell only on the current circumstances when things get difficult. Just like my wife on the plane, when the turbulence hits, it steals all of our attention and feels like it will never end. We get anxious and uncomfortable, forgetting where we are headed and why we ever started the journey in the first place. We get all caught up in the unpleasantness of our current situation. The conflict can get so bad we might redirect or maybe even turn back the plane.

Misplaced focus can distract and divert you away from your goals and objectives. It will also steal your joy along the way. It is impossible to completely avoid the turbulence of life, so it is necessary, rather, to accept it and learn how to manage it. You must remind yourself why you are on the flight. Learn to look beyond the difficulty. Focus on the destination.

Comments

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on...

The Art of Intentionality

“Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make you.” – Richie Norton I am not even sure who Richie Norton is, but I love that quote! I imagine a ship drifting out to sea, pushed around by the wind and the waves. No course of direction, yet the captain is frustrated when the ship ends up dashed against the rocks, trapped on a sandbar or marooned on an inhospitable island. It is easy to complain when life takes us where we do not want to go. But who is really to blame if we have never set our sails to align us along an appropriate course? Do we blame the waves, wind and the weather? Or should we blame the captain of the ship? It is our life and our ship. We must set our sails with intentionality and determined choices. Otherwise, we are doomed to aimlessly drift along according to the choices and decisions of others.

The Hungry Lion

Early in my career, as I was struggling to both build up my clientele and provide food for my family, someone tried to encourage me by saying, “remember, the hungry lion hunts best.” At the time, that made sense to me. And it probably even provided some much-needed reassurance. But I have since come to think differently. I was a starving lion, and I learned a few things from the experience. Hungry lions get fatigued. They become desperate. They cut corners. They make unforced errors. But fed lions have their own issues. Their satiety can turn into selfishness. They get comfortable and then complacent. These lions do not hunt well either. I believe the lion who hunts best is not the hungry lion nor the satisfied lion, but rather the lion who hunts not for himself and his own hunger, but for the pride of lions around him. His drive is not his own need for nourishment; it is the hunger of those around him that motivates him. Our world is a hurting and hungry place. Not just ...

Mindset Matters

Search This Blog