Focus

"Your mind will overcome anything. That is, anything that matters to you".


An early morning trip to the gym today ended up more of a exercise of my mind than my body. As I was stepping away on the Stairmaster, in front of me was a fairly heavy guy on a treadmill. I didn’t notice it at first, but when I looked over at him the second time I noticed a small golf type towel covering the readout of the electronics. I didn’t really know why he had it there, but could only theorize.

If any of you have been on these machines that show how far you’ve gone, how many calories you’ve burned, or the minutes remaining, time literally stands still. 40 minutes can seem like a day. After you’re on the machine for 3 minutes it seems like an hour. It’s not so much the physical aspect of the workout but the mental side of it.

I’d bet a few bucks this guy was blocking the readings to free his mind of where he was at on his path to his goal, focus on whatever he was listening to coming from those earphones, and when he reached his time or the mileage the machine would beep at him.

Life is so much like that little lesson from the treadmill. We want to reach the destination, our goal, so fast, we get disappointed with the slow progress it takes to get there. Whether it’s health, wealth, education, relationships, or the spirit of God running through your heart, you don’t get there in a leap, but the constant treading ahead, staying focused, being confident where you are going, and not giving up. We’ve all heard the axiom ‘anything worthwhile takes time’; it’s so true.

Keep your mind focused on you goals. Review them daily. Carry index cards around with them. Refresh the want and the mind will guide you there. Then, invest some sweat equity!

There are people in your life, you family, friends, and coworkers, who want to help you reach you goals. Share them with those in your ‘inner circle’ you can trust. They can help be that ‘towel’ to keep you mind focused where you are headed versus where you are.

Tomorrow is a new month, another new beginning. Keep it going or get it going.

dm