Focus makes perfect

You have the power within you to achieve your own fitness success.

We all know the power of focus. Subject a piece of paper to focused sunlight under a magnifying lens and it burns up. Various manufacturing and fabrication industries use waterjets, squeezing and focusing water strong enough to cut through steel! Imagine if you can use the power of focus to achieve your fitness goals. Well guess what? You can!

From hazy to razor sharp
People usually quit altogether when their workout plateaus and stops yielding results. Often, the cause is not a lack of willpower, but a lack of focus.

To harness the power of focused energy, you have to be clear in exactly what you want to achieve. Celebrated artist Julia Cameron teaches, “The simple act of imagining a dream in concrete detail helps us to bring it into reality.”

Finding your “North Star”
Take pen in hand and clearly state to yourself exactly what it is you want to achieve. “In a perfect world, I am ten pounds lighter, centered, healthy and vibrant!”

Now name one concrete goal that signals to you its accomplishment. This is your North Star. “I am at my ideal weight, and have become vegetarian” may be your North Star. Or it could be “Win the gold medal in the Annual Triathlon.”

Next, name a role model. Walt Disney, Tiger Woods, Manny Pacquiao. This teaches you that in the real world, people have and do realize their dreams.

It is very important to know what you are focusing on and why. Cameron adds, “Think of your goal search as a preliminary architect’s drawing for the life you wish to have.”

Set small, manageable goals
Set small, gentle goals are exactly that: small, gentle, and doable. You first learn to jump over two feet and slowly increase your strength before you achieve that high jump.

Wanting to leap bounds right away without taking the necessary baby steps is suicide. Perfectionism tells you “If you can’t do it right the first time, quit trying.” Most people do end up quitting, but achievers don’t. Remember, as you meet these small goals one by one, you will gain an incredible boost of confidence, which in turn will make it easier to get started on the next goal.

Visualize!
Visualization is a major part in being able to focus. An excellent way to do this is to let it all down on paper! Just keep your mind free and your hand moving. Give it a good 30 minutes, then stop. Reread what you wrote. From this, create a to-do list for the day, or for the week, of activities that get you closer to your fitness goals. “Check out the Pilates class at the Y. Trim the lawn and paint my fences red. Sign up for gym membership.” Focus by setting and meeting your goals. Do this consistently and unforeseen solutions will reveal themselves to you as you let your mind work.

Focus and its twin: hard work
One succeeds by giving 100% focus and energy on these self-assigned tasks-at-hand. Don’t allow outside distractions to change your direction or pull you away from the project even for a short time. Work consistently and doggedly at each fitness goal until you have achieved them one after the other—which leads us to our next point…

Derailments and distractions
Squandered energy is the opposite of focused energy, and entertaining distractions is certainly squandering. So, never let past let-downs, unsolicited comments from other people or any negative thought use up the power you’ve stoked toward fulfilling your goal. This also entails focusing on your needs first before others’—it might mean saying no to your neighbor Fred’s request to help him box his books so you can go to the gym and do some boxing. Or saying no to another evening of babysitting for your sister so you can go out and take a yoga class.

Draw a sacred circle around your goal. Inside that circle, write the names of people who encourage and energize you. Outside, write the names of people whom you don’t need to be around right now. Trust your intuition.

What you focus on determines How You Live
Tony Award winning actress, Lea Salonga, knows the meaning of focus. Her stellar leap from Philippine kiddie actress to Tony award winner in New York was a result of her own focus. She says, "Professionalism is more than just being on time. It’s about being prepared, consistent, focused and hardworking."

If you want to see gains in your workout, or blast through that plateau, use the power to focus within you and achieve your goals in no time. Get tips from your online fitness trainer and dietitian on more effective strategies that will help you in goal setting and improving your focus.