Yesterday I decided to make a pot of fragrant herbal tea. I set a big pot on the stove, added the tea, set the timer for 22 minutes, and went into another room to read a novel. When the timer went off, I looked up from my book, and immediately smelled the sweet tea.
What struck me as interesting is that I didn’t smell the tea until after the timer beeped. Strange. Think of it – was the tea fragrance in the air before timer went off? Of course it was. But because my attention was elsewhere, I didn’t notice it. In my world, it didn’t exist.
It occurred to me that this was a perfect example of how our focus impacts our perception of reality.
There are opportunities right under our noses every day, but because of a simple lack of focus, they can go completely unnoticed.
How can you stop missing opportunities?
Work on your mindset. Mindset isn’t about being happy-happy all the time. It’s about developing the discipline to direct your thinking. Without this discipline, your thinking has the tendency to follow old patterns and direct your attention to other things- things you wanted in the past, things you are afraid of, or things that simply don’t serve you.
Set goals. Write down exactly what you’re aiming for so that when you encounter it, you’ll recognize it immediately.
If you’d like to explore these topics further, schedule a free Big Impact Strategy Session with me!
