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The One Word That Can Change Your Future…

Glenn Schworm
6 min read

What “one word” is so powerful that it can change your future?

The Power of “FOCUS“!

There was a book written with this same title by: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Les Hewitt. It is a great book and worth the read. It has been a long time since I read the book, so this article may or may not have some similarities.

I was thinking about Focus last Thursday and the power it has to help us achieve our goals and live life to the fullest. I play in a golf league. I am not Tiger Woods by any stretch of the imagination, however, I do enjoy getting out for 9 holes a week. Last week, when I left in the morning, our newest addition (our daughter who is now 3 months old) was not awake yet. Most mornings she greets me with the biggest toothless smile you can imagine! Take a look at the picture, and you’ll get a glimpse of the type of gummy grin I’m referring to!

IMG_3206 Well, all morning while I was on the golf course, all I could think about was that smile and how I wanted to get home to see her! Consequently my golf game was far from stellar! In fact it was one of my worst. I was on the course, I was there to play golf, but my focus was elsewhere. (not a bad place to be mentally, but I was not enjoying the moment I was in, as I was focused on my immediate future.)

See what I mean? She is tough NOT to focus on! 🙂

About 15 years ago I went to an Anthony Robbins leadership conference. It had many great speakers; General Norman Schwarzkopf, Barbara Walters, Brian Tracy, and the late Christopher Reeves among many others. Christopher Reeves was speaking from his wheelchair and had to take breaths as he spoke. He was VERY inspirational as he remained positive after such a horrific accident. If you don’t remember, he (Superman, to all of us from his generation) was riding his horse in a competition and according to him, he was focused on the next jump instead of the one directly in front of him. As they made the jump, he fell off his his horse, and in that quick millisecond, his neck broke and he became fully paralyzed. What a tragic freak accident. All he talked about that day was FOCUS. He said if he had been focused on the jump at hand, and not the one coming up, he would probably not be paralyzed. That speech always stuck with me. I have since heard similar speeches and talks from other leaders, one of which is Deepak Chopra. Deepak is also a big believer in living in the NOW, not the past, not the future, but NOW. He speaks on watching where our focus goes through the day. Stay in the present. When you watch your thoughts you will be amazed at where they go in the course of a normal day. What I am saying here is that when we watch and correct our thoughts and our FOCUS, we can change the direction of our lives and our business.

Can FOCUS Help Our Time Management?

ABSOLUTELY! In regards to Time Management, try to focus on one thing at a time and get it completed. Stay in the moment, not in the past or the future. If it is a large project, break it up into smaller parts to swallow. Read the post from Sharon Vornholt about Eating Frogs! If you are confused and think Sharon has some odd eating habits, go read the article! It was a good one!

Have you ever driven to a routine place and when you got there you realized you have no memory of the trip?? I think that has happened to all of us. It’s because our focus was elsewhere. Try to not have that happen in your work. Stay focused on the task at hand to get it competed to the best of your ability. Much like my golf game Thursday. My head was at home with my baby, so my game suffered and it was expensive losing so many balls in the woods!

Related: Do You Have the Mindset to be on Shark Tank?

What Are You Focused On The Majority Of The Time?

I live by many sayings, one of which is, “We Bring About What We Think About”. I am a firm believer that our lives manifest themselves by what we tell ourselves and what we think about most often. This has been proven to me over and over and over. Many times we have completed a house and for some reason it’s not selling right away. I sometimes get frustrated and say to Amber (my wife and partner), “Wow, why is this house NOT selling?? The market is changing!! First time home buyers are a pain” … etc. etc. All of this is a negative tone. When I get that way, all I am focused on is the negatives in our business. It ALWAYS works that once I change my thinking to, “Hey this is a great house and we will find a buyer very soon.” Within weeks, we sell the house. It has happened more times than I can recall which proves the point in my world. What we think about we bring about. What are you thinking about in your business? Do any of these sound familiar?

– I just can’t find any good deals!
– I don’t have the money to do a deal even if I did find one!
– I don’t have any credit or money, no one will fund my deals!
– My tenants suck!
– There are no honest contractors to work with!
– I can’t get this house sold!
– Marketing doesn’t work for me!

Anything ringing a bell here? What we FOCUS on we ATTRACT, I promise you this from years of experience, both good and bad. Next time you hear those thoughts in your head, I DARE YOU to try these instead and see what happens…

– There are good deals everyplace. I will figure out how to find them!
– I know once I find a good deal I will be able to find a money partner on the deal.
– I have a lot of heart and drive, and once I find a deal I will be able to find the investor.
– I am going to invest time up front to find great tenants and take good care of them to avoid headaches.
– I will screen all contractors to find the ones I trust. I know there are good ones out there.
– My houses will always sell when I find the right price and buyer, so if it sits I will figure out a better way to attract buyers!
– Marketing ALWAYS works when I work it consistently.

So let me ask you this, which group of thoughts, when FOCUSED on, will yield you the best results? I think it is pretty obvious. This is not hokey pokey magic whacko stuff here. Think about it. When you focus on solutions you will think about and find solutions. When you focus on problems, what do you almost always get? That’s right…MORE problems! When you focus on how broke you are, you will always be broke! But when you focus on all of the abundance around us, your perspective changes. You begin to see all of the abundant things that were already there but now you are FOCUSED on them!

Related: How to Find True Financial Freedom Through Real Estate Investing

The Proof

Don’t believe me? Ok, try this. Close your eyes (after this sentence) and THINK of everything that has the color RED in the room you are in right now. Okay, don’t read on, try it ………….. stop reading now and try it !! 😉

Okay now you’re back with me. This time, keep your eyes open, and LOOK around the same room and notice all of the items that have RED in them.

Did you notice a lot more RED items the second time? Do you think I had them magically appear just to mess with you? 🙂 Of course not! Though that would be one heck of a trick!! They were always there, but you only see them when you choose to FOCUS on them!

Whether you are a new investor, a wannabe investor, or a seasoned vet, my challenge to you is this: Take a day and be very conscience of what you are telling yourself all day. Make a note of your thoughts. You might be amazed to realize all of the negative, self defeating thoughts that pass through your mind daily. That is where your FOCUS is. Challenge those thoughts by entering new ones to override those negative thoughts. Just like we did in the above exercise. Decide to focus on different thoughts and solutions. My hope is that many of you will accept this challenge and see how different your life and business will look in the next 6 months, if you stick with it! Stay in the moment, control what you choose to FOCUS on. Remember, We Bring About What We Think About, so choose your thoughts wisely.

Have a great week!

Photo: kenteegardin

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.