The Mind must Look Forward to Something...

They said, it helped... I scoffed! They said, it works... I mocked! I was the cynic... They weren't going to fool me! But, one day I tried... and I realized, that it helps... Even though maybe not how they say it does...

I've read a fair few books telling me to write my goals down, focus on them, be positive etc... And I always dismissed all that as fooling yourself. I always thought, it's impractical... Just gimmicks to get readers and tell them what they already know... Well... the more I think about it, and experience it, the more I realize, I was wrong!

The crux of the matter is simply - hope. As we lose some battles in life, we we realize that what we thought was easy, is actually not. Subsequently, with every new "task" or a "goal", we look for obstacles in our path and plan to overcome them. So long as we remember that we are overcoming obstacles in the path towards a goal, this helps. This however, may change the way we think. We may become oriented to "overcoming obstacles" rather than "achieving a goal".

Sometimes, when we have to wait for things to turn our way, or if the "obstacle" needs a bigger effort, we focus on not what we will achieve, but on "what we cannot get" or "why we are stuck". It is then that we lose hope... The mind doesn't want to look forward to a new day... because all it will encounter is "why I am stuck" and not "Oh! I want to do this!"...

What is then needed is, to make the mind shift it's attention from the obstacle. To make it look-forward to something (hope)... That is what being positive is about... This is how I do it:

• Write the goal down and think about it every day... This way you focus not on obstacles, but on the achievement. The mind shifts from "what it cannot do" to "what it has to do..." or "what it looks forward to...". Every other book that tells you to visualize your goal in effect does exactly this. If you have time to meditate, do it! Visualize. But even if you don't... Keep reminding yourself of the goal... of the thing you want to achieve and not the reason why you cannot do it or the fact that you haven't achieved it yet.
• Think about the big things that you are grateful about. Family, Friends, great education, a well-paying job, enough food, the fact that you have enough to ensure you don't have to ask people for anything... These are enough "big" things that make these "obstacles" seem small, and give me hope that I can do what I want.
• Have something to look forward to everyday that you enjoy. I look forward to reading, or practicing guitar EVERYDAY. Even when things are not going right, I know that I'll be happy again when I read that book I've been planning to finish... The mind looks forward to it as a reward of putting in a hard-shift.

It may sound preachy, but it has worked for me, specially the first and the last points... It wasn't easy... It requires effort to make sure that everytime you go back to "obstacle mode" you come back to "goal mode"... But it becomes a way of life... There are other little things that I am picking up and doing... But these are the big ones...

I hope it helps you and works for you too... Tell me if it does...