…many moons ago, long before I drove a car, my mode of transport was a motorbike.
It wasn’t huge, but it was big enough to get me in trouble.
Each day as I made my way to the local town, either for work or play (to meet up with the future Mrs Mac), I had to cross an old stone bridge.
The layout of the road meant that it was a near ninety degree sweeping corner to the left, to enter the bridge. Followed by a sweeping turn to the right a few seconds later, where the road straightened out again.
Riding through that chicane gave me such a buzz, especially if I tried to get my knee lower to the ground like the professionals do.
Thing is, for those ten seconds my mind was 100% focused on the job. So no looking at the stone wall that I was riding toward before I made my first turn, no looking at anything in the opposite lane, especially if it was a forty foot truck coming the other way. And no thinking about what could go wrong.
Why? Because focusing on any of those things was a 100% way of ending up in hospital, or sitting on a cloud playing a harp for eternity.
If you’ve ever had a crash you’ll know when you focused on the thing you wanted to avoid, you hit the thing your eyes were focused on.
The same way someone in a sport car can warp it around a telegraph pole in the middle of nowhere – and the poles are half a mile apart.
On the other hand, try hitting a baseball with a bat, and you’re 100% focused on that floating ball as you swing your bat.
You mightn’t hit it the first time, but for every swish through empty air, you know that you’ll get to that ball.
And when you do, you’ll find that more of your swings connect than don’t.
So, what am I babbling on about?
I’ll tell you…..what’s your focus on right now?
The poor writer you are, or the one you want to be?
The one bad book review you got, or the three who loved your work?
The talent you don’t have, or how you’re getting a little bit better each day?
The sniggers of famiy and friends, or the day you’ll finally show them?
The low traffic to your blog, or the platform it’s going to be in the future.
If you keep your eyes on the things you don’t want, you’re going to hit that stone wall of failure 100% of the time.
But if you keep your focus on the direction you want to go, you’ll find yourself more positive, do better work, and keep going long after others have given up.
Will you always win? Heck no. But when you do crash, you’ll be in a location of your choosing.
Then it’s a simple matter of turning your focus back to the road ahead and keep going.
The latest podcast episode is out. Care for a listen?
PS – As a parent I don’t know what my parents were thinking letting me whizz around on that thing? #protectiveparentnow #boringdad #missthosedays
