By now my partner is tired of hearing me repeat the same mantra over and over when I listen to him coming from a place of negativity however, it has given him food for thought and it has been proven time and time again to be true. The mantra I am talking about is 'What you focus on is what you'll get.'

 You may know it as 'be careful what you wish for because it may come true' and the message is similar in that what you think and say will become your reality.  Thoughts become things which is why it is crucial that we train ourselves to think of what we want instead of what we don't want.

Focusing on what we don't want has been ingrained in us since childhood.  For instance, do you remember being told 'don't leave your things lying around' or 'Don't argue with me.'  A lot of what we were told included the word 'don't' and it is a word we know well and a word our subconsious tends to ignore.  If I were to say to you 'Don't think of a pink elephant' what would you immediately think of?  Yes, a pink elephant, because what your subconscious mind has actually heard is 'think of a pink elephant' and the don't is nowhere to be found.  So what do you think happens when you think or say things such as 'I don't want to be broke' or 'I don't want to be unhappy' or 'I don't want to be fat?'  What you are actually saying to your subconscious and to the Universe is that you want more of what you have.  You want to be broke or you want to be unhappy therefore you can be certain you will get more of it.

Have you  noticed also how oyur thoughts can drain your energy and vitality or add to it?  Recently I became caught up in a negative cycle as there was a part of my life that was causing me to be challenged in a way I did not enjoy and for a moment I forgot about my mantra.  I didn't initially understand why I was feeling so tired and why I had no get up and go and it wasn't until I sat down to have a chat with my partner that I realised what direction my thoughts were going in andhow they were zapping me of life.  The minute I became aware and began to adjust my focus onto what I wanted, I felt lighter and my coping strategies improved so much so that the challenge very quickly became an achievement and I had my zing back once more.

Sometimes you may not know what you want and when this happens to me I make a point of sitting somewhere quiet and asking myself the right questions.  Questions that will give me clarity and direction.   If what I want is going to be life changing then the questions I ask myself are; 'What do I love?'  'What are my strengths?'  'What am I good at?'  'What would I do if I knew I couldn't fail?'  These questions have lead me to change careers and start up my own business.  I am able to do what I love, I know my strengths and I enhance them.  I know what I am good at which means I am able to offer the best of me and I no longer make choices based on fear because I know I cannot fail.  Failure is now feed back to me and an opportunity to learn and grow.

Once you know what it is that you want, focus only on that.  No matter how small your thought, if you focus on what you want it will be life changing.  For example, you may be thinking that you don't want to be picking up after your kids all the time or you don't want to go to work because you hate your job, whatever it is, turn it around.  Instead you could be thinking 'I want my kids to be tidier" or 'I want to be in a job I love.'  When you change your thinking to what you want you will be better able to figure out ways to get what you want which can be exciting and energy boosting.  Inspiration and ideas will flow to you with more ease and you will notice a difference in your attitude when you start moving in the direction you want to go.

Of course, getting what you want will take more then just thinking about it.  You will need to take the action and show yourself and the Universe that you are indeed serious about getting what you want.  Keep going no matter what and remember that if you do something and it doesn't work then do something else and keep doing that something else until it does work.  Einstein's definition of  insanity is 'doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.'  Life is challenging and you will have your share of ups and downs and if you can remain focused on the positive through the downs you will be in a position to face them head on and conquer them quickly and easily.

Let's talk about fear because on your journey you will have choices about doing something or not doing something and often fear will get in the way of not doing something and hinder your progress or entice you to give up altogether.  You may have a fear of not belonging or not being loved or not being good enough and this means you may fear ridicule or being spoken about unkindly or you may fear being rejected if you follow what you truly believe in.  You are in fear of something that hasn’t happened yet and your thoughts are wandering off into another realm and setting up props for your demise.   Your thoughts can turn your fears into your worst nightmare if you are not careful which is why it is good to remember that thoughts are stories and stories of success, achievement and conquering will serve you much better.  Your worst nightmare hasn't happened yet but it will come true if you continue to give it your focus and energy as, will thoughts of your success. 

Allow yourself the opportunity to go beyond your fears and begin to live your life the way you want to.  Be free to focus fearlessly and love life.

I wish you every success.

About the author

Susan Briggs holds a Diploma in Life Coaching and is a Certified Hypnotherapist, ACT Therapist, Timeline Therapist and NLP Practitioner. Owner of Yes U Can 4 Women, Susan is passionate about assisting women to create the life they want. For more information phone 0430 118 733, email; susan@yesucan4women.com.au or visit the website at; www.yesucan4women.com.au