Make your Goals say Cheese!

Aug 30, 2019

The next word I want to dig deeper into is Focus. I like it as a verb - “pay particular attention to.”

I highly doubt anyone reading this doesn’t understand the word, and each and every one of us understands it as it relates to our journey.  We know we need it and at times we have it, but why is it so dang hard to maintain it? 

It’s a simple setting called “auto focus”.  Picture this - You’re looking out the window, way off in the distance you see something that catches your eye. You go to take a photo, the camera auto focuses on the thing that’s closest to you: The glass, the window screen or maybe a tree that’s hanging in front of the object of your attention. The shot is blurry. 

You recognize this instantly, you shift right, step left, get closer - then adjust the settings, click on the phone screen or whatever it takes to shift the focus.  If you’re fast enough, you capture the beauty and preserve the memory. If not, instant disappointment, then you simply try again some other time, maybe you never get the chance though. 

By manually adjusting the focus, what you’re actually doing is telling the camera what’s most important. If you let it decide, it almost always chooses what’s closest.  

Your brain does the exact same thing!

For many of us, our goal of true lifelong wellness is off in the distance. Even if you’re at goal you want to stay there for a very long time. In between us and the goal are many distractions. If we don’t continually adjust the focus we will develop sharp photos of the immediate temptations.  The glass, the screen and the tree branch can easily be the pizza, the tailgate party, or the bottle of wine.  

These are all things that have been beautifully photographed when they were actually the focus.  It holds true here too. If you want it, track it and move on. However, if you’re focused on something else, and it slips into the picture, it’s best to re-adjust and aim your focus on the goal. 

To achieve a proper photograph, you have to know what you’re after, recognize the distractions and focus on the subject. Then and only then can you release the shutter!

Throughout the day I need to remind myself that I do best in manual focus mode. I get to decide, not anyone else. I want to look way off into the distance and frame the perfect shot I call wellness.  It includes a balance of the pillars to wellness: nutrition, fitness and mindfulness. 

Any seasoned wedding photographer will tell you they have a “shot list”.  Look through any wedding album and you’ll be able to recognize this.  There are many scenes every album contains. The most obvious on the list is “The Kiss”.  If it’s not perfectly in focus, the entire album is considered ruined! 

Think of your wellness journey as the big event. Develop your shot list: The running trail, a restful nights sleep, a low point meal.  All of these elements are critical to your journey but they must all be in focus to complete the album. 

If you want to be in control, Adjust your lenses, take the “camera” off auto focus and choose what really matters.  

Make your goals say Cheese! 

I can’t wait to see what you come up with!