Q&A - Focus

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Welcome to today's Q and A session. I am Wendy Greer with learning strategies and mind tracks. And today I was going to lead in with a little discussion of the how important focus is when you're working on goals and intentions and what you want to manifest in your life. We live in a world right now that is just such a frantic pace and we're so divergent. We got so many different ways of communicating, of connecting, of processing our world that we're tending to become very diversified and sort of amorphous where we're sort of like an amoeba that sort of has no boundaries. And it's hard to maintain a focal point when you're operating that way. And it's what we talked about in an earlier Q and A about living wholeheartedly. It's like we're not totally in any particular space because we're so busy juggling. There's the social media, there's the emails, there's the forums, there's the telephone, there' there's all these pieces that are constantly moving and if we're not focused, we don't do anything well. We just tend to be very divergent and it's like we got so many balls in the air that they seriously start dropping. What's been really intriguing to me is that getting into this call and also this last couple of weeks for me has been very much about me reminding myself to focus. In fact, I've been imagining Mr. Miyagi and karate Kid going focus, Wendy san, focus. So as, as it's amazing about half of these, these little lead ins I've had the, the experience that I'm going to talk about come up and so I, I get a refresher on what paralympos work well. So it's amazing how the world works. Anyway, I wanted to share a few really pragmatic tools to, to use on the spot when you're feeling defocused and fragmented and then lead into what paralymp would be very pertinent to, to dealing with focal point thinking and staying focused and, and finding your North Star, you know, knowing.

Connected to that while able to operate in the real world and deal with everyday tasks, but at the same time having that focal point, one of the most important components of this, and I did an entire session on this. The power of the present moment, being here now and to be in present moment awareness. A few conscious breaths are amazing for bringing you there. There's a lot of ways you can do this. There's sort of the Zen way of just observing the breath. Like, for me, sometimes when I'm feeling a little frantic and fragmented, I breathe in.

I breathe out, I breathe in, I breathe out. And what's really interesting is if you do that for even a few breaths, you'll feel yourself settling and becoming more grounded, and you'll start sort of bringing the energy in so that you can use it in a more focused way when you're doing this. Or the second one I was going to mention is you can count your breath. This really helps with monkey mind. So if you're inhaling and say you're feeling sort of frantic, so your in breath is three counts, and then you exhale for six, and you inhale for three, and you exhale for six. And when you do either of these first, first two that I'm suggesting, notice the pause between the inhale and the exhale. Because when you inhale first, say 4, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4.

And you pause at the top. The freedom and the space in that pause is an opportunity to reset. It's a reset button. It brings you back to center. It connects you. I think it connects you with the quantum field or the emptiness, or the divine beloved, whatever you want to call it.

You breathe in, you pause, you breathe out, you pause.

And then you breathe in. And it can really help in the real world to just do. Do a couple of those. And you can do it at a stoplight. You can do it while you're standing in line somewhere. You know, it's a very easy thing, and nobody knows you're doing it. And it will really help you to become less fragmented and more and more focused on whatever it is that you're currently working on. The other component that I'd like to mention is a lot of the meditation teachers use focus words. Thich Nhat Hanh was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk that I followed for many years. He would do things like one of the ones I like when I'm feeling really.

Anxious and worried and concerned and just too much going on in my world is water on the in breath reflecting on the out breath.

Water.

Reflecting. And just that. Imagining that still pond. It just drops you in. It drops you into center. You're grounding and you're here now. You're bringing yourself into the present moment. Louise had an affirmation. All is well in my world. That's another great one. All is well in my world.

All is well in my world. And that again, it's keeping you out of monkey mind. It's bringing you in. It's bringing you into what's in front of you now. You're coming into the present moment, awareness. And from there you can focus and discern what is a priority and what you want your focal point to be From a totally pragmatic standpoint, from the more practical aspect of the physical world we live in. There's a couple of tools in our courses that I'd like to mention because they're so potent. One of them is the irritations list from Jack Canfield. One of the things he noticed over and over in people that came to him for counseling and coaching was how many of them had unfinished business. And each of those little unfinished pieces of business has a hook in you. It's an energetic hook. And so if you got all these hooks, clearly you can't focus because you've got all these little things needling you all over your body. So the irritations list is. The idea is that you go from room to room in your home and you make a list of everything that aggravates you. You know that that picture has been hanging crooked. I need to put a rubber stopper back there to stop it shifting. That door has never latched. I need to. One of Jack's was. It was a scream. I mean, you know, with him doing what he does. He had a garage door that went up sort of crooked. And he'd been looking at that thing for two years, coming home to it every night. And he finally got the bloody thing fixed. And it was like, oh, my gosh, you know, that that was dropped off his plate. So what you do with the irritations list, you make a complete listing. They can't squirrel squirm away. You got them all written in black and white. And then you work through you. You dump it. If it doesn't really matter, you delegate it, or you do it and it's off your list. And the energy that opens up and the ability and space that gives you to really focus on what matters is incredible. The other thing I wanted to bring up is the physical things in your environment. When we released our diamond feng shui course, I could not believe how many people were living in homes with stuff they. They didn't love, they weren't using. It didn't make their soul dance or their heart sing. It was just stuff that was. That was, you know, dragging them down. I mean, I had one lady who had a suite of furniture from her dead mother that was abusive. And she. She would. She had. She was walking into this for several years. She'd come home and look at this furniture and she'd immediately drop. So the whole idea behind feng shui is that you, you make your home into a vis, so everything there supports you. And if that's happening, of course you're going to be more focused because you've got constant reminders of what you want more of. You know, you have, you have a picture of the ideal relationship. You have space in your office for new, for creativity, because you can spread your, you know, your graphics out or whatever, you're, whatever you do for a living and you can really see what's going on. So the whole concept of feng shui and space clearing can be huge for helping you stay focused. If you've got stuff, visual stuff pulling at you and nagging at you and, you know, sort of piercing your aura all day long, you're going to feel fragmented, you won't be able to focus. One of the other ways this manifests, and particularly for people that use self improvement tools and paralympicals, is I have people that will call me and say, I'm not getting the results I want. And I'll say, well, tell me what you're working on. And they'll list like a dozen goals they're working on at one time. And I go, well, what's on the front burner right now? Oh, they're all there. They're all important. Well, when you have that many goals going and you're trying to divide your energy between a dozen goals, you're not going to do any of them well. So you can have a lot of goals, but you need to pull just a couple to the front burner and leave the others bubbling in the back. The funny thing with that is what often happens is when people finally focus on one or two goals, the other goal is it's like they're attached to the front two and they sort of start chugging along with it. So often people will get the first two achieved and they realize a couple of the others have also manifested or they're almost there. So it's a really interesting phenomenon, this business of having a focal point. So I just wanted to share a few really pragmatic ideas on that. Now, in the parallel by topic that you have in your parallel accelerator for focus, there's quite a list. There's focus and concentration, there's power thinking, there's fresh start. Letting go is listed. There's conscious time. Because when you're conscious of your time and you're purposefully using it, of course you're going to be less pulled. Pull, you know, push me, pull you you're more, more oriented toward what? How can I most valuably and clearly use this time for where I'm trying to go? Memory supercharger because that will keep you more aligned with what, what matters and it will, it will remind you of what, what it is you're wanting to create. 10 minute supercharger like a power nap. So you know, that obviously would be great if you're feeling sort of logged down mid afternoon do 10 charger and it's literally like taking a power nap and you'll come back full of vim and vigor and you're able to focus. Self discipline is mentioned and automatic pilot. So the ones that I want to bring to the forefront are, I've just picked four just because these are ones that I've seen more people work with recently very successfully. Focus and concentration is accomplished more in less time with focal point thinking. That one we did with Brian Tracy. And what it is really oriented around is that you are purposefully choosing what you're going to do and that will be your focal point and it's aiding you to do that very effectively and sort of keep it front and center. So I like that one a lot. Power thinking is similar but it's the mental faculties to think clearer and smarter and faster. So it keeps you on top of your game. So it gives you that mental focus that's like arrow sharp where you just are really clear on what you want. Self discipline I like and one of the reasons I like this one so much, I think this is very underutilized. When we released the self discipline paraliminal, I had a couple of really interesting calls. Within probably the first six weeks, people realized that what they had not been able to do was not something they valued. It was completely misaligned with what they truly wanted to do with their life. I think if I remember right, one of them had had a preschool teacher tell them they would be good at something. And I think the other one was told by a parent what they couldn't do, which was actually what they love to do. So self discipline is really good and that's often why people aren't getting the results they want with paralympos, that there's a values misalignment. Either you know, they believe what somebody else told them or they, they were told they would never be good at something. And so they decided well that couldn't possibly be, you know, even though they were drawn to it, that couldn't possibly be what they were here to do. So self discipline I like a lot and letting go because we're so overwhelmed right now in our culture and our society and there's so going on in the world. Letting go enables you to allow things to be as they are, to not resist what's going on, to welcome it without condoning it. And that's an important distinction because I think a lot of people have the feeling, if they allow something to be and they welcome it, that they are in a way endorsing it. And that is not the case at all. It's that you stop putting your energy into resisting it. And when you do that, all that energy is regained by you to use to discern what you want to do about what you've been resisting. Because that puts you in a place of clarity. There's that clear focus where you can really see what the ramifications are of what you've been resisting and you can purposefully and determinedly choose to do something about it in an effective way. So that's why I chose those four. But any of the ones in the paralyminals by topic would be good. So we had quite a few questions and I'm going to start with the earlier ones that came in this first one. Oh, how can I overcome ocd, adhd, bipolar, narcolepsy and clinical depression issues and be motivated? You've been given a big load. And what immediately popped into my mind was how strong you must be. I love the Mother Teresa saying that I know God won't give me more than I can handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much. Well, God really trusts you. I'm going to take my parallel hat off for just a second because I'd like to share this because it immediately again popped into my head when I read this. Louise Hay was a metaphysical teacher who started noticing that certain mental patterns and certain ways of approaching the world tended to generate similar dis ease in body, mind or spirit. And she started counseling people from that perspective. And she said that the bottom line for everyone was always I am not good enough. And that just devastates me that people would feel that way through. Through their lives. So there's a book she wrote called you Can Heal youl Life. And it's basically the coaching that Louise did. She would take people through the process of learning to love themselves and learning to. To nurture themselves and take care of themselves. So I'd really like to recommend that book. I think you get a lot from it, but there are some parallel that are awesome for this and they would be a great adjunct or Standalone. But that book came to my mind and I trust my intuition when something comes up real strongly. So belief. Because if you think you can't, you think you'll be right. Just because this has been your experience thus far does not mean it has to be your experience forever. So belief Perfect health. Perfect health reminds you that you have a blueprint for perfect health within you. It's there, you've just forgotten, you know, what you've done with it. It's just the analogy that I think is in the perfect health is that the AC has the DNA to become that incredible oak tree. But you look at that little acorn and you hardly think it would do anything. But the oak tree is in there, the blueprint's in there. You have the blueprint for perfect health. So the perfect health parallel will help you find resources that will help you with this. It will help you find not only internal but external. You probably find referrals to modalities or physicians or the things tend to happen when you're using paraliminals and you align your other than conscious mind self esteem supercharger. Because again, you know, how you feel about yourself impacts the world you see and the world you experience. So I would go there, the generator parallel, new action, new behavior, new history and new option. Anytime you're in a stuck state and this person must be feeling really closed in, the generators really help you to shift that in a very effective way. So I would definitely consider. Those are the paranormals I would consider. But yeah, you got a challenge. But there's a lot of growth opportunity there. So hang in there and keep at it. Keep at it. You can do it. You can do it.

How do Paralympicals work? Do they work efficiently? If I'm sleepy, I've addressed this in other Q and A sessions, but just briefly, when you have the two messages going synchronously and one's going in right ear, one's going in left ear, your conscious mind cannot stay engaged. And your conscious mind is always front and center and when we're or generally in our waking time. And it also, it perceives the world in a certain way and it will set limitations if it doesn't think something's possible, it wants to know how it's going to happen, not what, but how. And so when you, when your conscious mind steps aside, your other than conscious comes to the forefront and there's the seed of all your wisdom, all your memories again. I think it might connect you with the larger quantum field. So you are accessing resources that are there 24, 7. They come to the forefront when you're sleeping and they come to the forefront when you're using power regularly. So that's why they work so effectively. I mean, I've been coaching these for over 20 years and I still. Sometimes I'm just flabbergasted at what they can do for people who've had some of them lifelong issues or limitations or belief systems that have just been just like an anchor they're dragging behind them and they will shift and it's awesome to be a part of that transformation. And they do work very effectively. If you are sleeping, if you look at your.

What you want to do, if you're going to. If. Well, I think this. I want to address this two ways. You may fall asleep while you're listening. Generally when people say they fell asleep, they come back at the countout. So my suspicion is they were actually just in a deep trance state and they were integrating at a very deep level. However, you can use parallel purposefully while you are sleeping.

On the main screen for each paralyminal, there's little icons and the one on the extreme right is the sleep track, which is the change work. So you don't have the introduction, you don't have the drop in, but you have the change work and no count out. So you can loop that sleep loop and you can listen all night long if you choose. I can't sleep with earbuds or earphones, so I generally loop about 30, 40 minutes and then I pull that off and then I nod off. Some people can sleep through the night, so you know, if you can do it, go for it. And then there's also at the bottom of your app, there's sleep. I think it says sleep tracks learning. Sleep learning. I. I can't. But at the toward the bottom when you're scrolling, there's some sets of parallel that work very well together that are there. It's the change work loops pulled out so you could use them that way too. So. So that would be what I have to say about that. This one's interesting. I've been listening to parallel for many years and have noticed lately that I don't seem as connected. Many times now I can't even remember remember which one I listen to. I used to really follow along during them. Are they still impactful? Do I need to take a break or try to do one most mornings or to start my day? A couple of possible things going on there. One is, you may, because they were so different and unique when you were Using them earlier. It may be. It may seem so automatic now that you feel like you're not, because it's a state you're accessing so consistently that you don't even recognize what's going on. The other thing that might be happening, and I see this fairly often, is people will feel like they've hit a plateau and they just feel like nothing's happening, nothing's shifting. I've had this happen with my meditation practice on occasion. But what usually happens is that it's a leaping off point for the next jump. I've had some really profound realizations after I've gone through a dry spell, either with paralyminals or with meditation. And then the surge forward, the insights is just amazing. So. So either of those are possible, but I wouldn't stop doing them. They're a pleasant experience. You're accessing your. Other than conscious. You're setting a clear intention and things, even though they may be imperceptible, the cumulative effect is profound. So I don't think I will ever give up either. So.

I hope that answers what you were asking there. It sounds like either it's a dry spell or as I said, you're sort of gestating the energies for the next leap forward. So that's the way I would judge. I think that is what's happening there.

This last one. I'm scared to learn a lot about my mind because I tend to always think of the negative and feel I will use my mind to destroy my life. Like create diseases in my body rather than healing my body. How can I stop this pattern of thinking? Okay.

I hate to think that you're. You've been thinking that, but. But, you know, we. We get taught some interesting things when we're young and toddlers and we don't. We don't know where some of our belief systems come from. It may be that you had a childhood where you were taught that the body was dirty or icky or, you know, you know, not. It couldn't. You couldn't be on a spiritual path and be paying attention to your body. I don't know what's going on there, but anything that.

Anything that engenders belief in yourself. So belief, fearlessness. Because fearlessness puts you in a state of courage where you. You're willing to question the assumptions. You're willing to. To question what seems to be written in stone. So. So you know, that. That's another one I would like. You deserve it. Which I. That. That's one that we did with Lisa Nichols and that's you. You are always worthy and you, you do deserve it. It doesn't matter what somebody else told you. Your worth was. You're a divine being made in.

In a state of grace. So you know, don't, don't buy into what everybody says to you. Self love because loving yourself, you know, if you can take care of yourself and love yourself, you will gradually come to a place of.

Seeing from a different perspective rather than that perspective of manifesting problems and disease and contracted states. Automatic pilot might be worth considering because that helps with any self sabotage you might be doing. And again the generator paraliminals. So that's where I probably go with that. And then one last question about staying motivated. I did an entire session on motivation in Jet January just last month. And so if you wanted to go to that it was, it was very specific about how to stay motivated. But basically, you know, make sure you, you got a well formed goal that it's in present tense, it's got some emotion attached to it. Act as if it's here, you know, nevillize it. Which is what I talked about last time where you, you act as if it's already here. So that's what you're energizing. Like attracts like and you get more of what you focus on. Be sure that the goal is aligned with what you value. And that's something I'm seeing a lot of, a lot of people have shifted their value systems over the last. Because this has been an interesting phase of history. And so you know, check and make sure that you got your values are aligned with what you think you want because you know, some people, it's, they have a goal and it's been written in their journal or whatever and they don't reassess it every now and then. And sometimes we aren't the person that set that goal any longer. And that's one of the things with Feng shui that I like because at the beginning of the year you have a new year and you sort of assess everything and check your space and see if it's supporting you. And you check your goals, you check and see if they're still current. And it may be that they weren't. So anyway, so that is the questions for today. I love ending with something either inspiring or, I don't know, wisdom oriented. And this one comes from a really weird source. But when I think of focus, I often think about the movie City Slickers. And I don't know if you've seen it or not, but it was A story about three middle aged men that every year they take off and they go do on, do some adventure and they, they leave their wives and the city they live in and all the conundrums, you know, all the, all the, the superficialities and they go do something. Well, the year that, that the movie is based on, they go, they decide to do a.

A cattle drive. And so they go off into, I don't even know what state it was, but they're, they're driving cattle and of course they're complete wusses. And, and the, the trail boss is J. Curly. And so he, he, he sort of grudgingly, you know, teaches on the ropes and you know, makes fun of their, their, the crazy things they do and things. Anyway, he and Billy Crystal start sort of connecting and there's one scene in there where they're riding along and, and Curly sharing a bit about his life and what it's been like to, to be a cowboy, you know, to live in, to live in that milieu his entire life. That's, that's what he's done all his life. And he said, and, and Billy Crystal says, well, you must understand, you know, a lot just being out here and think, you know, being, being out with the cows. And he goes, yeah, I know what the secret of life is. And Billy Crystal like lights up and, and he goes, well, tell me what it is. What, what is it? And Jack Palance turns around, Curly turns around and he goes, and he holds and, and Billy Crystal is going, what, your finger? He goes, no, one, one thing. Stick to that. And that's just a perfect analogy for me on, on focus. Even if, you know, if you're doing multiple things a day, if you're doing one thing wholeheartedly, finish it or say, okay, this is a stopping point, set it aside and then move on to the next thing is that one thing that you're doing wholeheartedly. Because when you're in the present moment and you're doing it wholeheartedly, you are focused and you will see clearly. You know, the steps start evolving, the stepping stones appear in front of you. And so that one.

That was a very wise thing coming out of a very strange circumstance. So I wanted to share that with you and send you lots of love from all of us here at Learning Strategies and Mind Tranks and say goodbye until next time. You take care. Bye bye.