The Secret to Change Is Focusing Your Energy on Something New

Do you dare to look towards your dreams instead of your past? That’s the question you need to answer if you want to make a change in your life. Then, you’ll need to focus all of your energy on the new instead of wasting it looking back.

Live involves a lot of change. Some changes are sudden, while others are slow and predictable. Some are painful, while some are enjoyable. These changes also involve personal transformations that we sometimes resist out of fear, but that we need to experience in order to learn and improve.

Change and the “Triple A” Rule

One of the aspects that can affect us most regarding change is losing focus on our goal. After all, the new that awaits us distracts us with all the other details and aspects that don’t feel as important as the dream that we want to achieve.

For example, if you want to change jobs and are determined to do so, your intuition can lend a hand. Think about what you really want to do. Don’t lose focus based on what others tell you or what other people think you need to do to be happy. After all, who better knows what makes you happy?

To successfully deal with change and be able to focus, you can use the “Triple A” rule:

Accept your emotions

We fear change because it usually pushes us out of our comfort zone. Uncertainty and the unknown cause fear in us because it’s impossible to know what will happen. After all, we control less variables in the new situations. Because of this, the first step to successfully overcome change is to accept and manage your emotions, especially fear.

Fear shouldn’t be a reason to paralyze you. Instead, it should inspire you to act, to be curious and to be proactive. Fear is a natural response to the unknown, but we must not allow it to dominate us.

Adapt

In order to adapt to change and focus on the new things in brings with it, we have to know ourselves. We need to look within ourselves to identify our defects and virtues so that we can minimize the former and enhance the latter.

Knowing yourself will allow you to adapt better to change, to determine which aspects you may need help with, and discover how to make the most of your skills and knowledge. Perhaps a good idea is to question your ingrained beliefs and replace them with more positive ones.

Anticipate

Once you know what your emotions are and how to manage them and you know what your skills are and how you can use them for change, it’s time to start acting. It’s time to get on track and start spending our time and energy on our goal.

Managing change means that you have to anticipate and visualize what may happen and consider different responses. That way, you’ll feel more confident, since you’ll help reduce the unforeseen possibilities.

It’s all about becoming familiar with the process, changing your perspective and getting to know yourself better.

Learn to focus better

In our day-to-day lives, we’re surrounded by countless elements and situations that distract us from our goals. For example, think of what you usually do when you talk on the phone. It’s very rare that we fully dedicate ourselves to the conversation. In addition, think of how you start to perform a task on the computer and accumulate tabs.

That being said, what can we do to refocus ourselves?

Do one thing at a time

Doing several things at once is overrated. Sometimes, it even stresses us out because we feel like we can’t finish a single thing. For example, if we’re writing an email and get a phone call, we start attending the call and forget to finish the email.

To avoid this, every time you start a task, concentrate until you finish it. Avoid interruptions and continue until the end. This way, you’ll feel a sense of order and accomplishment.

Meditate

Meditation can help us a lot to focus on the here and now, on what surrounds us and on what we feel at the moment. Through deep breathing, we become aware of our body and focus on what’s happening in the present.

Find a quiet place, sit cross-legged or lay down, and start breathing deeply. Focus on how the air enters your body. Notice how it travels through your airway from your nose. As you release the breath, let your muscles relax.

Do the most important thing first

If you have several pending tasks, you have to prioritize. It’s important that you don’t leave the most important tasks behind. Remember that if you leave the most important for last, you’ll be tired and won’t pay as much attention as you need to. After all, the most important tasks are also the ones that require the most attention.

Take advantage of the first moments of the day to do the most important – or the biggest – task. This way, you’ll ensure that you tackle them with all of your energy, a good dose of creativity, without distractions, and with the minimal accumulated tension.