Where’s Your Focus

I think we’ve all been in a place where we may lose sight of things from time to time. Maybe it’s because life just gets crazy busy, our plates are too full, or maybe it was because we didn’t quite have the clearest vision of what we should be focusing on. Maybe, just maybe, we had our sights set on the wrong thing, or in the wrong direction.

Interesting, but true story from last week.

While working late into the evening at the box a car pulled in to the parking lot and an older gentleman rolled down his window to catch Claude outside and ask him for directions. He was trying to find Astoria Oregon….He explained to Claude that he had followed I-5 up from California got to Portland and was told to just follow Hwy 26 signs to Astoria…. He seemed to be in a hurry to get there, which made it all the more difficult to break the news to him that he had gone in the wrong direction. Astoria was back the direction he had just came, and nearly 200 miles away from where he currently was. The disappointment on his face and in his tone spoke volumes, he had been driving all day in the wrong direction….

And it would be easy to do based on what he was told, or maybe what he was “focusing” on. He focused on the Hwy 26, but not the direction on Hwy 26 he was supposed to be traveling. Regardless, he turned around and went on about his way headed with better directions toward his intended destination.

All this being said, what does this have to do with life or fitness for that matter?

If we get our sights focused on the destination only, we may get there, but we may not, especially if we don’t have the right directions. We can get so focused on which “hwy” we’re supposed to turn on, that we miss the most important part of which direction on that hwy we’re supposed to be headed. It’s easy to do!

 We all want the end result, we can see it in our minds, we feel it in our hearts, and we’re gonna will our way to it. Unfortunately, that just won’t work. The process toward our destination, is almost as important if not more important than the destination itself. It’s the place where we make our pit stops, check ins, rehydrate, (physically, mentally, and spiritually), as well as confirm we’re on the right track. It’s where the real changes occurs, where our growth and lessons are learned. Without the process, we miss more than we know.

I know I know, “but Coach, I don’t know what will happen in the process?” Or “it’s not happening fast enough!” Believe me, when I tell you, I understand exactly how that feels. But without a shadow of a doubt, it was the process in the journey, which changed me the most. So when I finally did get to the destination, I didn’t just reach a destination or goal, I made life impacting changes that stayed with me forever.

So where’s your focus? Is it on the destination only? Or, are you looking at the process as the opportunity to step by step, or pit stop after pit stop, learn, grow, and change into the person you’re called to be. We’re all on a journey, whether it be in fitness or in life. And we all have choice. Will our mindset only be on the end result? Will we embrace the process, or the “drive” in reaching our destination or goal and find all the brilliant pit stops that help shape us toward greatness? Or will be choose to keep our head solely focused on the destination, missing all the beauty along the way.

My goal for each one of you is to enjoy the process. Yep, it may not be as quick as you’d like it to be, but there is something amazing for you along the way! And remember, your coaches are always here to help you in this journey, at each pit stop, giving you direction to help you reach and see that destination!