I was speeding at 142 mph toward a racetrack wall…
I recently had an incredible experience inside a $265,00 McLaren around a racetrack in Arizona. The real lesson came from my instructor’s advice: “Don’t look at the wall, focus on where you want to go.”
That’s the situation Heather and I found ourselves in recently in Phoenix Arizona. My friend Heather took me for a ride in her baby blue McClaren with helmets on and seatbelts locked.
I wasn’t really scared… but I wasn’t exactly “not scared” either… LOL. More excitement than fear.
It was a lot less scary than scuba diving with three sharks circling me in the Bahamas… I’ll save that story for later.
Here is the advice from our Road Race instructor:
“Don’t look at the wall—focus on where you want to go. If you look at the wall, that’s where your car will go. Don’t even think about the wall. Think about your destination.”
It struck me how often we get caught up focusing on the obstacles in our lives, instead of keeping our eyes on our outcome. When we spend too much time focusing on what we don’t want to happen… anxiety and fear creeps in. It can feel paralyzing.
But when we shift our focus to where we want to go, our unconscious mind starts finding solutions, and we make progress towards our outcome. It sounds simple, but most people can’t control their thoughts. If you can’t control your thoughts, you can’t control your emotions… and then your actions follow your most dominant thought.
You Get What Your Focus On
The advice was simple yet powerful. It’s a great reminder that small things such as a 2 second negative thought… can be deeply life altering.
Controlling your thoughts, control your outcomes.
You can watch the entire interview with Heather on the podcast channel here.
We talk about that experience in the on that Arizona Raceway. She is a an interesting person you can learn from.
Whether on the racetrack or in life, what you focus on really matters. If I’m always thinking about the obstacles in front of me, they’ll feel closer and more overwhelming. But when I shift my focus to my outcome, my hands and unconscious mind steer around those challenges without any danger. Let your mind to do the heavy lifting.
How Can You Apply This Lesson?
1, Stop Focusing on your Problems. If you keep thinking about the “walls” in your life—whether it’s stress, obstacles, or fear—you’ll be pulled toward them. Instead, start focusing on where you want to go… look ahead past the obstacles.
2. Set Clear Outcomes. Just like on the racetrack, it’s important to know where you want to end up. Focus on that outcome a few times a week… even if it seems impossible or far away, a few minutes of meditation or intentional thought can be powerful in long term outcomes.
3. Program Your Unconscious Mind. Once you get clear on what you want, your mind will start sorting for evidence to find ways to make that happen.That is the essence of the Magic Question. If you haven’t seen the latest Magic Question Masterclass… it could be the best hour you invested in yourself this year.The link is here to attend the next upcoming class on this very powerful thought control technique.(Attend the Magic Question Masterclass today.)
Why This Matters:
Your thoughts create your reality.
Anxiety and worry are the result of rumination. Rumination is the excessive repeating of negative thoughts of past or future negative events. This creates anxiety and depression. Rumination is the root of all suffering. Controlling your thoughts is the key skill that we must master in order to live a happy life.
We all have negative thoughts; happy people just push them away sooner and faster than those with no emotional control. Rumination is a useless mental circus. It’s a great formula if you want to be miserable and grumpy. Controlling your thoughts is the fastest way to controlling your attitude, mood, and your long-term outcome.
Word of the Day: Rumination.
a. : the act or process of regurgitating and chewing again previously swallowed food.
b. : obsessive thinking about an idea, situation, or choice especially when it interferes with normal mental functioning.
The entire system of the PRISM Method is to take small daily steps toward making your mind work for you… not against you. Start with the PRISM Habit tracker and a few small daily habits such as a morning ritual to develop mental fitness habits to help you. A few minutes a day, can change your life over a year.
Action Steps:
1. Watch the video short where I tell the racing story. (embedded here) 60 seconds.
You can also watch the whole interview with the brilliant Heather Wagenhals here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYBg3IXgPNI
2. Start Tracking Small Daily Habits That Matter.
The entire system of the PRISM Method is designed to take small daily steps toward big outcome while helping your mind work for you… not against you. Start with the PRISM Habit tracker software and a few small daily habits to develop mental fitness habits to help you. A few minutes a day, can change your life over a year. If was to only track the habits that matter, download our new app from the App Store. PRISM Habit Tracker https://prismhabittracker.com (This is a free app.)
Join our skool community for weekly support and tools to ‘train your brain’ for more happiness and success. https://www.skool.com/happywealthymind
What could your life look life if you had no self-imposed limitations?
Bart Baggett
Author of Happy Wealthy Mind, The Magic Question, Success Secrets of the Rich & Happy and Founder of the Life Design Academy