Your focus determines your reality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smpe0m4RD0M

Do you find this to be true? Can you offer any examples of situations in which focus made a difference in the direction your life was headed?

firstly, thank you for this amazing thread idea. Love talking about lessons from the fiction.

Every day, actually, is an exercise in my focus determining my reality.

Example, I'm working until 11 tonight. I'm back in at 630 with about an hour commute both ways. So I'm not sleeping tonight, to put it simply. But I focus not on how much I hate this lack of sleep, and instead on the fact I love my job, truly, and love that it's an amazing start to a career.

I also spend a lot of my day getting yelled at for things that I'm not in control of, other departments faults, other companies fault, or heck even things done in another country. But I instead focus on the customer, and focusing on making their day better from that point forward, from the second they entered my care.

I focus on the moment, mindful of it, but remain aware of the concequences of my actions. A prisoner in a cage can often be more free than his captor depending on how they view their situations and how they confront their circumstances.

A beautiful scene from Avatar the Last Airbender shows Iroh in prison, while his nephew is free, a prince again. But how each shot is framed makes it look like Iroh is the one free, in the light, and with tons of space whereas his free nephew is caged and in the dark. It highlights their place in their story, mental framework, and shows just how the story is meant to be told. Focusing on an alternative way of viewing the unfortunate can often lead to you approaching problems with solutions rather than a destructive mindset that creates more problems.

This past year has been a test of focus and resolve. We - as a family moved to North Carolina. As our dynamic changed - our choice- we have been hit with every excuse to fire my wife with except a legitimate one. Any other time and any other focus we - me- could have thrown a fit and stayed unemployed - the wife yet - we keep in our hearts and our focus the ability to continue on and make things happen. Now , going on several positions later she has found a place where they pay her and reward her for her effort as opposed to firing her for it. The reality is we could have fell back and moved back and thrown away such a wonderful time here and quit. So glad we decided not matter what we are gunna make it and not quit!

I'd like to think that it does. This quote is one I most often refer back to when I am providing psychoeducation on cognitive distortion and negative thinking. I refer them to a story in which they are walked down a series of unfortunate events that occur that begin with them stubbing their toe out of bed. Essentially, if you wake up late and rush around to get dressed, stub your toe, peel out of the drive and get stuck in traffic, get caught speeding, report to work an hour late, lose your job...etc. The point of it was to educate them on the fact that when something self-described negative event occurs, we have the option to reflect on it, and act in the most efficient way possible, before allowing it to transform into something catastrophic. Waking up late may have been poor judgement call on their part and learning how to focus on what can be done with the situation can help prevent the story from above happening.

The same can sort of apply with our mindset as well. In the same scenario, waking up late can cause us to invite those negative thoughts and poor self-images to can inhibit our ability to make rationale actions/judgement about how to work through the situation. The power of positivity really gets some negative hype, but it in the sense of cognition and disposition priming, it works wonders to set the tone to making appropriate actions in the present moment.

All in all, I think this quote is best described as a priming tool that can propel us in the right direction; but simply focusing on what we would like, and ignoring our personal responsibility to act, doesn't benefit anything.

Awesome replies, thanks everyone.

I’ve mainly experienced this “lesson” as true in hindsight, when I get a chance to look back at what seemed an insurmountable problem, that now seems so... small.

I can say it was 100% my own focus, and not anything else, that put me through the hell of isolation, anxiety and depression growing up. I genuinely believed I was unattractive, unworthy, and unlovable, despite not having any genuine reason to feel that way. My mind was predisposed to look for any evidence that might confirm my beliefs, while I dismissed any evidence to the contrary as “pity”, “kindness” or outright hypocrisy.

The move from this mindset towards looking at myself in a more objective light (and even now a positive subjective light) was what I got out of this wisdom from Star Wars, and it is THE biggest factor that cemented Jedi-ism in my heart as a path of love, joy, and truth.

It is probably the reason I keep being drawn back to Jedi communities. I like the advantage of taking a different look at the same thing, and seeing wild variants. I also feel a bit of a calling/passion/joy to help others do the same.

It is interesting that this insight on focus has allowed me to just “know” situations are not what they often seem/feel, and that in turn allows me to “remove” myself from the situation and observe it from the outside, glancing at several different points of view without becoming overly attached to any of them. It is as if I become a distinctly different “person” than myself, glancing at the other “me” that is caught up in the situation, and thus am able to make decisions and assessments based on observation rather than pulled by unchecked passions. It is a beautiful thing.

I often view this as a fairly simple transaction: Our focus, our mindset, is often the glasses that colour what's going on.

Let us take a coworker who believes you hate them. Any and every action you take will be coloured by that perception. If you get a promotion, you did it to spite them. If you give them a gift, you are doing it to show them up. If you work late on a project, you are doing it to make them look bad. The person's focus is hating you, and as a result all actions you preform as filtered through that lens.

A more common turn of phrase is "woke up on the wrong side of the bed." How many times do you feel like everything is bad, painful, or otherwise unbearable because you just woke up in a foul mood? How many times do you snap at something minor because it's just the latest item on a list of crimes life is committing against you today?

I know this is even more common, but less noticed: Internet tone. When you are in an argument and are getting heated, even the most basic "Good morning" becomes a horribly sarcastic tone in your mind, because it's being read in -your- voice, not theirs.

Overall, when we take these ideas and look at how we focus on things around us, it tends to explain a lot about why we act the way we do. Someone who views a sporting contest as a thing to win, their focus being on winning, they are less likely to accept a loss gracefully. When someone sees the contest as a fun game, they are more likely to come away with a positive attitude because regardless of winning or losing, so long as they had fun they are happy. As a result, how you choose to view what you're about to do will also dictate how you feel after doing it.

Going into work in a bad mood makes the whole day torture. Going to school in a bad mood means you'll learn less. Playing football while upset can make you vicious. Entering a common discussion while angry can lead right into an argument.

We use the phrase "rose coloured glasses" to depict someone who is overly optimistic, no one ever talks about them shades we think are so cool.

I totally agree with this teaching, and I spit it to every intern we receive here, at WDW. Semester after semester we receive thousands of students to participate in our Disney College Program, and likewise we get a lot of interns leaving with a distain for their role in the company.

I always tell my interns that the job is what you make of it. If you go into the day focusing on your role being "a job" then that's all you'll have, but if you focus on "you being paid to have fun in the happiest place on Earth".....

Not every cast member gets it but once they start to change their focus about their respective roles. Their time with us becomes a more enjoyable reality.

Hmm... I would recommend being careful with this. I think this phrase might sound a bit clever and might just be hitting on our wishful thinking button because of the inaccurate wording it uses.

What does it mean by reality? Reality includes the state of the world not just within me but around me. Reality is often that which we know as objective.

If I break my leg but focus on how nice my new shoes still look, it doesn't change the fact that I just broke my leg. The reality of that hasn't chsnged. What has changed is what I am focusing on.

My focus has a perceptual effect on me among reality but my reality does not care about that. My leg will still be broken until it is not.

I wouldn't recommend relying too much on this phrase as it could risk deluding one from their reality.

"Your focus determines your perception of reality."

Your perception of reality is what drives you to act in one way or another about it. Understanding this makes sure that you know what you can and cannot control.

Yes, but...

I definitely believe that a lot of the time, perceiving problems as being surmountable and the world to be a basically good place can help make both of those true. And I'm the woman who recently had a friend tell me that I had made having cancer look easy, so I can pretty well back that up in my own life.

But! This can lead to some horrible victim-blaming nonsense. There is only so far a positive attitude can take you. To use my own easy example again: I can't cure cancer with the power of positive thinking, nor did negative thoughts somehow cause my cancer. Positive thinking has made dealing with cancer easier, but cancer is still a reality.

Well said. Your focus don't override reality, but it does affect how you approach it.