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Understanding This Paradox Will Help You Achieve Your Goals
And be more content while you do it.
A couple of years ago, I was wall climbing with a friend and it wasn’t going well. I couldn’t complete the route and was getting frustrated. My friend could tell.
He then said something to me that I’ll never forget: “When your focus is on reaching the end, your attention isn’t on the next step you need to take to get there.”
This simple truth hit me like a ton of bricks — the more I focussed on my desire to reach the end, the less I focused on what I was doing right now!
It felt like a switch was flipped in my mind and climbing has never been the same. Today, my attention is much less distracted by the goal of completing the route. Rather, my attention is brought into each movement and each breath — into the present.
What I’ve noticed is that bringing my attention into the present has two great benefits. First, when I don’t distract my mind by thinking about my goal, I perform better. Each movement I make is more purposeful and less hesitant. This singular focus helps me to enter a state of mind called flow or, colloquially, being in the zone. Second, it feels damn good. Once you’ve experienced it, you’ll want to return to it.
