What do you think about everyday?
Posted by Rick Ellis on March 12, 2008 Permalink
My seven year old son, once he figured out that having money enabled him buy things, became obsessed with finding loose change. Nearly every time we go somewhere—errands, restaurants, shopping—he manages to find coins. It’s uncanny just how frequently he’s successful, and how fast the small change adds up to enough money to buy something meaningful for himself.
His secret? Simple, he’s always looking. He peers under counters, scans parking lots, looks in bushes, sweeps his hands under vending machines, pokes his fingers into coin returns, crawls under cars, and he’s always right there asking if he can have my change when I’m emptying my pockets. He’s a coin collecting machine with 99% uptime!
I’ve often thought that if people approached their goals with the same determination as my son does, they would be wildly successful. Many of us have goals and aspirations, but without putting them into our direct consciousness every moment, they are simply far off dreams that rely mostly on luck to happen. I’m reminded of a saying I heard years ago, although I don’t remember who said it:
You become what you think about all day long.
If we want to really achieve something, we can learn a lot from a seven year old who has never read books on setting goals, or attended success workshops, or watched motivational videos. He simply intuitively understands that the secret to success is to focus on your goal. Every moment.
