Posts Tagged ‘decide’

What is an Attention Mentor?

Often times when people ask me what I do and I say, “I help people create a life they love,” they say, “Oh, you’re a Life Coach.”

I understand the mind’s tendency to associate new information with known information and so this is the logical association. The difference, however, is that there is actually specific training to become a Life Coach and they have a certain way of leading their clients to the results they seek that differ from what I offer as an Attention Mentor.

When I was deciding what to call the specific way I help people create a life they love, the definition for a mentor* seemed a better match to what I do, than a life coach*. Since my emphasis is on managing attention, I decided on Attention Mentor.

* mentor: a wise and trusted guide
* life coach: an advisor who helps people with problems, decisions, and goal attainment in daily life.

I’ve been studying and teaching how to create a life you love for over two decades and now base everything I teach on one simple formula:

Decide what you want and give that your attention.

Deciding is our ultimate power in this human experience. I devote the first chapter of my book, InJoy! The Decision is Yours, to the power of deciding, and I offer my Decide Process in my JATAT Guidebook in hopes of empowering people to decide more deliberately.

The importance of getting clarity about what you want to experience cannot be overstated. If you don’t know what you truly want, and most don’t, you have no focus. Without a focal point, managing your attention deliberately becomes a much greater challenge. Read my article, The Power of Clarity, for more on this subject.

Giving your attention to what you want, instead of what you don’t want and all the reasons you think you can’t have what you want, is the only way you will ever have what you want.

Your attention is your creative energy, whatever you give it to becomes more prominent in your life. Quantum physics is even demonstrating that the act of observing (i.e. directing attention toward) literally changes that which is observed…changing wave functions to particles and back to wave functions when attention is removed.

When attention is not managed deliberately, it becomes scattered and ineffective like the far reaches of a flashlight beam in the dark. But when attention is focused and directed deliberately (easier than you think), it becomes ultra-effective like a laser beam. Both the flashlight and the laser direct light, but one is much more focused than the other.

As an Attention Mentor, I can help you recover spent attention so you can reinvest it in what you want. I can teach you simple methods for letting go of all that holds your attention captive so you can empower that which you choose to experience instead of that which you resist.

Symptoms of poorly managed attention include (but are not limited to): ineffectiveness, boredom, frustration, exhaustion, procrastination, lack of motivation, lethargy, inertia, weight gain, accelerated aging, poor health, insomnia, fear, dread, anxiety, anger, resentment, divorce, loss of libido, etc.

Effects of deliberately managed attention include (but are not limited to): contentment, satisfaction, passion, happiness, clarity, joy, peace, compassion, right livelihood, positive outlook, self-esteem, accomplishments, success, fulfillment, etc.

The choice is yours…decide what you want and give that your attention. I can help.

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The Power of Clarity

The importance of getting VERY clear about what you want cannot be over emphasized.

As the multiplicity of reality pulls our attention in every direction, having clarity about what is truly desired provides a focal point with which to direct our attention deliberately.

Without a focal point, directing attention becomes more of a challenge.

In Transcendental Meditation (TM), the student is taught to repeat a mantra, a specific word or sound. They are instructed to simply continue repeating the mantra until they become aware they are no longer repeating the mantra (i.e. the mind has trailed off in thought), at which time they simply start repeating the mantra again.

The idea is to give attention to the focal point, the mantra, and when attention wanders, you simply bring your attention back to the focal point. Without a focal point to return to, the mind is easily distracted.

This brings us back to the importance of clarity. When you are very clear about what you want and you make that your focal point, directing your attention becomes effortless.

One of the many benefits of practicing TM is the stabilizing of the quiet mind state. When the mind is provided with a focal point, it quiets down. As the mind becomes less distracted, the mind chatter falls away and the blissful quiet mind state is enjoyed.

Remember a time when you were so engrossed in what you were doing that everything else seemed to disappear and you enjoyed a contentment beyond that provided by the activity itself. This is the quiet mind state.

Athletes and musicians, to name a few, often refer to this as the “zone.” It’s a point where one experiences a comforting peace and inner silence even in the midst of a chaotic and loud stadium.

This is our natural state and is experienced on a consistent basis in our daily lives when we manage our attention deliberately and allow the mind to quiet down of its own accord.

Unfortunately for most, this state is only experienced in fleeting moments, if ever. Only a small percentage of people are even aware that this content and empowering state is available to them.

In the past, the quiet mind was only sought by those on an intense spiritual path. Today, it makes sense for anyone who wishes to enjoy contentment and peace while achieving extraordinary success in whatever endeavor they choose.

It’s not an either/or choice.

Although the application of the concept presents a challenge for most, the formula for creating a life you absolutely love is simple:

Decide what you want and give that your attention.

I offer free attention mentoring to do just this in my What You Want Challenge on www.ChangeYourMynd.com.

Creating an Attention Revolution one quiet mind at a time…

As an Attention Mentor, Shelia Norling teaches simple methods of managing your attention and thoughts so you can create a life you love. Take her What You Want Challenge at www.ChangeYourMynd.com and she’ll mentor you free of charge! While you’re there, download her free JATAT Guidebook and learn a simple shift in perspective that allows you to have what you want, effective immediately.

© Copyright 2010 Shelia Norling
This article can be reprinted without permission as long as the content and author’s statement remain unchanged.

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