MESSAGE #407 - OPRAH’S LIFE-CHANGING ADVICE

THE ONE THING YOU CAN DO,
STARTING RIGHT NOW,
THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR FUTURE

Oprah: “Your focus is your future.”

BOTTOM LINE: If you focus on the right thing, you’ll have a future that’s so bright you’ll need sunglasses. If you focus on the wrong thing, you’ll need a flashlight to get around. Your focus is your future.

EXTREME EXAMPLE: Imagine being waken up in the middle of the night by the screeching noise of a smoke detector. Even though you smell smoke, you climb up on a chair, open the smoke detector, and remove the battery to stop the noise. You’re focusing on the wrong thing and it may cost you your life.

NOT-SO-EXTREME EXAMPLE: While driving down the Turnpike or the Parkway, you’re talking on your cell phone, changing the radio station, or eating potato chips. You’re focusing on the wrong thing and it may cost you your life.

Some people go through their whole lives focusing on the wrong thing. Your focus is your future.

A RIDDLE: Pay close attention to this story because I’m going to try to get you to focus on the wrong thing. Suppose you live in a big city like New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, and suppose you’re a bus driver. On the first day of work, at the first stop, 10 people get on the bus. At the second stop, eight people get on the bus. At the third stop, six people get on and two people get off. And at the fourth stop, four people get on and four people get off.

Question: How old is the bus driver?

If you did any addition and subtraction, you were focusing on the wrong thing. The correct answer is right in the first sentence: “suppose you’re a bus driver.” How old are you? That’s the right answer because you are the bus driver. Most people don’t get the right answer because they focus on the wrong thing.

Your focus is your future.

There’s no problem with losing your focus on a silly riddle. There’s a BIG problem with losing your focus in your life. Here’s one thing you can do starting right now that will improve your grades this semester. Stop focusing on results and start focusing on effort. For the remainder of the semester, stop worrying about grades and start focusing on studying. Stop focusing on getting better grades than other people and start focusing on studying more hours than anyone else would.

If you focus on results, you’ll get stress. If you focus on effort, you’ll get results.

Absolutely positively guaranteed!

Rob Gilbert, Ph.D.
Success Hotline
(973) 743-4690