FRESH VIEWS
FREE MINI EZINE

FRESH VIEWS MINI E-ZINE

Published monthly by Sharon Eakes, Personal and Professional Coach
************************************************************** FOCUS: What we focus on grows
Disciplines: Mental models, Personal mastery

"You see what you want to see."
The Rockman in the musical The Point

THOUGHTS:

While I was weeding my rambunctious country garden, I realized a funny thing. When I go after a particular kind of weed, that's all I see. I don't see other weeds or the flowers around them. I become so focused that I am like a one-woman cavalry going after crabgrass...then I switch to another weed, and that is all I see. This experience brought home to me a couple of truths:

1. We can only see one thing at a time. Literally. Our brains can shift quickly, but we can only focus on one thing at a time.
2. What we focus on grows.

These truths apply whether the focus is weeds or blame or gratitude or what's working or what's not working in our lives.

EXAMPLES:

- When we've decided things are a certain way, we don't see evidence to the contrary.
- When we are consciously grateful for many little things in our life, we find more things to be grateful for and generally feel happier.
- When we are blaming someone for something, we find more and more evidence to reinforce our blaming. The more we focus on the blaming, the more likely we are to become angry and upset.

COACHING TIPS:

1. Make thoughtful choices about what you want to see.
2. Focus on what you want to grow.

INVITATION
You are warmly invited to join me for a 45-minute telebridge conversation to talk in more depth about how what you focus on grows, why that matters and how to change the focus when you want to. Call Tuesday, September 24 at 12 noon EDT (11 a.m. CDT, 10 a.m. MT, 9 a.m. PDT)
(425) 818-9401 x925. No need to register....just call at that time!

INVITATION #2
I want to remind readers that the conference Peter Senge calls "the most important gathering of the year for bringing people together to explore the connection between personal transformation and large-scale organizational change" will take place Sept. 30 - Oct. 2, in San Diego. This is the Systems Thinking In Action Conference, always a world class event! This year's theme is "Leading in a Complex World." I will be giving workshops on "Coaching as a Core Competency." Registrations will be accepted right up to and including walk-ins on the first day of the conference. Please check it out at www.pegasuscom.com. I hope to see you there!


Reach Sharon: 1-888-769-3494 or e-mail sharon@hopellc.com

Each month FRESH VIEWS focuses on a single topic, relates it to one of the five disciplines of a learning community, and offers a coaching tip and a follow-up telegathering. Please forward it to friends and colleagues. My purpose in writing FRESH VIEWS is to nurture, prod and encourage readers to think and talk about these topics with their families, friends and colleagues. Mine is only one view. Multiple conversations may deliver us to insights only hinted at here. Such a process sustains the vitality of learning relationships, learning families, learning organizations and learning communities.


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