Focus Your Energy
I like to ask the following question of people attending seminars on self-improvement and achievement, “What is more powerful, the sun or a laser in a laboratory?” Typically, people respond that the sun is unquestionably more powerful. After all, it is the sun’s energy which sustains life on earth. It is the sun around which all the planets in the solar system revolve.
I then pose a follow-up question. Pointing to a table, typically made of plastic, I ask, “If I wanted to make a hole through this, say the size of a coin, what would do a better job, the sun or a laser.” A discussion ensues.
We immediately come to the conclusion that we could leave the table outside for years, with a circle drawn where we want the hole and there would be virtually no chance the sun would create that hole for us. On the other hand, we all readily agree that in an instant, a laser could accomplish our goal.
Granted, my questions and examples are flawed on some levels, but they serve to make an important point. No doubt, the sun as an overall source of energy is greater than any laser. Yet, while a given laser might release less energy over time than the sun, its power comes from its ability to release directed and concentrated energy to accomplish things the sun naturally does not.
The point is simple. Focusing our energy increases our power, our ability to get something done. If we have a task at hand, focusing on it and making it a priority is what will help us reach our goal. The downfall for too many of us, too much of the time, is that we want to accomplish too many things at once. This disperses our energy and diminishes our power.
Focusing our energy is one of the keys to accomplishing our goals.
Image courtesy of [Marcus] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
*Authors note: You might see this column pop up online in a newspaper, under the name Both Sides. I am publishing this column here first at CYInterview.com. For a bunch of years, I have been writing newspaper columns. Since my columns have received a good response on CYInterview, I thought I would share it with you. Hope you enjoy.
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