What keeps you focused

**BIGPHIL** · 12-17-2005, 12:46 PM

What is it that helps you focus on your goals....what keeps you motivated in the quest to becoming number 1

**Mike Dura** · 12-17-2005, 12:55 PM

What keeps me focused is the immediate experience of training. I love the way it feels and to use a phrase you often hear in Buddhist circles, it's very "present centered." This is a good question, I think but more generally, I think you can re-formulate the question to be, "what brings one a general sense of happiness." It's suggested that the answer may be focus. But then, what is focus, what is it's character, and how can I tap that? There was a good book written about this called "flow: the psychology of optimal experience written by Mihaly Chiczenmihalya (spelling). He argues that you can bring focus (and thus happiness) itself into focus by becoming sensitive to flow and making a task bring you into immediate experience where you have no sense of time - a full absorption. Check out the book on Amazon.

**Mike Dura** · 12-17-2005, 12:59 PM

Also, regiment yourself. Do the same things at the same time everyday. Create Automation. You may not feel like doing it in the moment but forcing yourself to do it will make you happier in the long term. Also, the more you repeat a behavior over time, the less emotional resistence (e.g., boredom or anxiety) you will experience toward it. In fact, you eventually may find yourself looking forward to that thing that was formerly considered laborious.

***doctorherb*** · 12-17-2005, 03:17 PM

my motivation is that I dont want to look "bad" on stage when I compete....It helps me to keep my diet in check, and pushes me in the weight room...

**bigtraps** · 12-17-2005, 04:25 PM

Compulsive Disorder

**MrMent1on** · 12-17-2005, 10:28 PM

What keeps me motivated is the new me every year. I always look forward to see what I look like with an extra 10 lbs of muscles and hopefully looking better each time until I get that pro-card. so its a multi step process that keeps me going. its short term and long term goals together.