Lesson 4 Pt 2: The Power of Clarity and Focus of Thought in the First Principle in the Science of Getting Rich
…To think truth regardless of appearances is laborious, and requires the expenditure of more power than any other work man is called upon to perform. - Wallace D. Wattles
The power of having a clear vision is one which is of utmost importance if you are working towards a specific goal. I had heard this a million times and I have experienced the truth of this also a countless times. Last week we explored the first principle in the SGR, which is about thought being the only power that can produce tangible results from the formless substance. In that I expounded on the fact that thinking (not just mental activity but disciplined and focussed thinking) was needed for us to create and achieve our goals and this week I will like to share a personal example to shed more light on how being clear and focussed on your thinking produces tangible results.
I started the year with a list of goals like many people and having been a student of some great thought leaders in the personal development space I knew a list of goals without clear and specific action plans was pointless. I also made a decision to focus on taking action more rather than just continuously, consuming knowledge. So when I made the list I prioritised them and made a promise to not look at anything new until each of them had been achieved.
I had been working on starting my E-commerce business for a good two years now and all this while I let myself get distracted by seemingly new opportunities. At the end of 2022, when I evaluated my list for that year and realised it had increased rather than decreased, and not many things had been achieved I was a bit disappointed. I remember telling my sister, how tired I was of being tired and talking about my dreams but not really giving it my all to attain them. During December when we were talking about what we wanted to do and see happen for us in 2023, I had at least 10 big things I wanted this year and the e-comm business ranked top 3. She said so much can happen in 6 months and even more in a year but you have to act.
Gosh, hearing her say that made me feel bad, I am the coach here, this is something I told my clients but hearing it from her as she’s the youngest of our sibling flock made me reevaluate why I wasn’t taking as much action. It sent me into a few days of deep reflection and as a Self Worth coach it hit harder because I knew I was failing myself when I didn’t keep my word to myself or do the work I needed to to realise my dreams. That for me was a blow to my ego because it reflected how I undervalued and loved myself. This became my biggest “WHY” and so out of my list I picked my e-comm business as top priority to get that off the ground.
I remember writing in my journal - I am grateful now that I have launched my business by May 2023 and I have 4 products that are successfully selling consistently by end of 2023. I put my head down and went to work, along the way both friends and new acquaintances presented other opportunities to me but I turned them all down saying I wasn’t interested at the moment because I was already working on something. Some of the conversations went like… but you can do both or we can pick up later in a couple of months but I still declined.
I worked hard, the hardest I have as long as I can remember, because momentum of things picked up in February and I had to stick to my plan for May. Along side my full-time corporate job, my coaching and content creation I was building this business too. Sourcing both suppliers and products, my weekdays were long and weekends short and for the 3 months leading to May I practically took no break. That wasn’t very good as I was naturally forced to stop and rest just in the middle of May but by this time, all legal aspects of the business were in place, I had found my suppliers and I had some of my products énroute to my logistics centre. On the 10th of June 2023 my products were live and available for customers to purchase. Not only had I launched my business in 3 months after playing around for a good 2 years, I also had 5 thriving products in my store to start with rather than the 4 I wrote down for the entire year.
My point here is, when I at the start of the year got really clear about what I want to achieve, I also disciplined myself to stay focussed on what I was doing and refused to be distracted by anything else. I always thought of how I would feel when I had the business up and running, how proud I would be of myself and how much that would mean to me and the love I have for myself.
That respect I showed myself was everything to me in this process and if you’re are thinking but that isn’t a big deal well for me it is. Having been a people pleaser in the past I still sometimes find that I put others’ needs first and would make sure I kept a promise to them. So being able to stick to my promise to me, to not stop or give up until I had achieved this was the biggest form of love and respect I could show myself.
The power of clarity and focus of thought also manifested here as I kept my mind on this one thing even through challenges, rejections, discouraging communication with potential suppliers and the doubts as to the realities of the everyday. I still persisted. This is how I experienced what Wallace D. Wattles means when he talks about - thinking truth regardless of appearances being laborious - for there were many times I wanted to give up.
Heck, I had been at this for a good 2 years and more now. I was even now thinking maybe it wasn’t meant to be because nothing that’s meant for me is supposed to be this hard but oh yes it was meant for me. I just had not been clear and focussed enough in the past. I knew I wanted the e-comm business but I hadn’t been clear as to when that should be or how many products I wanted. At this point I wasn’t putting in the effort it required to see it manifest but when I got clear on the goal and disciplined my mind and focus on it regardless of what my reality showed or how I felt, I reaped the rewards in less than a quarter of the time I had previously wasted and that which I had now set. Now the first is achieved and though it is one that requires continuous effort I can move on to the next one with grace and experience in what clarity and focus can mean for goal achievement. So my question to you today and this week is: how are you focusing the energy of your thoughts? I’d love to hear your take on this questions so please do share in the comments.
Journal prompt: How can I keep my mind focused on a goal when my reality is challenging?