Clear Intention
Knowing what you want, uncomplicated by confusion, is a clear intention. Your brain obeys clear intentions more easily than confused intentions – that’s why multi-tasking turns out to be so inefficient. Neither task receives adequate focus, and the brain is divided between competing intentions. Every time you hesitate or feel mixed emotions, your intention is no longer clear.
Think of how hard it has been to make decisions in your own life when you felt ambivalent, indecisive, or unsupported in your decision-making. These factors affect not just you, but the entire situation. Worse still are decisions that must be made where there is distrust, rivalry, and hidden agendas. A group of people with mixed motives isn't conducive to reaching any goal smoothly, and when a bad result occurs and outsiders ask, "What were they thinking?” The answer is usually "They were thinking too many things at once."
In every area of life, intentions become murky when you:
- Don’t really know what you want
- Think you don’t deserve to get what you want
- Feel skeptical that any result will come
- Have mixed motives
- Experience inner conflict
The secret to holding focus is to make it effortless. The image of a genius with furrowed brow concentrating like mad is the wrong image. Awareness likes to be focused when it is pleased – that’s why two people in love can’t tear their eyes off each other. They drink each other in; there’s no effort involved. So apply your focus to the things that charm you. Put your energy on things you love but also on things that most easily hold your attention and make you feel energized and vital.
-- Deepak Chopra
