There have been many incidents of cars strangely wrapping themselves around telephone/power poles in wide-open fields with nothing else nearby. If you consider the width of a power pole and the distance between the poles, it seems like quite the statistical anomaly. Yet it seems to happen over and over again. When I earned my auto racing certifications to road race sports cars and formula cars, I learned the concept of target fixation. This is the idea is that you go where you look or where you set your focus. It certainly seems to work. For example, If you look at the apex, the corner exit, and the driving line you will go there. Similarly, when you lose control of your car and slide off of the road with significant momentum, if you focus on an obstacle,… your focus will lead you directly to that obstacle. I have certainly had racing incidents where I have had to force my focus away from the obstacle I didn’t want to hit. Also, If you are mountain biking a technical single-track trail next to a large drop off, if you focus on the cliff, your focus will lead you there. Rather if you focus on that tight switchback path, your focus essentially wills you to stay on the path where you want to be.
Have you ever heard the analogy that worry is negative prayer? That is, when you obsessively focus on negative outcomes you are asking, yes virtually praying for those negative outcomes to happen. Instead of torturing yourself with worry and manifesting the negative, focus on where you want to go. In open-wheeled racing, on mountain biking adventures, in business, and in life, I have used the target fixation concept to great effect. I used it to drive the correct line, to avoid careening off many a cliff, and to develop successful businesses,
You too can use target fixation to your great advantage. Decide right now what it is that you will accomplish. Establish realistic timelines. Set your focus there and put your energies into making it happen. Distractions will be a constant, obstacles will find you, and missteps will certainly happen. Maintain your constancy of purpose, persevere, and achieve those goals regardless of the challenges.
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