A Story that can Change your Life

When the Alaskan Pipeline was being built, there were many Texans who went to Alaska and found work on the pipeline. The Texans could only work a few hours in the frigid weather, yet the Eskimos, the native Alaskans, could work indefinitely in the cold. They decided to do a study to find out why the Eskimos could withstand the weather. After much study they found that there were no physiological differences between the Eskimos and the Texans. There was nothing in skin thickness, blood, or any other thing physically that would explain the differences in the ability to withstand the temperatures. The solution came when they did a psychological study. The difference was the Eskimo said “he knew it was cold but there was a job to be done.” In other words, his focus was on the job and obtaining results rather than on the weather. The Texan focused on the weather and this kept him from focusing on the job at hand.

Here are some of my insights from this story:

What you focus on determines how you feel.

Have you ever remembered something that happened to you years earlier and before you know you begin feeling those same emotions?  Your emotions are directly connected to your thoughts.  This is where I’ve learned how to use my emotions as a gauge to understand what I am thinking.

When you’re mind gives out, your body follows.

Your brain is amazingly powerful.  Your body always does what your mind tells it so stop giving into your physical senses and allow your mind to stay in control.

When you have a great WHY you can endure any HOW.

Why you do something is always more important than how to do something.  Your why is your reason!  When you’ve got a great reason for doing something your brain will figure out how to do it!

The real work everyday is maintaining the right focus!

The reason people fail is broken focus.  Whatever is breaking your focus needs to be treated as an enemy.  Don’t make friends with what’s breaking your focus.  Destroy what’s stopping you!

How do you need to change your focus?