You Turn the Way You Look
Not too long ago I took the course you need to take to get a motorcycle endorsement on your drivers license. I already had the endorsement, having gotten it when I turned 16 and started driving my brother’s 50cc Honda scooter, but, as I was considering getting a motorcycle, I decided I could use a “refresher.” I can’t really say it was a refresher since that implies I was being refreshed on knowledge I already had learned. The reality is that in my 20’s I was riding a very quick bike with absolutely no knowledge. I walked into the dealer with a credit card and walked out with a machine that could have been the end of me. Lucky for me, I am lucky and survived.
So I learned a lot in the course; everything was new to me. But the one piece of information I want to discuss today is that on a motorcycle you need to look where you want to go. If you look at an object that is in the direction you want to go, the bike will magically turn in that direction. I say magically, because it seems like magic. Look at the cone on your right and you will turn right. Look to the cone on your left and you will turn to the left. But just try turning right while looking left. It doesn’t work. It’s the same if you are looking right and trying to turn left. You can’t.
It’s a lot like life. In life, you need to look in the direction you want to go, in the direction of the positive change you want to make. If you want to lose 20 pounds, don’t look at yourself as a hopeless overeater, look at yourself as a slimmer person. If you want to be in a healthy relationship, don’t look at your mate as a lazy good for nothing; look at him as a loving provider. If you want to be in a better job, don’t always be looking at a job as working for a mean boss with a bunch of stupid fellow employees; look at a job as a place of fulfillment and joy.
You can even take this to the next step. Actively visualize your change being completed. Have an image in your mind that the change you want in your life has already come true. Visualize yourself as a slimmer person, your mate as a loving provider, your boss as an intelligent mentor and your fellow employees as supportive team players.
Les Brown, one of the foremost motivational speakers said it well, “”You must see your goals clearly and specifically before you can set out for them. Hold them in your mind until they become second nature.”
What change would you like to make in your life? Keep facing in that direction and it will come to pass.
Tags: keep facing in that direction, Les Brown, motorcycle, visualization