Have you ever seen an owl at relatively close range?
If you haven’t, I suggest you should. They’re beautiful creatures. But beyond being beautiful, owls are deadly. Incredibly deadly. They are one of the most efficient hunters of the animal kingdom. They are designed to kill.
HERE’S WHAT MAKES AN OWL SO DEADLY:
They are largely nocturnal. Their vision increases at a time when most other animals’ vision decreases.
They are incredibly quiet. By the time an animal sees them, it’s too late.
They are fast. They can glide across the air at about 40 miles per hour from branch to ground. Some owl species go as fast as 50.
They have binocular vision. This means their prey is fully in focus while the rest of their surroundings are blurred/obscured.
The last one is of note because its what makes owls so majestic. Owls have an incredible ability to focus on one thing: hunting. If it’s not hunting at that moment, it’s thinking about hunting and preparing for the hunt.
They are obsessed. Nothing else matters during the hunt. That is their default programming.
Like the rest of nature, owls can teach us a good lesson.
THEIR PARTICULAR LESSON IS THIS: FOCUS...
Human beings are not designed to be elite killers, but we are designed to focus. There is a piece in the brain called the reticular activation system. This part of the brain filters out information from the outside world into “important/need to know” and “not important/don’t care”.
The reason why human beings have ascended to the top of the evolutionary chain is our ability to set goals and focus (amongst other things).
This part of our biology is absolutely amazing. But if you haven’t programmed it to focus on certain things, it will not serve you.
Why not?
We are absolutely bombarded with thousands of bits and pieces of information day in and day out.
How do you know what’s important? How do you know what’s not?
Our world takes advantage of those who do not know how to focus and set goals because they are easy prey.
If you don’t know how to focus on what’s important to you, you will literally be used as an ATM by people, companies, and institutions who will tell you what is good for you.
This is how people live where they don’t want to live, drive what they don’t want to drive, eat what they don’t want to eat, and spend what they don’t want to spend (or have).
Instead of being the owl, you have become the field mouse.
The habit of setting goals and focusing on them will transform your life and prevent this tragedy from occurring.
You determine what you want to achieve this day, this week, this month, and this year. Then you determine how you’re going to get there.
Once you've identified your goals, your brain will automatically start filtering out information that does not suit the goal.
If you have a goal of losing weight and getting fitter you’ll start paying attention to the small things.
“I think that’s a biiiit too much food on the plate. I don’t need to eat that much.”
“Hm…Target is running a 10% off on all fitness gear. I should probably get something from there….”
“That looks tempting…but I’ll have to pass. I’m on a diet. I’m trying to lose 10 pounds before the wedding.”
You see how that works? Your brain starts finding solutions to problems you wouldn't have paid attention to before.
SET YOUR GOALS AND FOCUS ON THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENT. YOU’LL BE LIKE AN OWL IN NO TIME, HUNTING AND CATCHING YOUR PREY WITH EASE.
