I hope you all enjoyed Halloween. This year marks the 40th anniversary of (in my opinion) one of the best horror films made: the original Halloween movie. Halloween captured my undivided attention and kept me on the edge of my seat during the entire movie. Horror films have a way of making us forget everything else and being completely invested in the plot line. Great movies do that also, but the horror genre for some reason does it better. Even mediocre scary movies give us an adrenalin rush as we wait to see what’s waiting around the corner. I think it’s the fear and the anticipation of what is going to happen next that keeps us on the edge of our seats; we tend to forget everything else and focus on that moment.
Horror movies have a way of making us be in the moment and focus. Remember as a kid when you would get scolded by parents or teachers? You paid attention out of fear, you hung on their every word hoping that no further repercussions would be vocalized.
What if we can harness that feeling on what we are doing right now? Not necessarily the fear itself but whatever that intensity is and focus it towards tasks we do daily. I believe many of us do it unconsciously by procrastinating. We come up with excuses that the time crunch will make us perform better, the deadline will make me do it. I am guilty of it. By going right up to the deadline we put unnecessary pressure on ourselves to complete the task out of fear. But what if we took that intensity and applied it every moment? Not only would this take the pressure off, but we could focus on our tasks and not worry about the fear or failure and be present.
This weekend once you are past the sugary high of Halloween think about why fear sucks you in. Take that feeling and apply it to what you are doing and live in the moment.
“Fears are nothing more than a state of mind.” —Napoleon Hill
Have a great weekend.
Vijay