Where to Focus: Why a Financially Successful Project Could Be Bad for You

A bluebird and mate (inside the box) at the lake near my home. Photo copyright by Lorna Tedder; all rights reserved.

If we get what we focus on, then it’s time to refocus on some our projects and activities, isn’t it?

I closed down a new project I’d barely started.  I’d paid the fees, written the material, and prepared to launch it when I closed it down before it ever saw daylight.  It was a definite money-maker, so for some friends of mine, shutting it down before it launched did not make sense, specifically after I’d put a good 6 months of effort into it.

What convinced me to change was a spiritual lecture I was listening to onthe Law of Attraction.  Did I really want so much focus on this new project, which was based on a unique personal struggle in the health realm?  Was that what I wanted to concentrate on?

I noticed other people with issue-based websites, blogs, and businesses.  I noted how the issue seemed to consume them, whether it was Lupus, conspiracy theories, thriftiness,  the End of Times, or whatever. They were all financially successful but

generally miserable and narrowly focused on ONE THING in their lives.  I’m not picking on any particular site or topic because what I saw really applies to every site that’s passionately created and promoted. The owners not only report on their own condition but their condition becomes their entire lives. They not only observe that condition in their lives but they look for it. If their business is about fun, healthy, happy stuff, that’s great. But if it’s about coping with life’s struggles?

I think it’s sad when people are so consumed by an issue that they can no longer see anything else objectively or positively.  Everything they encounter is evidence of how they’ve been wronged.  People who don’t know me have taken spoken and written comments I’ve made out of context to prove I’m pro-XYZ or anti-XYZ, all depending on the filters they’ve created for their lives.  A good example of this is found in my article,  “Racism, Sexism, and Religious Prejudice: Seek and Ye Shall Find.”

So I decided I didn’t want to become THAT passionate about a minor health issue that I’ve managed easily.  In fact, I’d rather not focus on it or even think about it at all.  I shut down the project and didn’t worry about the financial or time investment.  It’s a far greater investment in myself and in my serenity to be passionate about much happier things.