What You Focus on Grows in the Garden of Your Life

How Does Your Garden Grow?

What are you planting in your garden of life? Life is like a garden, and what’s growing in our lives is that which we’ve planted. Sure… some of it is weeds we didn’t ask for. But what you focus on grows, so focus on the good and you’ll have more of that.

In this Covid-19 era, now more than ever, we need to focus on what we want rather than obsess over fearful things we don’t want.

Plant the seeds you want to grow and tend them well. The more they grow the less room for weeds. Whether in this garden metaphor or in your life and work… what you focus on is what grows more fully in your life.

“Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t.”

Table of Contents

• What You Focus on Grows
  • Reframe the Weeds
  • Dreams Come True with Focus
• Crowd Out the Weeds
• Reframing Fuels Your Growth
• You’re the Master Gardener of Your Life
  • Don’t Give Up!
• Reframe the “Weeds” of Stinking Thinking
  • Tilling New Ground
  • What Do You Need to Reframe in Your Life?
• Face Your Fears and they Disappear
  • The Power of Practice
• Growing the Garden of Your Life
• Wisdom from the Community

Audio Article: What You Focus On Grows

What you focus on, grows.
~Multiple authors

What You Focus on Grows

Your garden grows what you plant. What you plant stands to thrive if you focus on its care. Don’t focus on the weeds you don’t want. Make the good weeds into food and medicine and get rid of the rest.

When it comes to the weeds in your life… those annoyances that detract and get in your way, don’t lament them… just get rid of them. If you can’t get rid of them, learn from them and reframe negatives into positive fuel.

RELATED:

Reframe the Weeds

Your “weaknesses” (weeds) can actually be strengths when perceived differently. In the garden, weeds are often edible and medicinal. Weeds can also inform us as to the health of our soil. However if our weeds take over, it’s time to replace them with the plants (plans) that we choose.

AFFIRMATION:
“I focus on what I want in life, and that is what I have.“

Dreams Come True with Focus, Planning and Effort

Now notice we’re not saying what you dream about or wish for is what you’ll have. Focus implies steady, persistent concentrated effort over time.

Like a well tended garden, what you focus on is what grows more fully in your garden of life. What you focus on thrives, so be sure you’re focusing on the good that you have and the good that you want, because without a doubt, what you focus on is what will grow in your mind and in your life. It’s simple physics… the law of cause and effect.

“Remember your dreams and fight for them.”
~Paulo Coelho, Brazilian novelist, author of The Alchemist

Crowd Out the Weeds

To reframe the negatives, ponder the benefits hidden there. Then focus on what you want to grow most.

Whatever is holding you back… whatever your fear, don’t let it stop you.  Fear never really disappears completely. It’s just that by focusing on your strengths and what you want to grow, the good crowds out the bad.

Focus on your strengths and your courage will grow stronger than your fear. Your garden will flourish and outgrow the weeds.

“Do that which you fear to do, and the fear will die.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist, poet, 1803-1882

Reframing Fuels Your Growth

When it comes to the metaphor of weeds in the garden, some weeds are actually edible and medicinal, so these too can be useful. Those that aren’t can make good compost. Reframing, fertilizes the garden of your life.

Many weeds nourish the soil and plants of the garden, and some thwart pests. Weeds also teach us about our soil. In this garden metaphor, our weeds (weaknesses) teach us about our strengths, because each strength has a weakness… a flip side of that coin, and vice versa. Each weakness has a strength to be nurtured.

For example, an introvert may be a good writer with a great sense of humor that she normally keeps to herself or shares with a small circle of friends and family. Turn her loose to write and she comes alive with a whimsical wit which weaves wonderfully into whatever she writes.

That “weakness” of not feeling comfortable being an introvert around people, reveals a strength of powerful internal dialogue that can convey very well in the written word. Introverts are often inner extroverts. Ask any writer with their bevy of characters crashing around in their head.

Weeds then… those things that may appear unattractive to the meticulous gardener, also serve their purpose. It’s the same thing with fear. Pull the weeds of fear that get in the way.

Like compost for plants, you can use your fears to fuel your growth.

“We become what we think about most of the time.”
~Earl Nightingale, radio speaker, author, 1921-1989

You’re the Master Gardener of Your Life

If you want to create video content for your art… your brand, but think you’re “not good” on video, you are the meticulous gardener now, criticizing the imperfection of “the weeds”.  However, there are other ways to grow your brand and build a tribe, some of which can lead you to creating video more easily by focusing on your strengths first.

There are some areas that you may never wish to develop. Some weak areas (weeds) that simply need to be ignored or even removed. We all have those.

If you’re not interested in developing a particular area, all the better. To ignore it will allow you to focus on what you wish to grow. If it’s a must do or must-be-done kind of thing, such as bookkeeping or marketing or website maintenance, then if you must, do it until you’re able to outsource it.

Don’t Give Up!

However, if — as in the video creation example mentioned — it’s something you want to do but assume you can’t or shouldn’t, don’t give up. Adopt a learner’s mindset and give it a try. Most of us aren’t good at anything the first few times.

You’re the master gardener of your life. You decide what to plant and nurture.

Focus on your strengths… the “plants” you want to grow, and as they grow, the “weeds” of your life will diminish.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®

Reframe the “Weeds” of Stinking Thinking

Some weeds need to be pulled out by the roots and tossed. The others can be converted into food, medicine, tea and fertilizer. For continuing this garden metaphor, we’re correlating weeds to negative thoughts and “stinking thinking” that you can convert to something better.

? REFRAMING
Stinking Thinking: “I’m not good at that.”
Reframe: “What do I need to do to become better at that?”

Solution: Not being good at something almost always means that we simply haven’t practiced it enough… or, we’re not interested. If it’s something you want to do, keep at it. If not, let it go.

? REFRAMING
Stinking Thinking: “I’m not good on video.”
Reframe: “How can I ease into creating video content when I’m not comfortable in front of the camera?”

Solution: If you want to create video content, there are simple ways to get better at it. Specifics depend on your goals, but start a goals list, then brainstorm things you can do, but some ideas follow.

Tilling New Ground

If you like to write, you can start there. You can then read/talk some of your written articles into video. Those are called video blogs or “vlogs”. You now have a blog article on your website, and you’ve created a video—a vlog—that will expand your reach and exposure to a larger audience.

Not so hard, and if it is, you will improve with a little practice. Reading your article on camera has given you a simple structure to share something on video. You can even read your article as voiceover to visuals, if you don’t yet want to appear onscreen yourself.

For the garden to flourish, you need to till new ground. This is the harder work. But this is the work that expands your ability to grow more, do more, and serve more. And remember, what you focus on grows, so focus on what you can do and do more of that.

RELATED: a garden metaphor on creativity.

To push against your boundaries expands your capacity, and thus your freedom to choose.

“It’s normal to have fear of failure; just don’t let it stop you.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®

What Do You Need to Reframe in Your Life?

? REFRAMING
Stinking Thinking: “I’m afraid and so I procrastinate trying.”
Reframe: “I’m eager to take on new challenges and I love how I grow through them.”

Solution: It’s actually always harder to make excuses or live in fear, than to do the hard thing. If you shy away from something because it’s hard, you have to make excuses or be disappointed in yourself.  Neither of those help you make the progress you seek, until… until the pain is enough that you can’t not.

There’s a story of a dog lying on the porch of his home, moaning. The owner is sitting on the porch with a friend who asks: “Why is your dog moaning?”
Owner: “Oh, he’s lying on a board with a nail on it. The nail is poking him but he’s too lazy to move.”

When the pain is enough, you will move. Or… you can move sooner.
~LeAura Alderson, Cofounder-iCreateDaily®

Face Your Fears and they Disappear

With practice, you will act sooner to change your circumstance and turn it around. When the pain of fear is greater than the pain of that feared, you will turn it around.

As you become increasingly clear on how you have the power to change yourself, your life and your circumstance, you won’t wait to eradicate fears—new and old. When you face the fear, its shadow grows weak and eventually evaporates into nothingness.

“Often, the pain of fear is greater than the pain of that feared.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

The Power of Practice

With practice, you can even sidestep a lot of your own growing pains of learning through painful experiences.  By becoming a student of observation you can learn from the experiences of others in addition to your own.

Mentors, parents, friends and acquaintances can all serve to guide you along the way through the wisdom of their experiences. To learn from those who’ve been there before is like consulting a master gardener for advice, which cuts way down on the learning curve. Wouldn’t we if we could?

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
~Henry Ford, magnate-Ford Motor Company, author, thought leader 1863-1947

Growing the Garden of Your Life

“As ye sow, so shall ye reap”, is ageless wisdom that’s applicable here. What you focus on is what you’re sowing in the garden of your life.

When you focus on what you want in your life, you will have more of that. It’s just such basic common sense that it’s often overlooked. It’s easy to miss the obvious

Whatever weeds may grow in your day, focus on the good, and more good will grow because what you focus on is what grows more fully in your life.

So be a conscious gardener and tend the crops and orchards of your life, and they will bear good fruit for years to come. Our privilege is to create art… words… craft… commerce… AND… to create our lives… our way.

We are here to grow more fully into our SELVES.

“When you face the fear it evaporates. Shadows cannot withstand the light.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®

The Way of Transformation and Growth

Gratitude is the fastest way out of stinking thinking, negativity, victim and even depression and ill health. Gratitude is free and available to anyone anywhere at anytime.

It’s so simple it’s easy to dismiss, to overlook, and yet gratitude has unlimited power to bolster your own unlimited abilities. When we focus on our blessings we amplify them.

If we focus on our struggles… guess what? Yep. We amplify them. It’s vastly better to amplify the blessings and overlook the negatives.

Never underestimate the power of gratitude to empower you to turn negatives to positives.

The attitudes of inconvenience are learned through conditioning. And… like good pets, they can be retrained.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®

Wisdom from the Community

iCreateDaily community member, Lynne Hundley, had this observation:

Lynne: “I’m working on my response to all the little ‘shoulds’ and ‘musts’ do. Yesterday I went to vote – but the road was closed (the city is putting in a bike path and this week is bridge-close week). So it was detour time – over the river and through the woods, as they say.”

“My take-away is that the detours – and hijackings – in our lives, aren’t detours on the path. They are the path, not interruptions in the day. They are the day.  So I get to have the same satisfaction at finishing them as I do at finishing the planned stuff.”

“That’s a game changer for me.”

Absolutely!

Following a stroke at age 42, musician Dave Kim asked himself:

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN, ASK YOURSELF:
“Is this a chance to be a victim or to bring a message of positivity?”
~Dave Kim, musician, stroke victim turned survivor^[1]https://www.heart.org/en/news/2019/05/23/with-grit-and-gratitude-stroke-survivors-songs-play-on

Focus on What You Want and You’ll Have More of That!

Think Good, Do Good, Be Good, Get Good

It’s vastly better to focus on what you want and head in that direction daily. Focus on your progress, and you’ll make more of it.

It’s easy to get discouraged and even depressed by where you are versus where you want to be. It’s easier to feel, see and dwell on the chasm between where you are and where you’re going, or where you wish you were.

But whenever we leap a ditch, we don’t look into the ditch. We focus on the bank where we wish to land and then we jump full out to the safety of the other side.

“It is only in the focused pursuit of where we want to go, that we arrive.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®

The Law of Attraction is Real, When…

The Law of Attraction is real when the focus of creative visualization is followed by action, repeatedly, over time. That’s why we’re so focused on setting goals and working them daily.

When you start a new painting, or writing a new book, or creating a new quilt, you do not dwell on what’s not yet done. Rather, you focus on what you will create and then you take action to make it happen. It’s the same process for your life. You focus on what you want, then take action.

Too many people focus on Worry, Fear and Doubt. Those evil triplets will rob your future. Stand guard against them. Replace them with the angelic triplets, Gratitude, Creativity, and Love.

Don’t dwell on the distance… on how far you have to go. Instead, enjoy the journey you’re on to the destination of your dreams. Enjoy the scenery. You may never pass this way again.

On even the worst days, there is always something for which to be grateful.

All of it is LIFE. Your life, so might as well enjoy it, right? I mean, it really beats the alternative. If you look for the good in it, you will find it because what you put your attention on is what grows in your life.

If you have lost a loved one, do not focus on the loss… focus on the blessing of love shared. Grieve, for you must. But then let go that gloom… a mourning dove set free to fly from the nest of the heart which remains ever full of love.

Even in your grief, you can wail out gratitudes. Let the grief pour out while the gratitude moves in to heal the wounded heart. And gratitude will move in. We can always find the good in the bad. Sometimes we might just have to look harder.

“Do not overshadow the memories of love with grief… celebrate with gratitude the gift of love shared.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

Focus on Where You Want to Go

To drive means to focus on the road out ahead of where you are. If you’re driving by looking at the patch of road immediately in front of you, or worse, by the rearview mirror, you’re likely to crash before you arrive.

So set your course then focus on the road ahead. Enjoy the scenery along the way—for life is the journey—then settle in… keep your hands on the wheel of each day, and enjoy the ride!

“Who do you want to be in the world? Make it so… like only you can.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

What You Focus on is What Grows for You

So grow good stuff.

If you awaken daunted by the work before your day… if seeming mundaneness clouds your horizon, don’t fret or feel defeated. Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want.

Even if you have to attend to the menial stuff that you don’t want to do… that isn’t a part of your dreams, that’s life too, so just do it, then keep on heading toward your goal. Keep orienting your mind to focus on where you’re going, not what you’re doing that you don’t want to do.

Appreciate the moment because you’re in it. Gratitude transforms everything and everyone.

No one loves to go to the dentist, but we all want good teeth. So we can even be glad and grateful doing that which we’d rather not do because it helps us in our end goal.

It is the clouds that give the sky texture and variety. With only sunny days, we would forget to appreciate the sun. It is the clouds that make the most beautiful sunsets. Same with life. It is the texture of life… the shadows and the light which bring out the greatest beauty.

Truly, without the depths of despair we would not know the heights of delight, for every mountain includes a valley.

“Be grateful for the necessary that makes the extraordinary possible.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

If You Feel Stuck

If you feel stuck in doing work that doesn’t inspire you… that isn’t about who you want to be in the world… that doesn’t nourish your soul, don’t dwell on that. Remember, like the passing clouds that cast shadows from the warming sun, it is only temporary.

When you can’t do what you love, you can bring love with you to whatever you do.

Because you are not what you do. You are Love. Essentially at your core, you are love, so when you’re not feeling it, dig deep within and bring it. That eternal spring lives within.

When you tap into your soul, you discover an infinite well of love that is you.

“Do what you love, love what you do.”
~unknown

Bring the Love, and That’s What You’ll Have

Your soul is present and available to you no matter whether the work you’re doing inspires you. So even when you can’t do work that feels on purpose… you can bring purpose to whatever it is you must do.

When you can’t do work that inspires your soul, bring soul to the work you do.

Doing the work of your soul places you in harmony with yourself. So does gratitude. Become grateful and you will become inspired. Gratitude invokes soul…. soul imbues joy… joy sustains you in whatever you’re doing.

I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.
~Diane Ackerman, American poet, essayist, naturalist, b.10/7/1948

Life is the Journey

If you aren’t where you want to be, enjoy the journey you’re on. Might as well.

This journey is also a part of your life, so you might as well love it. This moment, now. This is yours too. So if you don’t see the love in it… bring it. That infinite well is within you.

Whenever you’re having trouble accessing that eternal spring within, just remember gratitude as the key to unlock access to love.

If you don’t see the love, bring it. 
~LeAura, iCreateDaily.com®

Look for the Good by Jason Mraz

We happened upon this sweet song by Jason Mraz that’s on topic, so take a few minutes for an uplifting tune and lyrics.

I Believe That Every Heart is Kind

We have an article on another favorite inspiring and uplifting song. The chorus starts with “I believe that every heart is kind”. We love seeing sons, Lukas and Micah Nelson with their dad, the legendary Willie Nelson. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Even if you skip or scan read the article, please tune into the song performance. It’s elevating and poignant.

Turn off the News and Build a Garden

What You Focus on Grows Quotes

We’ve collected all the various quotes in this article together here at the end, to make it easy for you to find and share them should you wish to.

The View from a Lighted Mind

The sun disperses the shadows in the garden and calls the plants to grow. The light of your positive, grateful consciousness is the sun in your life that will encourage the good to grow for you.

“Focus on where you’re going, not on the obstacles along the way.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

“Do what you love, love what you do.”
~unknown

“When you face the fear it evaporates. Shadows cannot withstand the light.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®

When the pain is enough, you will move. Or… you can move sooner.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

“Focus on the good and the seeds of good will grow more good.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

The more positivity we set in motion the less the darkness holds sway.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

What you focus on, grows.
~Multiple authors

“Never underestimate the power of gratitude to empower you to turn negatives to positives.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

“Do that which you fear to do, and the fear will die.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist, poet, 1803-1882

The attitudes of inconvenience are learned through conditioning. And… like good pets, they can be retrained.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”
~Diane Ackerman, American poet, essayist, naturalist, b.10/7/1948

“Like compost for plants, you can use your fears to fuel your growth.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

“We become what we think about most of the time.”
~Earl Nightingale, radio speaker, author, 1921-1989

“Life is like a garden, and what’s growing in our lives is that which we’ve planted.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

“You’re the master gardener of your life. You decide what to plant and nurture.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

Focus on your strengths… the “plants” you want to grow, and as they grow, the “weeds” of your life will diminish.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN, ASK YOURSELF:
“Is this a chance to be a victim or to bring a message of positivity?”
~Dave Kim, musician, stroke victim turned survivor^[2]https://www.heart.org/en/news/2019/05/23/with-grit-and-gratitude-stroke-survivors-songs-play-on

To push against your boundaries expands your capacity, and thus your freedom to choose.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

“It’s normal to have fear of failure; just don’t let it stop you.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

“Remember your dreams and fight for them.”
~Paulo Coelho, Brazilian novelist, author of The Alchemist

“It is only in the focused pursuit of where we want to go, that we arrive.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

“Often, the pain of fear is greater than the pain of that feared.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
~Henry Ford, magnate-Ford Motor Company, author, thought leader 1863-1947

AFFIRMATION:
“I focus on what I want in life, and that is what I have.“

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