All children have the ability to see every possibility that life has to offer. They call it using their imagination and if you have ever had the pleasure of talking to a child, then you know exactly what I mean. With their heads held high, they can tell you 100 different ways to use an empty paper towel roll and spend hours demonstrating each and every one. I, like most people, struggled with seei
ng the empty roll as anything other than garbage. Normally I would have just thrown it in the trash (or recycling if the bin is closer) because that is what my adult mind told me I should do. It was not until I began to improvise that I realized that possibility is everywhere and in everything. Children also have the ability to jump in and be a part of everything around them. It’s not until they begin to “grow up” that the idea of holding back and only observing the situation is introduced. Working with kids and seeing these characteristics, led me to the conclusion that, on the whole, as we “grow up” we lose the ability to see possibility (or use our imagination). As children we walk around looking straight up (most likely because everything is so much bigger than we are). Focusing on possibility and being amazed by the world around us. Around the first grade this way of viewing the world changes slightly. Children become more aware of the world around them. The idea of status and social standing is introduced through group activity. This, in turn, causes their focus to drop because depending on your status your perception of the world changes slightly. Some find that they are able to take leadership roles playing only the games that interest them, while others become more of the following type, thus limiting their creative input. As they continue to grow and change physically, so do their minds. As children enter into adolescence, they are not only taller (causing where they focus to drop slightly) but they also begin to challenge authority as they struggle against putting away childish things and picking up new ways of thinking. This is often referred to as testing their boundaries, and in most cases they receive discipline as punishment for what adults view as acting out. As they become young adults their focus changes again. They are taller now and, as a result, their focus drops again to become more centered. Seeing mostly only what is right in front of them and giving little need to shift their focus back upward, accepting the new rules that go along with growing up. This is often referred to this as having their heads on straight or having a good head on their shoulders, and now they can be given responsibility. As we enter into our adult lives we find that more demands on us cause our focus to change again. Worries about money generally cause us to focus almost solely on our work. Strict deadlines and pressure from bosses, coworkers and clients keep our minds continually occupied. Today, more than ever before, people walk around with no regard for the world around them at all, as a need to constantly be connected to our employment has made texting and emailing outside of work hours a necessity. Our focus has narrowed as we struggle to look up from our BlackBerrys™ and iPhones™ long enough to see the possibilities in the world we inhabit. This inward and myopic way of thinking has most of the businesses on the Fortune 500 worried. They have all indicated that a lack of creativity in the work force is reducing their ability to innovate. In February 2006, Sir Ken Robinson spoke at TED talks about creativity being the foundation of innovation. Focus UP shares that view and we would add that where you choose to point your focus has a direct link to your levels of creativity. We are committed to changing the way you view the world around you and showing you how to reclaim your focus and point it in the right direction... UP!
