How what you focus on determines what you hit — in business, in life, in everything.
Some years ago, I was on my snowboard, with a guide and a small group of similarly skilled boarders, about to head into a grove of alpine trees. It wasn’t a groomed trail. There was no map. Just trees, snow, and gravity. And one key insight our guide shared with us that still guides my thinking today:
If you focus on the trees, you’ll hit them. If you focus on the gaps, you’ll find your way through.
It sounds simple. But like most profound truths, it reveals a deeper layer every time you return to it.
Focus Creates Reality
When you’re snowboarding through a forest, there’s no time for deep analysis. Your body reacts to what your eyes see. Your eyes focus on what your brain chooses. Focus on obstacles (the trees), and your body braces. You tense up. You make mistakes. You hit what you hoped to avoid.
Focus on the space between the trees? That’s where flow lives. That’s where speed, agility, and freedom are found. Same danger. Different outcome. Why? Because of what you chose to see.
“What you aim at determines what you see. You aim at what you value.” — Jordan Peterson
In business and life, the same principle holds.
- Focus on problems? You’ll hit more of them.
- Focus on the people who let you down? You’ll find more of them.
- Focus on how much you don’t know? You’ll miss what you do know.
Flip it:
- Focus on possibilities? You’ll find gaps no one else saw.
- Focus on solutions? You’ll become known for creating them.
- Focus on what’s working? You’ll multiply it.
This isn’t just woo-woo mindset fluff. This is practical neurology. Your brain filters billions of bits of data a second to show you what it thinks matters. You decide what matters by what you focus on.
So, what are you telling your brain to look for?
Applying This to Business
If you’re in business, you’re in a forest full of trees:
- Staff issues
- Client complaints
- Cash flow crunches
- Uncertain economic conditions
These are real. But focusing on them doesn’t get you out. It gets you stuck.
Instead, look for the gaps:
- A new client niche you haven’t noticed
- A product or service that solves multiple pains at once
- A strategic alliance that opens a new market
- An internal process that unlocks efficiency
Start aiming your attention at what you want to grow.
Your team will follow your lead. Your customers will feel the shift. And you’ll start building a business that flows instead of one that fights fires.
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” — Albert Einstein
Applying This to Your Life
The same principle applies outside business:
- Focus on your flaws, and you’ll hide from your strengths.
- Focus on your regrets, and you’ll sabotage your future.
- Focus on what others think of you, and you’ll forget who you are.
Instead:
- Focus on your capability to learn and adapt.
- Focus on the few relationships that lift you.
- Focus on the habits that strengthen your body, your mind, your spirit.
Gaps. Not trees.
Not because the trees aren’t real. But because your job is to get through the forest. And that only happens if you stop staring at what you want to avoid.
Final Word: The Way Through Is the Way You See
If your current approach has you bracing, fighting, or burning out—you’re probably locked on the trees.
Recalibrate. Not with a delusional positivity. But with a trained eye for opportunity. Choose to see the gaps.
Then aim for them.
Ride the line.
And if you want help finding the gaps in your business, let’s talk.
Because better business doesn’t come from avoiding problems. It comes from seeing, and then riding that space between them.
— Brydon, Your Better Business Trainer