The Impact of Focus: How My Son's Concentration Altered His Results

What you focus on grows. What you think about you bring about, kind of like how my waistline expands when I focus on cookies.

Picture this: the hum of fluorescent lights, the clickety-clack of a mouse during a presentation, and a crisp stack of 8x11 FAQs staring us down. My about-to-graduate high school senior and I sit on hard, wobbly chairs, pondering if a future in welding is his destiny. Dramatic, I know, but when it's March of senior year and college applications are as elusive as Bigfoot, I reserve the right to be as over-the-top as a telenovela, thank you very much! 😊

Two things stuck with me that night: 1. A $10,000 price tag with no student loan options (ouch), and 2. Students can collect qualifications like Pokémon cards before they graduate. Okay, #1 means it's time to hustle for some cash. I'm all about deciding, committing, and figuring it out if you want it bad enough. We'll tackle that price tag. #2? That's awesome! Some of these qualifications cost over $600, and they're letting him collect as many as he can on THEIR dime?! (Okay, maybe it's hidden in that $10,000, but STILL!)

The drive home was like an exciting rollercoaster! Was this his future coming together or just an amazing daydream? They have such awesome opportunities at the end of the class—like a huge job fair buffet, endless qualification options, and a personalized job search assistant. We couldn't stop chatting about it, and honestly, the opportunity was so clear, even a headless horseman would notice it!

After the info session, I connected Noah with an old customer who happens to be a welder. I'm like a human LinkedIn, and it doesn't matter if we haven't spoken in years—opportunity is opportunity! I believe our paths cross with others for a reason! We FaceTimed her, and Noah asked for advice. Her words of wisdom? "Get as many qualifications as you possibly can!" Got it. Get those qualifications!

It's hard. Very hard. There's math. Lots of math. And you can't just wing it when calculating for something like, oh, say, a BRIDGE! It's stressful. He's nervous. He hopes he can survive the program and ace the tests. But he gears up, asks questions, does the work, and repeats. Finally, he completes all the coursework and passes the tests. Now, he's got two weeks to tackle qualifications. Let's do this! Day 1, I get a text—got the 1st qualification! Day 2, got the 2nd qualification! Day 3... he's on a roll until he hits the magic number 6 to graduate. DONE. But does he stop there? Nope, he just KEEPS GOING. After 6, they get tougher. He's really working for them now.

The texts keep coming, and he's knocking out more qualifications daily. He's standing taller, looking prouder, and more confident every time he walks through the door. I encourage him to keep going and get as many as he can. He thinks he might have the most qualifications in his class. I see a sparkle in his eyes. So proud of him.

The last day. He proudly announces as he walks through the door—"I got a total of 14 qualifications—I think it might be the most out of anyone!" Well done, I think—he's JOYFULLY pushed himself beyond limits and now gets to enjoy the fruits of his labor! Next up, the graduation ceremony. Six months, $10,000, and 450 contact hours later, we celebrate the future of a new skilled tradesman. Let's go!!

Parking Lot M, Building 3. Those were the only details we had about the graduation ceremony. They might as well have given me GPS coordinates because after my black heeled boots and I trudged through 3 inches of snow, approximately 9,000 mile-an-hour winds, and two wrong entrances, we found the ceremony. It was GO time.

He graduated in the 62nd class with 13 other classmates. Well done. They called each student's name, took the obligatory stand-still-smile-handshake photos, and made their speeches. THEN, my ears perked up when they announced awards. Oh! I love awards!! Did he really get the most qualifications? Maybe he'll get an award!!! I hold my breath.

They gave away three awards. The first went to someone for Top Academic Success. Well done, Alexander. He probably worked his butt off. But not my child. My child studied and prayed to pass. I'm proud of that. Next up—

Top Practical. Not sure what that means, but good job, Jacob. Lastly, Top Qualification. Is this my child? NOAH BENHAMOU with 24 qualifications, the most in his class. 24!!!! WHAT??? That's MY child!!! There was cheering—you better believe there was cheering.

I run to hug him when the ceremony disperses, and the first thing he shows me is his certificate that says 24 qualifications. He looks at me and says, "I actually got 24! I thought I only did 14! I earned 10 more than I realized!!" I'm so proud of him, and a million thoughts start flying through my head. First off, I'm so excited that there are light refreshments in the back and delicious-looking sugar cookies. Secondly, he DID it!! But this was NOT by accident. Cue the psychological background and scientific proof thoughts.

What you think about you bring about. Since day one, we talked about getting as many qualifications as possible. It was presented by the teachers, reinforced by my welding friend, encouraged by me, and most importantly, subconsciously welded (ha) into his brain. From day one, we talked about it. We talked about it all the time. We talked about it in a fun, opportunistic way, not a scary, pressure way. It just became a thing—a normal, exciting thing for six months. Just a normal exciting thing that we talked about almost every day for six months. And something happened. I read somewhere that our subconscious controls 95% of how you think, react, and behave, the actions you take, and the way you perceive life. If you talk about something enough, it's going to stick. This clearly STUCK. In the beginning of the program, he COULD have talked about how hard it was and how the math was awful and how he hoped he didn't fail, but INSTEAD, we just focused on the excitement of getting qualifications.

What you focus on grows. Tell me about it. With blinders on (well, actually it was more of a welder's face shield, but you get it) he focused and OVER-exceeded his expectations by earning 24 qualifications when he thought he only worked towards and earned 14.

There is power in what we focus on and think about!! This is both good news and bad news. What are you thinking about? What are you focused on? Actually, what do you WISH you were thinking about? What do you WISH you were focused on? Those are better questions. Don't just WISH you thought about more positive outcomes, THINK about them!! Don't just WISH you focused on healthier, happier, bigger things, FOCUS on them!! Thinking small = small. Thinking big = big. I could go on here, we've heard all the slogans... but that's because they're true. What if you focused on your dream for the next six months? Like stop saying but, or couldn't, or unrealistic. Like, stop that, lol. I dare you. Let's focus and knock our socks off. Let's over-exceed our own expectations and realize that we are more qualified than we give ourselves credit for. He (the big guy upstairs) has already qualified you, so what are you waiting for? Let's GO!!