A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Waistline
What comes to mind when you hear the word focus? Maybe it’s the setting on your phone that quiets notifications so you can concentrate. Maybe it brings up a memory of a teacher calling you out for daydreaming. With endless distractions all around us, concentration can feel harder to access than ever. At the same time, most of us have a goal we care about. Especially at the start of a new year, we make commitments that slowly drift out of our awareness. Suddenly, they are no longer front and center. From my perspective as an optimal health coach and host of a health podcast centered on realistic wellness, rethinking how we approach focus can create powerful mindset shifts that support mental health and lasting change.
I like to think about focus in two ways, macro and micro. The macro focus is the big picture. It’s your overall well-being and the intention you’ve set for yourself. The micro focus is where the day-to-day action lives. It’s the small choices you make over and over again. What I see with clients all the time is that the micro focus often lands on restriction. People concentrate on everything they are trying not to eat or to stop doing. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
There’s a common idea in personal development that what we focus on expands. When something has our attention, we notice it more and more while everything else fades into the background. You’ve probably experienced this when shopping for a car. When I was looking at a Honda Accord Coupe, it felt like they suddenly appeared on every road. The cars were always there. But, in reality, nothing really changed other than my awareness. If this is how focus works, the question becomes how to use it intentionally in support of mental health and realistic wellness.
So let’s revisit that opening question: What currently occupies your focus? If your mind is locked onto the bread you’re telling yourself not to eat, it can feel like bread shows up everywhere. Restaurants, parties, work meetings. Concentration turns into constant effort. Now imagine a different focus. Instead of concentrating on avoiding bread, what if you focused on eating vegetables at every meal? That mindset shift may sound small, yet the lived experience is completely different.
For those familiar with behavior change research, this lines up with what is often called the crowding out theory. When we add supportive habits, the ones we want less of tend to fall away naturally. Rather than fixating on removal, we emphasize addition. This approach creates more ease and supports sustainable behavior change. It also keeps mental health intact by reducing the feeling of pressure that so often derails progress. Over time, this kind of micro focus supports the macro goal you care about most.
One of my favorite client examples goes back to early in my coaching career. She wanted to reduce her soda intake and believed it was something she should do. The harder she tried, the more frustrated and resentful she felt. She even found herself irritated at the idea of focusing on her own well-being. That was our cue to shift direction. Instead of concentrating on drinking less soda, we focused on adding water. The guideline was simple. For every ounce of soda, she drank two ounces of water. If she had a twenty-ounce soda, she paired it with forty ounces of water. What happened was exactly what you might expect. Her water intake increased, her soda intake decreased, and the process felt far more supportive. She noticed improvements in clarity, mood, and confidence. Her concentration improved because her focus had changed.
Take a moment to check in with yourself. Where is your attention right now? Are you stuck on what you think is missing or what you are trying to avoid? Can you experiment with additions instead? Maybe your thoughts are consumed with an upcoming holiday or trip and all the treats that come with it. Try redirecting your focus to what you are bringing to the table. A veggie-forward recipe you are excited about. Time with people you care about. Rest away from work. Focus directs energy, and you have more choice here than you might think.
There’s one more layer that matters deeply. Many of us struggle to focus on ourselves at all. It often feels easier to concentrate on caring for kids, partners, friends, and work while placing ourselves last. Consider this permission to bring your focus back to you. When you do, you become a visible example of what realistic wellness looks like in real life. Your choices can influence the people around you in ways you may never fully see.
A more fulfilled life often begins with where we place our focus. Concentration is not about force or perfection. It’s about intentional mindset shifts that support mental health and align daily actions with what matters most. Where you focus shapes your experience, and that choice is always available to you.