I talk about it all the time. It is a guiding principle to all we do at LMC Solutions. It applies to the work we do with people and animals alike and it is proven time and again to be true. So much so that it is the foundation to my philosophy of life and is one of the reasons I live where and how I do. You get what you focus on - whether it gets your positive or negative attention, the very act of dwelling on it brings it into being. Over the next few months, I will be discussing all the aspects of this principle as it applies to us all. This first looks at defining the principle.

There is a delightful story written by Terry Pratchett, creator and author of the Discworld series, entitled "The Hogfather". In this story gods are brought into being just by suggesting that they might exist. In J.M. Barry's story of Peter Pan, the fairies are dying out because not enough children believe in them, the only way to save Tinkerbell is for the children of the world to clap their hands. Through the ages ordinary men and women have achieved great things through the power of their belief - whether in themselves or their god it amounts to the same thing: If you believe in something, focus on the success of it, you have the power to bring it into being.

Now I can hear the naysayers amongst you decrying such a thing and you are certainly entitled to that opinion if that has been your experience. But before you discount the idea completely, let's have a bit of a discussion on the topic.

We can start with a definition of the word focus. It has come to mean many things but generally speaking most people will agree that the noun refers to a central point usually of convergence of light or energy or attention and the verb implies to fix one's attention or to concentrate. This though is to sell the word short. A little etymology gives us so much more of an understanding of the origins of this concept. The word came into English around the 17 century directly from the Latin where its denotation was that of a fireplace or hearth. According to my Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary - "on the hearths of Roman houses were placed, in little niches, the household gods and for them the fire was kept up". Focus meaning hearth came also to denote the house and the family living therein. By extension it came "to signify one's dearest possessions".

It is no accident then that the word was taken up by astronomers in reference to the convergence of heat rays that create a burning point through a lens. The intensity of that concentration of energy triggered an eruption of flame where before there was none. Every child with access to a magnifying glass and a sunny day has experienced the same power of such intense focus.

Given such a definition we can expand our thinking a little in terms of the depth of this principle: you get what you focus on, what you concentrate on, what you value most, what you believe in, what you hold dearest, what you put your energy into - you get what you are determined to get.

Focus is about attention, concentration, channelling, directing, keeping in mind that which we most want.

In my world of behaviour change this translates very well into focusing our attention on the behaviours we want to see to the exclusion of those less appropriate. If our attention is always on what's not working, then we get no closer to making the thing work. You have to be a bit of a fantasist in this business. When you have a score of negative behavioural problems in play it is hard to look beyond these to the ideal you are after. You have to imagine it, create it in your mind first. If you don't, you could inadvertently end up reinforcing behaviour that is not what you want.

When I was tutoring special needs children at an International School in Kuala Lumpur early last decade, I was asked if I would take on a student who had had one to one support for every day of her school life thus far. She was in her first year of Middle School (equivalent to Intermediate in NZ) but couldn't do anything without her tutor right there beside her. I wondered, as I sat in the interview with the school principal and her parents, the High Commissioner of an ex British Colony and his wife, why this child was still receiving such support after so many years. The Commissioner insisted that I be present with Anne for all her academic subjects, she was allowed to be on her own for art, music and PE. I had met Anne several times and while she appeared shy and reserved, I soon learned she had a fiery sense of humour that she used to detract from her 'stupidity' as she used to describe it. I took on the job because I felt this girl was being let down in the worst possible way. The focus for her entire schooling had been on her dependency with her tutor. I wanted to change that and give her the independence to continue her schooling like every other kid. I told the Commissioner that I would accept his terms for one year after which I assured him and his wife, Anne would be able to continue her education independent of a personal tutor.

By shifting the focus from giving Anne support to helping her help herself, Anne gained confidence, spirit, and started contributing in class. Her teachers started to recognise that Anne had capabilities but needed further information and direction than some of their other students and, rather than my providing her that support, they started to do so. I still worked with Anne during our one-to-one times but these became increasingly less as Anna integrated more into the classroom. She was popular with her fellow students and soon they too were helping her out. Toward the end of the first semester I had a team of four students working on a project with Anne in our breakaway room and my job had become one of supervisor. I started assisting larger groups of students in class to free up the teachers to work with Anne in her group. I still supervised her homework and filled in as many blanks as I could in her understanding, but over the year Anne went from passively sitting at the back of the class with me at her elbow, to actively engaging in group discussion.

Some years later I was at the High School for a meeting and this smiling confident young woman approached me and thanked me so much for the gift I had given her. She was with a group of her friends, clutching her books on the way to class and laughing. The gift was nothing more than a belief in herself. I had showed her by focusing on her being independent and self-assured, that she could do for herself what others had been employed to do for her in the past. That independence didn't make Anne any smarter, but it did give her the confidence to ask for the help she needed rather than have it under the control of someone else.

More recently I had the privilege of working with a young wired haired Jack Russell in dire need of rehabilitation. I had met Khayyam a year earlier as a young puppy not long after he came to be with his new owner. As a puppy he had been strong willed but full of fun and absolutely doted on his elderly owner. But over the course of the first year of his life things started to go very wrong for Khayyam and his mistress. She, like many I have met here, believed there was no need to take her dog to formal training and so Khayyam missed great opportunities to socialise with dogs and humans alike.

The crunch came when Khayyam took to attacking his owner whenever she put her hand near his collar or whenever she disturbed his relaxed state. The more she tried to stop it, the worse it got. Her whole focus was on stopping this little dog from biting her, and she used everything she could to do this. She grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, she yelled at him, she became anxious and fearful and he did the same. It was a vicious cycle spiralling out of control.

Khayyam came to stay with us for a month to give both dog and owner a break. The change of environment, the change of routine, the change of expectation, and some well-focused, positive reinforcement training all contributed to breaking the pattern that had been established.

Just yesterday, I had a report that dog and owner were doing very well together and there was no relapse to his previous behaviour. Shift the focus, and you can change the behaviour.