Think no thoughts for a couple of minutes - easier said than done because we're constantly thinking, judging, second-guessing. And, it is in the nature of our thought to distance us from the reality of the moment. So, for the next two minutes, just observe: what you see, how you feel, what you hear, even what you smell and taste. Don't evaluate, don't analyze, don't think about what you're experiencing... just observe. Come to your senses.

• Purposefully focus - it doesn't come naturally, we're actually "wired" to not focus
• Set goals in a way that energizes your subconscious into focused effortless action
• Make your very best decisions and solve problems with ease - your brain can do this effortlessly
• Banish stress - we're ordinarily "wired" to be stressed

We're invariably unaware of the complexity, depth and repetitivity of our thinking for two reasons: most of our "thinking" is automatically subconscious and, well basically, we're invariably unaware! I'm not being flippant - if neuroscience tells us that the brain's so-called Central Executive or seat of conscious awareness is never engaged in our daily lives, it's a scientific fact that we're invariably unaware.

To be focused is to be aware - to be consciously aware of the here and now. This enables me do what I need to do, here and now, to achieve my objective(s) for here and now... what I want out of the here and now. We always have objectives. Right here and now, my objective is to complete writing this piece in a way that will encourage you to take action. This fits neatly into my grander objectives related to my work in particular and my life in general.

In evolutionary times, our objective was to survive, to make it through the day. Our minds are, therefore, designed for this purpose - and, because we operate on autopilot - for this purpose alone. That's why everything else is so damn difficult, why doing anything new is like attempting to do the impossible, why achieving anything at all comes with a price tag. The consequence of the fix in which we find ourselves is that we're invariably unaware both of where we are and why we're here. It's striking - shocking actually - the number of people who tell me that they can't get their head around their goals - when, surely, they should have got out of bed this morning with their goals in mind. If they didn't, they should have stayed in bed!

Awareness is a state of mind - in fact it is a brain-state, a physical "condition". Awareness can be cultivated to the point that you can be aware for much of the time - perhaps, even, most of the time. But with awareness comes the twin need to be goal-aware, otherwise our actions can never be goal-congruent and we'll end up going around in circles. The two go hand in hand.

If you haven't noticed this morning's sky, heard the birds sing or savoured the taste of this morning's hot beverage, you've fallen, in the awareness stakes, at the very first hurdle. No matter - like all good competitors, you simply need to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and... do what today's Quick Tip suggests.