Tony Robbins tells a story of getting driving lessons for racing cars. He talks about how scary it can be to take a turn at a high speed and that when the race car gets out of control, the natural tendency of the driver is to focus on the wall that is coming to them, which would result in a crash.
However, well-trained drivers know to keep focusing on where they want to car to go (ala not crashing) versus focusing on the wall they could crash into.
We see this daily on highways across America. There is an accident on the road, and we must look at it.
As a coach and life interventionist whose worked with thousands of people, I know that we tend to re-create our past trauma and fears until we heal them. It's much easier for us to focus on and become experts in the problems of our lives, however, it takes courage and tenacity to focus on and become an expert in the solution.
We think that is we take our eyes off of the problem that it will get worse.
Donald Trump has done a masterful job of capturing almost the entire conversation about this election for over a year.
He is a crash on the road that we cannot take our eyes off of. We are turning at high speed, and Donald Trump is the wall that we are about to crash in to. (Pun intended).
I am amazed that Hillary's campaign seems to be anti-Trump, but she doesn't seem to be FOR anything.
Regardless of its realistic implementation, Bernie Sanders had a message and a plan that people aspired to achieve. But Hillary and the media seem to be playing defense to Trump, who is still monopolizing the conversation.
The only thing that can stop the trance of fear is a picture of a compelling future that is worth fighting for.
And, what's happened is that the Clinton Campaign, the media, and America has fallen into a fear-based hypnotic trance and collectively we are terrified to take our eyes off of this impending crash if Trump were to get elected.
It's unthinkable, but it's becoming possible.
When I work to break my client's trauma trance, we have to interrupt the pattern and work towards forward momentum aiming at a future that is inspiring.
You see, in America, when it comes to disease and problem solving, we are addicted to pathology. Meaning: we are experts at looking for what is wrong. And we believe that it is irresponsible to take our eyes off of what's wrong, for fear that things might get worse.
However, that line of thinking perpetuates the problem and gives more power to the fears we are scared to creating.
To create the future we truly want, we must be aware of wrong's wrong and then quickly get about the business of following an inspired vision of how we desire things to be.
When you focus on something, that attention expands the energy of what is focused on. It's the age old adage - where attention goes, energy flows.
Donald Trump has captured our attention through shock, awe, and fear and we have played into his fear like deer's caught in a headlight.
We need a pattern interrupt. It's time to break this pattern and fear trance.
The other day when Trump admitted that President Obama was born in the USA - the media came down on him hard.
But, where is the accountability to the media who covered his insane "birther" comments and made them valid in the first place?
Both the media, the Clinton campaign and the American people are giving their power away to a man who isn't worthy of it.
There is too much at stake in this election to focus on Trump's antics anymore. He is an entertaining, larger than life rich white man who knows how to play to people's fears to advance his own agenda.
The media needs to put down their mandate for ad money and focus on the real facts of this campaign. The media knows that the more dramatic, fearful and scary something is, the more we watch it. But, this pattern of "if it bleeds it leads" is enabling a xenophobic, racist to seem electable.
We are better than this.
The more they cover and give validity to Trump's antics, the more they allow him to win.
The Clinton campaign must come up with a new message. They must shift from being solely against Trump and take a page out of Bernie's campaign and President Obama's campaign.
That is my hope as we step into the debate season.
With all the fears of ISIS, the recent deaths of innocent civilians by the hands of the police and the fear mongering of Trump, there must emerge a voice of inspiration and something for us to believe in.
The power to do this is in the hands of the media, the Clinton campaign and we the people.
We must stop focusing on this train wreck, come out of the trance and start being FOR a vision that will galvanize and inspire us to rise to the occasion and know that we are more than our fears and the nonsensical train wreck of the Trump campaign.
If we do not take our eyes off of the wall and instead re-focus on where we want to go, where we must go, then the election of 2016 will result in a self-created crash right into Trump's wall of fear.
We are better than this. Let's rise.
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Mastin Kipp is a best-selling author and life interventionist. Visit him at www.mastinkipp.com