The Accidental Manifestation of Cream of Mushroom Soup

Let me tell you a ridiculous little story that perfectly sums up the whole “you get what you focus on” idea I used to roll my eyes at.

Years ago, I was in a workshop where the instructor explained it using a skiing metaphor. You know how people say, “You get what you focus on”?

I always found it a bit cliché, until he phrased it like this: if you are skiing or snowmobiling down a mountain and want to avoid hitting a tree, you cannot stare at the tree. If you stare at the tree, you hit the tree.

Your body, your skis, your steering... they will all follow your line of sight.
So you have to look through the trees toward where you want to go.
That is how you stay on course.

It was the first time the concept actually made sense to me.

Fast forward to last week, when Jen (my partner in crime over at Marketing Club) came over and we were planning out our 2026 workshops and potential bootcamps for Marketing Club.

It was cold, it was dreary, and we decided to order a cozy soup-and-sandwich combo for lunch.

The menu simply said “feature soup,” which is risky business, so Jen said, “We should probably call and find out what it is. Otherwise it will be cream of mushroom. Gross.”

We both laughed because we have the same very strong opinion about mushroom soup: absolutely not. Cream of broccoli... yes. Cream of potato... double yes. But mushroom? Hard pass. Nope!

I insisted it would probably be something normal like tomato and said, “You get the salad, I’ll live on the edge and get the soup.”

And then the delivery arrived.

I opened the box and immediately burst out laughing because of course, it was cream of mushroom. Of course it was. We spoke it into existence, and neither of us touched it.

We split the salad and sandwiches like two traumatized adults who came dangerously close to consuming the one soup we refuse to acknowledge as food.

And it reminded me (again) that focus is not always spiritual or woo. I mean... you guys know I love a good woo-woo story, and I have MANY of them I can tell...But sometimes it (focus) is mechanical. Sometimes it is practical. Sometimes it is as simple as this:

If you fixate on the thing you do not want, you accidentally order it for lunch.

This is why January is such a powerful time to shift your focus. You can spend the year staring down the “I wasn’t consistent last year” tree… or you can choose to look toward the direction you want your business to go.

You can focus on guilt and pressure, or you can focus on building the habits, systems, and identity that support the version of you who shows up consistently.

That is exactly what we are doing inside the free January Content Planning Workshop.

It is not about hustling harder or forcing yourself into a content routine you will drop by February. It is about choosing where you want to go, and learning to look there on purpose.

Registration is open here if you want to join us:

https://www.marketingclub.ca/create-consistencyUntil

Next time,
-Brittany