Here’s an interesting quote from Neville Goddard:

“Your ima­gin­a­tion is able to do all that you ask in pro­por­tion to the de­gree of your at­ten­tion. All pro­gress, all ful­fill­ment of de­sire, de­pend upon the con­trol and con­cen­tra­tion of your at­ten­tion.

At­ten­tion may be either at­trac­ted from without or dir­ec­ted from within. At­ten­tion is at­trac­ted from without when you are con­sciously oc­cu­pied with the ex­ternal im­pres­sions of the im­me­di­ate present.

The very lines of this page are at­tract­ing your at­ten­tion from without. Your at­ten­tion is dir­ec­ted from within when you de­lib­er­ately choose what you will be pre­oc­cu­pied with men­tally.

It is ob­vi­ous that in the ob­ject­ive world your at­ten­tion is not only at­trac­ted by but is con­stantly dir­ec­ted to ex­ternal im­pres­sions. But, your con­trol in the sub­ject­ive state is al­most non-ex­ist­ent, for in this state at­ten­tion is usu­ally the ser­vant and not the mas­ter—the pas­sen­ger and not the nav­ig­ator—of your world.

There is an enorm­ous dif­fer­ence between at­ten­tion dir­ec­ted ob­ject­ively and at­ten­tion dir­ec­ted sub­ject­ively, and the ca­pa­city to change your fu­ture de­pends on the lat­ter. When you are able to con­trol the move­ments of your at­ten­tion in the sub­ject­ive world you can modify or al­ter your life as you please. But this con­trol can­not be achieved if you al­low your at­ten­tion to be at­trac­ted con­stantly from without.

Each day, set your­self the task of de­lib­er­ately with­draw­ing your at­ten­tion from the ob­ject­ive world and of fo­cus­ing it sub­ject­ively. In other words, con­cen­trate on those thoughts or moods which you de­lib­er­ately de­term­ine. Then those things that now re­strict you will fade and drop away. The day you achieve con­trol of the move­ments of your at­ten­tion in the sub­ject­ive world, you are mas­ter of your fate.

You will no longer ac­cept the dom­in­ance of out­side con­di­tions or cir­cum­stances. You will not ac­cept life on the basis of the world without.”