Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.
Dalai Lama
Learning the habit of focus.
Is being unable to focus really about a lack of focus or a lack of presence? We can be buried in overwhelm and distracted by our own destructive habits to find entertaining content online. And, even so, find the energy to snap out of it and choose to focus. This tells me that the hold distraction has on us might not be entirely about being lazy or lacking willpower. It tells me that sharpening our attention muscles can be learned in bits and bites and turned into a self-empowering habit.
Perhaps it’s a chicken before the egg sort of problem?
If I use my own experience as a guide, I would have to say that learning to be more present in the moment automatically flips a switch in your mind to become more laser-focused. You naturally observe and notice details. You can teach yourself easily to notice more when you refuse to be pulled in many directions by requests and demanding people. Stepping into your own energy and, not theirs, is what gives you to power to maintain your calm and direct your attention toward things that you want. Let yourself pull apart your object of attention, amplify the focus on a smaller detail you are interested in. Do this in short bursts. Train yourself to be focused by feeding your attention bursts of information. Let downloads of bits and bites strengthen your attention muscles and improve your ability to concentrate and focus for longer periods of time. Advertisers hack into and grab our attention in ten seconds and even three seconds bits. This trains us to lose focus. Use your intention to focus to help heal the craving for “distraction” as a stress relief.
Training yourself to be laser-focused will not only help your memory, but it will expand your awareness of your own body’s health, your vitality and hone into the energies of others around you on a deeper level. Mental focus can strengthen your ability “to listen to energy” and your own internal GPS, aka your intuition.
It’s not them, it’s you!
The view of “others” messing with your time and focus can be also applied to your own mind and its natural desire to be more, achieve more and yes, occupy your attention. Thoughts are interesting things. Some belong to us and others are part of “conditioning”, influences from advertising and social media. Images, especially, can command attention and emotions and pull us into another space. That is why movies can pull us into another world and into a story.
But, being in nature or seeing images of nature, soothes, empowers, rejuvenates and naturally makes you feel more present. Surround yourself with images or even sounds of nature to calm mind chatter and sharpen your focus.
One thought at a time? Is it possible?
We can learn to command more thought real estate but making a decision to focus on just one thing at a time. If you can’t be in nature, or have the time to visualize it, it is possible to direct your own mind to block out interference. Meditation, being still, requires time to learn to sharpen your focus through breath, mantras and mindfulness training. But you can achieve the same kind of result with repetitive movement as a meditation practice.
Here is a link to an earlier article on this topic.
The Ego is greedy for attention.
The Ego wants to be noticed, paid attention to so that it feels validated, important and worthy. But when we take our hands off that wheel, we become more powerful. Amplify your own inner being and light force. Take back your scattered energy and become more deliberate and focused. Let the greedy ego starve a bit. Seek validation from your own meditative, peaceful inner being. You will get a higher and more compassionate appraisal anyhow.
Becoming more grounded. Basic ideas you can use.
The first step in becoming more present is learning to ground your energy. This means you are creating an energetic tether that keeps you in place, unmoved by conflicting or harsh energies. This concept might seem flaky to some that don’t see themselves as energy bodies. But science confirms that you are indeed a massive colony of cells, with each cell containing a powerhouse micro-organelle called a mitochondria. These power stations convert nutrients to ATP, a chemical “spark” form of energy that allows the cells to breathe, metabolize, catabolize broken cells and rebuild themselves. Learning to see yourself as a being of energy and light, speaks to your own energy and can influence how energized you feel, how often you experience energy leaks and create the feeling of “exhaustion”.
Waterfalls of Light.
Imagine a waterfall of light over your head. Let the light flood throughout the body and see it sweeping away any resistance and negative energies, and dis-ease. Let your body deeply relax and rest for a few minutes.
Connecting to the Earth.
See roots below your feet going down deep into the earth. Let the energy from deep within the earth move up through these roots and pulse through your feet and up into your body. Feel connected and grounded.
Clearing out mental clutter.
Mind chatter can be conquered. You can move yourself into a high performance state, even with a busy mind by using the body as a tool. Walking can be a meditative activity that can block out mind chatter. Try directing your attention to one thing you notice about the way you walk forward. Maybe it’s the way your toes make contact with the ground as you take a step forward that engages your attention. Focus on each step. Use how it feels to walk to capture your attention even more. Walk for a few minutes doing this and you will realize you haven’t been bothered by other thoughts, emotions and situations that had caused you a lot of stress. A short walk has purged your over-flooded mind and has given it a pause from mind chatter.
Follow your bliss.
Joseph Campbell
Creating flow states with focused intention.
If you can use your attention to be more present or be more present to become more focused, it is possible to create flow states. These are inspired states where creativity, genius, the problem-solver, the incredible athlete exceeds limits and achieves more than was thought possible. In flow, time collapses and productivity soars. And, so does performance. More can be created in less time.
Sit in the moment and be present. As you focus on one thing, expect to be inspired. Flow states can be ignited by working on your attention muscles. You will observe more detail, feel more detail and step into what it is that you are creating. This doesn’t mean that there will be little effort required. The work will still need to be done. You just need the intention to create, to be fully present to allow the inspired thoughts and actions flow through you. This is flow.
Learning the habit of focus can be created through mindfulness, meditation, deep relaxation techniques, visualization, repetitive movement and training yourself to focus in short bursts [ bits and bites of information]. Eventually, the habit of focus can move into a place where a fierce distraction habit once lorded over you. It may feel like discipline, but in the end you will accomplish more in less time. Learning to focus will set you free.
Have a brilliant week.