Your ability to concentrate will dictate what you are able to achieve.
Have you ever experienced “flow state” before? This is a mental state where a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of that activity. If you practice the ability to feel what it feels like to be fully present in a concentrated flow, you will really know why it is important to minimize distraction. If you are one of those people who have ever been able to get into a free flowing creative state and felt what this feels like, it is an incredible feeling. If you haven’t, I highly suggest you give it a try and attempt to make it a regular part of how you work. It is something that is greatly known to produce people’s best work. In any field, the stronger and more stable you are able to concentrate, the better you will be able to create and accomplish.
A huge step in getting to this is state is eliminating distractions. In our daily life, we undoubtably have distractions being thrown at us every which way seemingly every second of the day. If you don’t learn to control what you do, these distractions will control your time and life. This distractions, such as phone calls, texts, emails, etc. are very useful to us, but our control over when, why, and how we make time to use then will affect our use of time and energy. Whatever is in your life that breaks your ability to concentrate, try to become aware of it. No matter how strong we think our will power is, these distractions break your concentration. Even if you are able to quickly come back to a concentrated state, it has been broken for a second, which affects your flow state. Constantly stopping and starting your flow state comes from having less focus and concentration. Being able to stay in flow state for a longer period of time will always benefit you as you will come to recognize with practice
Take note of all of your clutter, all of your distractions, this is your mind at work. Your ability to act on what you want to see and the ability to create those situations around you will manifest. When manifestation occurs, you are not the only one that is able to see it. Others will be able to see all of the inner working on your mind in the space around you, because you concentrated on creating it, and did. We all have great ideas in our mind, but concentrating on the work is what will display what you actually are able to create. You may think you are behaving in a certain way, but when others observe you, how you are being or what you are creating is the true test of your ability to act on your thought. Are you able to concentrate or are you easily distracted? This is something to deeply consider in your self improvement journey. The reason why we choose certain people to look up to is because their thoughts are reflected in their observable behavior. It is not the person who thinks and speaks that creates the greatest sense of inspiration, but the person that thinks and does. The difference is being able to concentrate on what you want to do and then actually doing it.
So if you want to excel in life, become aware of your distractions, and minimize them. If you find that you struggle with concentration, it is ok. Take a second, think calmly, and understand that concentration is a skill that must be practiced. There is a level of self mastery with the idea of concentration. This level of self mastery in concentration is already difficult enough on its own. It takes time, energy, and repetition just like any other practice. It is important to understand that working on this ONE mental faculty will allow you to create better results in all areas of your life.
Do you want to be better with your work? A better listener in your relationships? A person who is aware of their behaviors and actions in a social setting? This all requires some level of concentration. When speaking with a friend, everyone can relate to how annoying it is when someone is constantly checking their phone during the conversation. This does not always mean that the person is disinterested in the situation. But what it really shows is the lack of mental control to concentrate. Our phones and the mental impulses it creates to constantly check it is enslaving. While it is an incredible invention, that allows to do so many incredible things, it should still be understood of its affects on your mind and potential for distracting you from important moments in your life, just like anything else. Learning to use technology as tools to help us better improve our concentration is also a practice. Especially when we have become so used to how we currently use it. But to be able to practice this, we need to first become aware. If you don’t know that you are being distracted so much until you or someone else points it out, it is very hard to change because you will behave in the same habitual manner. Check in on yourself and try recognize what your patterns are. We operate out of habit, most of the time very subconsciously, and so your ability to recognize a pattern can take some work and honesty. But when you do, you can then learn how to eliminate the habits that do not help you in the use of your time.
When you start taking a look at this, if you find that you ability to concentrate is weak and spastic, my advice is to start by laughing at yourself. Do not be frustrated with this, because you didn’t even know before. But now you can begin to know what is going on with your mind and how it is truly functioning and possibly holding you back. When I personally recognized this about myself I was fascinated. Fascinated at the opportunity to change! Fascinated that I was not able to recognize my weakness in an ability that I thought I was actually good at!
This skill of concentration is so vital to our personal successes and fulfillment. When I became more aware, it created the opportunity to improve something that I knew could really change my reality, and that I now could focus on practicing.
Whenever I identify something that will undoubtably make my life better, I don’t care how much work it will take. I don’t care because I know spending my time planting these seeds of improvement and watering these seeds daily will lead to an incredible future that will not only be a dream, but a shared reality with people I love. It is not just for myself, but for my friends and family and all of the individuals who are also dreamers. The ones who feel stuck in their place, but know that they want to make a change in themselves. The ones that look around and feel compelled to move forward in their own personal excellence, simply because the world needs more of this. It is not to be better than anyone else around you, but to be better than you were before.
Work on your ability to concentrate, when you improve this, it will transform who you are for the better.