Peak Performance - How to Achieve Your Goals #1 - FOCUS
Peak Performance - How to Achieve Your Goals #1 - FOCUS
Peak Performance - Focus
Focus is one thing that all
successful performers do. They focus on one piece of information,
thought, image, or sound without letting distractions divert
their attention from their ultimate goal. At any given moment, your
mind runs through millions of thoughts and perceptions: the sound of
the music you are listening to, the view of your computer screen,
thoughts in your head from the night before, or the voice of someone
talking in the background telling you to turn that damn music down.
However, you can only pay attention to a fraction of these things at
the same time.
You've certainly heard of the glass
experiment: if you show a half-filled glass of water to a group
of people, the optimistic will call it a “half-full” glass while
the pessimistic will call it a “half-empty” glass. The most
absent-minded will miss your point all together because they will be
too busy looking at their shoes. Each one of us chooses to pay
attention to something but most people forget the fact that we have a
choice on what we focus our attention on. One could say
that attention resembles a flashlight that you can point at
anything you want. Remember this the next time you find yourself
biting your nails while imagining frightening scenarios: getting
fired, getting dumped by your girlfriend for someone taller than you,
or ending up dead in the street after some virus has killed half of
the human population. “The
trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable,
or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”
~
Carlos Castaneda
The goal of this game is to stay
connected to whatever your task is at that time while ignoring the
rest. In life, the limits between practice and performance often
become fuzzy. Therefore, in order for you to become successful at
such a skill, you MUST STAY FOCUSED, remain positive, remain
connected with the task at hand, and never waste an opportunity for
performing.
Performance means that every time you start
an effort, no matter if it is work, socializing or some form of
hobby, you must give your heart and soul. You must focus on that
action. You cannot afford to waste time thinking of irrelevant things
to say instead of watching and experiencing the girl in front of you.
As Eckhart Tolle said, you must always be in the “NOW”: silence
your internal dialog and allow the perceptions to flow in. Come out
of your head and really observe the world around you. You will then
realize that most of the time you are lost in past memories and
nonexistent future scenarios. Silence them all and live in the “now.”
Accept the “now” as it is but, if you don't like it, do your best
to change it. You should understand that the most intense
moments remain vivid in your memory because, when they happened, you
were not daydreaming but you were fully present. If you walk your
everyday life this way and focus on the moment, it is inevitable that
you will always be the best you can be at that moment.
Stay
in the “NOW”, stay connected with the task at hand, stay
positive, stay connected with the right things such as your desire
to achieve the task and not what will happen if ...
Before
you start a certain task, decide what kind of attitude or mental
state you want to bring with you and forget the rest. You can't
check more than 20kg of baggage at the airport when you are
going on vacation to a tropical paradise. The same rule should
apply for anything you try to do that is worthy the effort. Take the
garbage out of your head and keep in mind only what really matters.
Tips relating to focus:
Find out what type of focus brings
the best out of you and enhance it.
Decide beforehand what you are
trying to achieve (sub-goal) during that task and then apply it.
Follow your game plan.
Maintain your best focus from
start to end.
Focus on the quality of execution
and then learn from the results.
*We Speak England Very Best* Disclaimer
We may write in English but no one in this site is a native English speaker.Hey Jim? How do you spell New York, Jim?
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