The one thing they need to know is the one thing YOU need to know, and was probably never taught. All through our years in school, from elementary to college, we take classes on math, history, art, music, english, foreign language, home economics, and on and on and on.....
No doubt you can remember being told by teachers and parents that you needed to concentrate on something. I'll wager that you have told your children the same thing (You don't have to be a mind power expert to know that one),
but were you ever taught HOW to concentrate? Probably not, and your children haven't been taught either. Most of us will never use algebra or chemistry in our everyday lives, but concentration and focus is something we need EVERY SINGLE DAY!
If you wanted to learn the guitar, first you would need to learn how to play the guitar, and second you would need to practice. It's exactly the same thing when learning to concentrate. In order to learn how, you must understand how the mind works.
As a society we really have no idea about the immense power of the mind, and that if we understood the mechanics of it, and exactly how it works, we could harness that power, direct it toward our goals, and live the life you dream of. That life is NOT just a dream.... you are only steps away from it being your reality!
First, it's important to understand the huge difference between the mind and awareness.The mind is a vast space with many areas within it: anger, jealousy, happiness, food, etc. Imagine awareness as a glowing ball of light that can float around. Your mind doesn’t move, but your awareness travels to different parts of your brain.
Your goal is to control your awareness and determine where it goes in your mind. That ability to keep the ball of awareness in one part of your mind for an extended period of time is your ability to concentrate.
Keeping your awareness on the page of a book long enough allows you to gain information from the book. If you can’t keep your awareness on the page, you won’t gain anything.
LEARNING CONCENTRATION
Practice doing one thing at a time. Keep your awareness on one thing at a time.
Your awareness might start drifting. You can practice bringing it back, over and over, until your awareness is trained to stay on one thing for an extended period of time.
After you have trained this ability, concentrating will become easier.
Concentration will also help your memory. You will be more likely to remember something if you were concentrating on it at the time.
The greatest impetus for leading a focused life is death. We have one life and it is finite. On your deathbed, you want to look back and think “that was amazing”. The only way you can say that is if you were present in all of the experiences in your life.
You can’t be in the moment if you can’t concentrate and focus your attention. Mindfulness is a byproduct of concentration.
ONE THING AT A TIME
Practice doing one thing at a time. If you are speaking with someone, focus completely on them and bring your awareness back to them if your attention starts to drift.
Use conversation as an opportunity to practice concentration. If you speak with your spouse for two hours a day and give them your undivided concentration, by the end of the month you will be skilled in concentrating.
If you are spending hours a day distracted, you’re going to become good at being distracted. Imagine six months of spending 10 hours a day distracted. You become good at whatever it is you practice—your mind doesn’t know the difference between what is right and wrong to practice.
Have empathy and self-compassion for yourself if you have been distracted for years and never been taught how to concentrate.
It’s going to be a struggle while you are learning, and it might take you a few months or years to master, but you can look forward to many years ahead of living a concentrated focused life so it will be well worth the effort.
The rewards are far greater than the efforts put in.
"Where your AWARENESS goes, ENERGY flows!"
