Micro Class: How to Develop Jedi-Like Concentration

You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson. More wisdom in less time. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another micro class. This one's on Jedi Concentration. It's inspired by mind hacking by Sir John Hargrave, who doesn't want to have Jedi concentration. This is the heart of mind hacking, obviously, being able to put our minds where we want, when we want, for how long we want. John tells us there are two primary things we need to do. First, we need to reclaim our attention, and then we need to retrain our attention again. This isn't just John sharing a Jedi mind trick. This is what all leading psychologists tell us, is that the heart of optimal living attention. In our world, we are being completely paper cut with distractions, which is the first thing we have to do. We have to reduce and eliminate distractions. We need to reclaim our attention from everything that's sucking it away. All of your push notifications, the emails, this, whatever the distractions are in your life, John says spend an hour identifying these and eliminating them. First hour just gets the ball rolling. Then on a daily basis, get 1% better. Just find little iterative ways to get a little less distracted. Reclaim your attention. That's the first step in building your Jedi concentration. The second one is you need to retrain your attention. How do you do that? You do that via what he calls mind games. You need to build your concentration via consistent practice of mind games. There's a word for mind games and building your concentration. It is meditation. John doesn't use the word meditation. He says, look, approach it like a game. Imagine you're playing alien blasters in your head. Sit down for 20 minutes or 5 or 10 or 15, if that's all you want to do right now, right, you sit down, you get your posture, you start taking a deep breath, and you focus on your breath. He says, the area right between your nostrils. Focus right there on the breath coming in. And then when a thought comes in, blast it with your attention. Boom. You see the thought, you dissolve it with your attention. That's a mind game. If that's what it's going to take to get you to practice building your concentration muscles, then we need to do it. This is, he says, the core of our mental fundamentals. We eat, we move, we sleep. We need to concentrate, reclaim your attention, retrain your attention and get Jedi concentration. Hi, this is Brian. I hope you enjoyed that micro class. If so, I think you'll enjoy everything else we offer at BrianJohnson. Me. Two basic things. One, our free newsletter. You it's called the Optimizer. Over 50,000 people start their day with it and they tell us it's pretty awesome. And 2 our optimal living Membership Program. This is where I put all my best stuff. 10 bucks a month for a ton of wisdom. Two primary things in there philosopher's notes plus optimal living 101 classes when you sign up, you'll get instant access to 250 philosopher's notes, which are basically six page PDFs and 20 minute MP3s where I capture my favorite big ideas from great books. The PNTV episodes are kind of a mini version of all that goodness. You'll also get instant access to all my Optimal Living classes. This is where I take all the ideas we cover in the Philosopher's Notes and boil it down to the most practical stuff you can apply today. Classes include Confidence 101, Getting Stuff Done 101, Relationships 101, Habits 101, etc. You'll also get access to what we call micro classes that I think you'll love. We aim to astonish and we're blessed to have thousands of members telling us we're helping them change their lives and that this is the best 10 bucks they invest in themselves every month. Go to BrianJohnson ME membership to learn more. Thanks for your support and have an awesome day.