Mindfulness Exercises to Improve Focus | Jack Canfield

I want you to ask yourself this question. Do you find yourself more distracted than usual these days? If the answer is yes, it's no surprise, because there's been an awful lot to be distracted about this year. And that's why today I'd like to share some of my favorite mindfulness exercises that you can use to stay more focused no matter what is happening in the world around you. When was the last time you found yourself scrolling mindlessly on Facebook or Instagram only to find that more than 30 minutes had gone by and you hadn't accomplished anything meaningful with your time? I think this happens to us a lot more often than we'd like to admit. And with the pandemic and the economy and the recent US Election, there has also been a lot of crazy news coming out every day. And if you're most people, you probably want to stay on top of it all. But the problem is that distraction is the great enemy of productivity. And when you allow yourself to get distracted by everything that's happening in the world around you, you lose the focus and the momentum you need to get stuff done. Which makes it so much harder for you to achieve your goals and make real progress toward creating the life and the results that you want. And that's why a critical ingredient to your success is the ability to tune out the things that don't really matter, so you can focus on the things that are truly important to you. So how do you do that? Well, I use a series of mindfulness exercises during the day and every evening to help me keep my goals top of mind. Now, during the day, I set alarms on my iPhone to go off about every hour, unless I'm in the middle of conducting a webinar or participating in a podcast or teaching a seminar or conducting a mastermind group that extends beyond that hour. And then I take the next five minutes to do several things, take a few deep cleansing breaths to relax, stand up and stretch, maybe go for a three minute walk or go to the restroom. And here's the important part. I ask myself the following question. Was the way I spent the last 55 minutes the best use of my time? And if not, what do I need to focus on during the next 55 minutes? When I first started doing this, I was shocked by how much time I was not doing the most important things I needed to be doing. Did you ever go on the Internet to look something up and the next thing you were doing, you were mindlessly scrolling through things like the top 50 country songs ever recorded or the 50 scariest movies for Halloween, or the 10 foods you should never eat, or worse yet, pictures of famous movie stars from the past now that they're 80 years old. Well, that happens. But if you do this brief little mindfulness exercise throughout the day, you'll find that your productivity goes way up. Now, I also do something I call the evening review every day. I set aside about 10 to 15 minutes every evening or night to review how my day went and rededicate myself to my goals. First off, I look at everything I did during the day and I acknowledge whatever successes I've had. Now, it doesn't matter how big or how small the successes are, I acknowledge them all. I take the time to really congratulate myself if I complete a really important work project like this, finishing a book or writing a script or something like that. But I also honor myself for the simple things like doing my morning meditation and gratitude exercises, working out, making an important phone call, cleaning up my email inbox, which is always a challenge for me. Maybe unloading the dishwasher or simply having gone for a walk with my wife. Now, every good thing needs and deserves to be recognized and appreciated. Now this is important because it reminds you of how much you've actually accomplished during the day and and what you recognize and acknowledge gets reinforced, and it's more likely to be repeated again in the future. Now it also prompts you to focus more on the positive than on the negative, which makes it so much easier for you to cultivate the positive mindset that you need to have to show up in the world as your best self. Now, once I've gone over the day's accomplishments, I quickly review both my short term and my long term goals that I have for my life. I have them written down and easily accessible so I'm able to read them every evening. As I read each one, I also focus on clearly visualizing the successful future I'm working to create. I close my eyes and I see myself experiencing that future, celebrating the successful launch of my new book, teaching all the new students who signed up for my latest program, spending time with my children and grandson again, and whatever my goals happen to be. And as I project myself fully into that experience, I create the emotional experience in my feelings and in my body because I know that the stronger I'm able to feel it, the easier it will be to manifest it. And then once I fully visualize my goals as complete, I turn my attention to the day ahead and I visualize what I want that day to look like. I review everything I want to accomplish the next day. And I imagine myself having those successful experiences. I'll either do that before I leave work for the day or right before I go to bed at night. Then I go to bed. And here's why I do these mindfulness exercises right before I go to sleep, and why I recommend you do too. Studies have shown that whatever you read, see, listen to, talk about, think about, and experience during the last 45 minutes of your day has a huge influence on your subconscious mind as you sleep and on your emotional state and your activities the next day. So during the night, while you're sleeping, your unconscious mind will replay and process this late night input up to six times more often than anything else you experience during the day. This is why cramming for school exams late at night can work, but just for short term memory, not long term. And why watching a scary movie or a tragic news story right before bed can give you nightmares. And as you drift off to sleep, you enter into the alpha brainwave state of consciousness, A state in which you're very suggestible. And the last thoughts you had will have a much more powerful impact on your mind so that you're able to wake up with your goals and the vision for the day you want to have fully set in your mind. Now, before I go, I want to share one other mindfulness exercise that I sometimes incorporate into my evening routine, and I suggest you think about doing it as well. This one is especially powerful if you're trying to install a positive new habit into your life, such as eating healthier, listening more closely to other people, being more patient, being more assertive, maybe saying no more often, or simply becoming more mindful and present in the moment. Here's what you do. You sit with your eyes closed, breathe deeply, relax, and then ask yourself where you could have produced better results during the day. You might say something like this to yourself. Show me where I could have been more effective and productive today. Or maybe show me where I could have been a better person today. Or show me where I could have made a better decision. And then sit calmly in a state of quiet receptivity and see what comes to mind. And soon you'll probably start thinking of a number of events that happened that day. Just observe them without any judgment or self criticism. And then take each incident and replay it in your mind the way you wish you would have acted had you been more conscious and intentional at the time. And what this does, it creates a subconscious image in your mind that begins to program you to do the desired behavior the next time a similar situation occurs. So those are some of my favorite mindfulness exercises to help you keep your goals and desires top of mind. And if you find yourself still becoming distracted during the day, you could also put a website blocker on your computer to prevent you from accessing the sites that you like to surf that are not that productive during the working hours. You could also use a timer to create dedicated chunks of time throughout the day where you focus only on your work and nothing else. But I think you'll quickly find that adding the evening review process to your day will be one of the most powerful things you can do to remind yourself of what you want to accomplish with your life and what you need to do to make that happen. This is what will motivate you to keep your goals top of mind and stop giving your time and attention away to distractions that won't help you move your life forward in the way you want. Now remember, what you focus on grows and expands. Where your attention goes, your energy flows. And the more you focus on the life you truly want to live, the easier it will be for you to create that life for yourself. And let me know what you think in the comments. And thanks again for watching. Now. If you found this video helpful, please make sure you like it, share it with a friend who may need it, and subscribe to my channel for more videos like this one, and for additional mindfulness exercises and resources, be sure to visit jackcampfield.com and check out the links in the description below.