6 Strategies to FOCUS Your Mind! 🧠

I'm excited about this session because this session, as you can tell from my shirt, is all about focus, right? In a world that's designed to divert our attention, how can we zero in on what truly matters, right? I use this analogy where if you're outside, you as a kid, maybe you might have played with a magnifying glass and you're like burning things like leaves or those automatic negative thoughts, those ants, right? But that point there is very sharp. Right, and it's very bright. And the words we use, when we use the word sharp and bright, we're usually describing somebody that's very intelligent. But maybe they're not extremely intelligent, maybe they're just better focused, and that's what that magnifying glass did for them. And I want you to be able to do that in your life, because when you have that power, you can harness what's out there, which is inside you, and then be able to get such amazing, intense results. And that's what I want for you. Because Because that's really what you deserve. And so today, let's cut through the chaos and master the art of laser-sharp focus. Okay? So our brains, magnificent as they are, were not really built for the digital age's incessant interruptions. You know, like, I'm even thinking about it now. There's a lot going on, you know, where we're filming right now. But here's the thing. With intention and technique, we can reclaim our mind and we can reclaim our concentration and our focus. So let's start here. Let's, let's understand more about the mind. Our minds are like monkeys, right? Some people use that term monkey mind. They tend to hop from one thought to another to another. And the first step is you recognize this. And once you understand the monkey mind, You can train it or you can retrain it. The second thing I wanna think about is it's so important to declutter your space. What do I mean by that? A cluttered environment, and we've talked about this a little bit, often equals a cluttered mind, 'cause your external world is often a reflection of your internal world. And so begin with your immediate workspace. You know, where are you studying for school or where are you doing your work? You know, when part of your career and just think, I want it clean, I want it organized, and I want to simplify, right? You want to Marie Kondo your mind by organizing your environment. And then third, I want you to think about how do you declutter not just your external world, but how do you declutter your digital life, right? Notifications are modern-day pickpockets. for our attention. Consider a digital detox. Set specific check-in times for emails and social media. You know, do a dopamine detox. You know, it's so very important. And then number 4, we've mentioned this in our book, the Pomodoro Technique. This involves working intensely for a sprint, maybe 20, 25 minutes. And then simply taking a 5-minute brain break to hydrate, to maybe move around, do some deep breathing, clear the mental cobwebs. And that's really the goal. You know, our attention span tends to drop after about 25, 30 minutes. We have the attention span maybe to watch and enjoy a sitcom. So knowing that, how can you organize your time and then do a sprint for 25 minutes, take a 5-minute brain break, and then come back another 25 minutes? And those 25 minutes really add up throughout your day. Another thing to think about are having more mindful moments. Mindful moments. You know, I remember looking and looking at a story that talked about— there's some research done where people were given an option to be in a room, like kind of like a sensory deprivation room where they can't see or hear anything. And they were alone with their own thoughts, you know. And there's this quote that says that, you know, all the challenges in the world come from the fact that we can't just be in our room by ourselves, right, being silent. And these people that were in the room, they were given an option. They could get out of the room and not have to deal with 15 minutes just by themselves and not be able to see or hear anything if they just gave themselves electric shocks. And so many people opted for the electrostimulation, which was not necessarily very comfortable, but they needed— they were craving it. that stimulus in their nervous system. Because, you know, all day we're like just, we're just swiping and getting these rings and dings and app notifications, social media alerts. So how can you have more mindful moments? How can you embed pockets of mindfulness into your day? This could be through meditation, deep breathing, even simply observing your environment without judgment. How I get focused when I'm really stressed is I'll go back into my, into my body. And I'll say, hey, let me do an exercise here. What are 5 things that I could see right now? In fact, you do this right now. Put it in the comments. What are 5 things that you see? And then maybe list 4 things that you feel. Like maybe you feel the weight of sitting where you're sitting or standing where you're standing. Maybe you can feel your clothes, you know, over your, your left shoulder. You know, maybe you could feel the breeze or the movement of some central air and where you are right now. What are some things, 4 things? And then what are 3 things that you hear? You know, if you're silent right now, what do you hear? Maybe you hear an airplane going by, or you hear some white noise in the next room, or somebody's having a conversation down the hall. Right. You know, write down 3 things that you hear. And then 2 things maybe that you smell, right? What are 2 things that you smell in the environment? And then finally, maybe one thing that you taste, you know, in your mouth, something maybe that you ate recently, or maybe you're chewing some gum. But when I do this exercise, and it's very quick, I do it almost now unconsciously, but it gets me in the present, right? And it— and so I don't divert focus. It gets me in the now, you know? And that's— we hear about that all the time, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. But this is a simple strategy. The other exercise I would challenge you to do is create a power hour, you know, an hour of power. And I want you to choose a task that you've been putting off. And I want you to apply the strategies that we discussed, especially this session. You could take the Pomodoro Technique. Even right now, I have Pomodoro means tomato. And I have on my desk a tomato timer that you cook with. And I set it for 25 minutes. And it's, you know, something simple like that. And what I want you to do is challenge yourself, work on this task Uninterrupted, without any distractions, for 25 minutes up to an hour. And then afterwards, what I want you to do is reflect, because ultimately you are your best coach. And I want you to ask yourself a couple questions. Number 1, how much more did you get accomplished? How much more did you accomplish? Something simple. Number 2, how did it feel that first time? Did you get a little antsy, like your mind went someplace? And of course, that's what the mind does. But how did it feel? And then the third question is a very powerful one, is what barriers did you face and how did you overcome them? How did you bring your focus back? You know, did you say what's most important? Like, I bring my focus back by my breath, or I bring it back by asking a question like, what's the best use of this moment? And it refocuses me and it reenergizes me also. So I want you to share your insights in our community right now? Take a moment, share your insights in the comments down below, and your journey might just be the beacon someone else needs right now. You know, in an age of distraction, focus is our superpower, right? You want focus. And it's not just about shutting out the world, but choosing where we direct our attention. So be the master, not the puppet, of your focus.