How to Concentrate

Motivation is the ability to hold one thought in your head for an extended period. People who can do this are seen as disciplined and motivated. New Year’s resolutions fade as the amount of time spent thinking about them decreases. Struggling with unwanted behaviors is harder when the mind is bombarded with thoughts about them.
Discipline, New Year’s Resolutions, Unwanted Behaviors

People who are able to hold particular thoughts in their head for a long time, are the people that we see when we think of someone who has a discipline, they’re motivated, right?

• How can you increase the amount of time you spend thinking about your goals and desired behaviors each day?
• What unwanted thoughts or behaviors currently occupy your mind? How can you reduce their prominence?

Schools often tell students to study more without teaching them how to concentrate effectively. Sitting and staring at a textbook is not the same as focused studying. Society is good at shaping others’ thoughts through advertising and social media, but individuals are not taught how to shape their own thoughts and resist external influences.
Ineffective Studying, Thought Shaping, Advertising and Social Media

The big irony here is that we’re actually we know a lot about shaping thoughts. The challenge is that we know how to shape someone else’s thoughts. Advertisers are really good at getting you to buy stuff that you don’t need. But what we don’t know is how to shape our own thoughts.

• Reflect on your own educational experiences. Were you taught effective concentration techniques, or just told to study more?
• How have advertising, social media, and other external influences shaped your thoughts and behaviors? What can you do to become more aware and resistant to their effects?

Just as the arm has fundamental movements like flexion and extension, the mind has three basic movements: 1. Directing the mind towards a thought, 2. Letting go of or dropping a thought, and 3. Holding the mind on a particular thought. Mastering these movements allows for effective concentration and focused action.
Directing the Mind, Letting Go of Thoughts, Holding Thoughts

These are the three fundamental movements of the mind. So the first is that direction of the mind is if I want to focus on studying, what I need to do is tell my mind to go in a particular direction and kind of have it go there. Then fundamentally what can happen is that I can get distracted right? So if I get distracted from studying and then I’m thinking about something else, then I need to use a second movement, which is letting go of that thing. Dropping an object in the mind so that it is free to then be directed to a second place. So we have direction of movement of the mind and dropping something from the mind. And then there’s the third thing, which is what we all sort of aim to do is folk keeping the mind in a particular place.

• Practice directing your mind to a specific thought or task. Notice when it wanders and gently redirect it back.
• When you find yourself stuck on an unwanted thought, practice letting it go or dropping it from your mind. Visualize it floating away or dissolving.
• Choose a thought or object of focus and practice holding your mind on it for increasing lengths of time. Start small and gradually build up your concentration stamina.

Techniques for dropping, picking up, and holding thoughts are like exercises for the mind - the equivalent of push-ups, sit-ups, or jogging. By training these faculties through repetition, your mind will learn to listen to what you tell it to do, leading to healthier actions and greater success.
Mental Exercise, Training the Mind, Healthy Action

These are going to be the equivalent of push ups or sit ups or benchpress. These are the going to be the equivalent of jogging or stretching. These are the fundamental functions of the mind that we are going to do reps, right we’re going to train these specific faculties of dropping thoughts picking up thoughts and holding thoughts in a particular place. And the cool thing is that once you train those faculties, your mind will listen to what you tell it to do. And that in turn will lead to a lot more healthy action and hopefully success.

• Commit to a daily practice of mental exercises, just as you would with physical exercise. Start small and be consistent.
• Notice how your ability to direct, drop, and hold thoughts improves over time. Celebrate your progress and keep training!