Strengthening your mind can be compared to strengthening your body. Both involve muscles.
The muscles of the brain are strengthened from activity and exercise the same way that your body’s other muscles are…or they sit and atrophy if not used and challenged the same way your body’s muscles do.
Let’s face it, you cannot build strong body muscles by sitting on the couch all day and neither can you build your mind muscles – your strong powers of concentration and attention when you are not challenging your mind muscles.
Mind muscles, just like the other muscles in the body require stimulation and resistance in the form of challenges in order to stretch current limitations, grow and increase focus, attention and concentration.
Attention is the ability to place focus on certain stimulus or train of thought while ignoring everything else.
Attention mastery begins when we are able to direct our attention away from distractions and keep focused on and working towards what’s important. What we put our attention towards and what we ignore directly shapes our reality because we’re working with energy.
In reality, it’s way too easy to get “mind” distracted these days. With all the social sites and digital technology readily at our fingertips the temptation to stray off to Facebook or read a few emails for a few minutes is all too real. It takes willpower to ignore these types of distractions and stay focused on the issue at hand.
Admonishments from parents or past teachers come ringing in our ears – “Pay attention” is all too familiar to most of us.
Practice makes perfect: Gaining mastery over your mind and how it operates and uses its energy allotment is not unlike working out your body.
Developing and increasing your powers of concentration and attention is similar to developing physical strength – you can increase the duration and quality of your attention and focus with patience, persistence and practice.
Multi-tasking is a no-no. It is detrimental to staying focused and putting attention in one area, so it’s important to stop multi-tasking. You might believe you area accomplishing a few things at one time but in reality, you are only shifting your attention back and forth between tasks and diluting your energy on each one. Since you are only allotted so much of this “attention fuel” if you waste it juggling your attention energy then your brain likely won’t have the juice to plow through the really important stuff when it arrives.
Using your mind only once in a while for intense purposes of concentration will not help you to increase your focus and attention. Work-out your mind several times daily for short periods of time if you really want to challenge it.
Use it or Lose it:
Some key tips to strengthening your mind power…
Be mindful: As you go about your day, direct and focus your attention on your ordinary everyday activities that you are doing in the moment. When something comes along that you really need to concentrate on your mind will be calm and ready to produce optimal results rather than scattered in a million different directions trying to multi-task.
Refresh and refocus: When energy levels are low and you feel your concentration fading, immediately refocus your mind and affirm your intention to concentrate and be focused. Give yourself a true “wake-up” call and be firm but gentle with yourself.
Learn something new: According to Einstein – anyone that spends 15 minutes a day learning something new, will in a year or so become an expert! Take a challenging new class. Try chess, tai chi, yoga, or take up the piano or get involved in art classes. Challenge your mind to learn something new.
Get our of your routine: Make your brain feel uncomfortable. Activate the other side of your brain by doing the opposite of what feels natural. It’s a great way to gain access to both hemispheres. Use your other hand to write with or play games such as table tennis, use your mouse with your other hand. Challenge your brain to create new neural pathways and connections.
Remember, the mind like the body requires time to recover after being used intensively. So, getting the proper rest for your mind…just like you give your body between workouts is important to maintaining “mind” health.
Super concentration, attention to the moment and productivity will be your rewards.
Developing mental toughness, concentration and attention does not happen overnight. It takes patience and time to build and develop these healthy traits but once they are built, they will serve you well in all areas of your life for years to come.
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