Practice Concentration not Distraction

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The reason why people have a problem with distraction is because they practice distraction. Whatever we practice repeatedly becomes a pattern in our mind, even if we're not conscious of it. Our daily habits of jumping from one thing to another, fueled by technology, train our awareness to be constantly distracted. To develop concentration, simply meditating for a few minutes a day is not enough. It requires structuring our entire lifestyle to support concentration. This means practicing doing one thing at a time throughout the day, giving our undivided attention to tasks and people. By integrating concentration into our daily lives, we can train our awareness to stay focused. Concentration becomes natural and effortless when it becomes a regular practice.

When you were a kid, teachers and parents probably told you to concentrate. And as an adult, you likely often think about how much more productive, present, and happy you'd be if only you had better focus. But despite how much we think about our desire to improve our focus, no one ever gets any training in how to do it and even explains what focus is, exactly.

My guest today is an exception to that rule. He was taught the secrets to concentration when he spent ten years as a Hindu monk, and today he's on a mission to share them with others. His name is Dandapani, and he continues to live as a Hindu priest, though he's now also an entrepreneur and author, with a book just published called The Power of Unwavering Focus. Today on the show, Dandapani defines focus and shares the existential reasons why developing yours is so vital. He explains how that development begins with understanding how the mind is different from awareness, that where awareness goes, energy flows, and the need to bring awareness to attention. We walk through how to stop practicing distraction and start practicing concentration by making each of your daily activities a focused practice, and ultimately, making your whole day a practice. We also discuss how daily sessions of meditation are inadequate for developing focus, how mindfulness is different than concentration, and how the ability to control and direct your awareness is one of the greatest powers you can possess.