I like this quote since it explains very well the true power of concentration. It goes far beyond doing a few exercises in the morning and forgetting about it the rest of the day.
Remember: the goal is not to be good at those exercises.
Just like a piano player ultimate goal is not to be great at scales. They want to play great music, and the scales is a helper for that. A playground to experiment.
The concentration exercises are the same. They are just like the scales. They will help you understand what it’s like being concentrated and what you need to do to become concentrated. A playground for your mind.
But then you’ll need to use this experiential knowledge during the rest of the day. Otherwise, even the best concentration exercises in the world won’t show any benefit in the real world.
After all, if all you do is spend 15m everyday doing these exercises, but the remaining 23h45m are completely out of focus and distracted, what message are sending to your mind?
“Hey subconscious! I want a distracted mind that is able to concentrate once a day for 15 minutes!”, since distraction is the state that you are in most of the day.
Air traffic controller is a job that demands a high level of concentration when they are working. Psychology studies have demonstrated a very high attention span once you’ve been on a job for a few years.
Why?
It doesn’t take a leap logic to understand that if you spend a big part of your day highly focused, your brain will develop itself to accommodate this fact and you become able to sustain a very high degree of concentration even in other activities.
Does that mean that you should change your job to become an air traffic controller?
Far from it. All jobs will allow itself to this intense level of concentration, even cleaning houses or waiting tables.
It’s up to you to be fully focused in whatever you are doing, with a strong intention and concentration, or to be daydreaming and thinking about your holidays or checking facebook.
The difference with the air traffic controllers is that they MUST be focused and concentrated, otherwise people die. If you carried the same responsibility in your work you would also give a big weight to your concentrated mind during your work.
This is the difference between being OBLIGATED to be concentrated and highly focused (like an air traffic controller) or be given a CHOICE (like most jobs).
Does it also means that concentration exercises are useless?
Of course not. The concentration exercises teach you what it’s like to be concentrated and give you a training ground to experiment with different states inside of yourself. They allow you to optimize your concentration state.
But then you’ll have to sustain it and use it throughout your day. Without this crucial understanding, the exercises won’t be very useful.
To begin your journey of increasing your Inner Power start with the 10 Steps to Inner Power in here:
http://www.charismaschool.com/lp/how-to-build-self-confidence/
