focus Archives - The Future Mindset

I was first inspired to write this post from a video online. Lorenzo was a young boy who was shot by a stray bullet that left him in serious condition struggling with body motor function as a result. He could have easily have felt sorry for himself and give up on life. But instead, choose to persevere.

With the injury, he had to use a walker to get around and he didn’t want this for the rest of his life. So for the first time, he took up boxing. Many around him thought it was a crazy idea but he persevered with the idea nonetheless. After 6 months of pure determination and effort, he finally could stand on his own two feet without the assistance of a walker. The progress was extraordinary.

The power of the human spirit when focussed can achieve possibilities others cannot conceive. His doctor didn’t prescribe this treatment, he had to prescribe this for himself. It just goes to show when humans apply perseverance in their life anything that seemed impossible becomes possible.

Learning To Persevere

This is, without doubt, a crucial part of anyone’s mental strength toolkit. Perseverance is a skill that allows you to overcome your own minds doubt, failures and shortcomings. When we don’t persevere it just opens the door to regret. The regret of not trying harder, giving up to early or just taking the easy path.

When you make a decision that you will persevere at everything that matters in your life. That is the flip of the switch in your mind that changes everything.

When I finished university my first job was in sales and I could see perseverance in action every day. There were always people who won every day and achieved their sales targets and others who did on some days.

Two people really stood out to me. Both super skilled at communication but the main difference was that on the hard days when sales were harder to come by, one persevered to come through and the other just gave up the day. This taught me the power of perseverance and allowed me at the time on my bad days to persevere to hit my sales targets.

When you apply this to everything in your life. Well, that’s just a game-changer that keeps giving back.

How To Make It A Habit

Hoping that your mind will always make the right decision to persevere can sometimes be tricky. To make perseverance a habit. You have to make it instinctive. But first, you have to plan to use it every day.

When planning my day I will add in two times I need to persevere.

This can be anything but I choose that when I’m exercising and I have a feeling that I want to give up I will persevere for an extra 5 minutes. My second choice was when I’m struggling to calm my mind I will meditate for an extra 10 minutes.

Both these challenges I set for myself allowed me to not only have a chance to practice perseverance but also teach my mind that it works in my best interest to persevere.

After months of practising when I reflect on my day, I can see that I have achieved perseverance all the time. From when I’m playing sports or just communicating my point of view.

Creating this habit is a must for anyone and quite easy to achieve each day.

The Benefits Of Learning To Persevere

Overcoming Challenges Makes You More Confident

When you have to persevere it’s always in the hard zone.

In the hard zone, it’s uncomfortable and shows to yourself that you can achieve more than you realise.

Just before you have a chance to act to persevere there is a choice to be made to give up or carry on through the pain. When we make the decision to carry on we are boosting our confidence to reach new limits.

Perseverance Will Boost Your Productivity

Without a doubt, when you choose to persevere you will boost your productivity levels. It’s that final 10% where the most gains come from you will see when you persevere.

Whist doing exercise, where the lactic acid build-up is firing, is the time to make the most gains. Perseverance finds all the gold and rewards you are looking for boosting your productivity in the process. When others are giving up you are putting in the extra work to get the job done.

You Will Develop Your Focus

When you make a decision to persevere. Alongside it, you are developing your focus. The mind is not in relax mode at this point. It’s in fight mode. Fighting for the win, fighting to prove something to yourself and fighting to show it can be done. This requires focus.

Over time your focus will develop into a key weapon to stay the course. The focus will help keep away all the negative thoughts of wanting to scream stop but it will allow you to enter a stage or zone which will put you in-game mode where you can push your mind and body to new limits.

Resilianace Will Be Built

When you are persevering it’s like going through a brick wall or you have weight behind you trying to drag you down. It’s painful but it’s making you stronger mentally. The mindset you are creating is resilience and the resistance to pain will be increased. This is a great character trait and will help you on the journey to be your best self. No path is plain sailing it’s filled with pitfalls and obstacles. having the resilience to persevere will help you become the person you want to be.

Have The Mindset Of A Winner

No matter what field of expertise you look at from sport to business. Anyone who is successful has had to persevere to get to the top. Life whether you like it or not is about competition either with yourself or with others.

To be the best footballer competing against all other technically gifted players what are you doing that sets you apart. When your doing a degree and want to be the person who gets the highest grade alongside all other capable people. It all comes down to perseverance.

This is the skill that can set you apart from everyone else and show you that you are capable of so much more than you know.

PLEASE COMMENT AND SHARE YOUR STORIES

Has this helped you today? How are you practising perseverance? I would love to hear your thoughts and your experiences. Always remember you are not alone and everything can change.

A Final Word From The Future Mindset

I hope you enjoyed today’s article How Learning To Persevere Can Unlock Your Best Self. I hope the article has helped in some way. If you need extra help or any questions answered. Don’t hesitate to contact me at adam@thefuturemindset.com

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What To Expect?

In today’s article, how multitasking can stop you from entering the zone will discuss the effects multitasking can have on the brain. The main point of the article will be how multitasking can stop you from entering the zone. Also understanding that focusing on one task at a time greatly benefits your performance. As well as learning how to get out of the multitasking habit.

Why Multitasking Isn’t Always Good For The Brain

The common saying is that women are better at multitasking than men. This has actually been confirmed to be true by a recent study in the UK. Of course, this doesn’t mean all men can’t multitask. But what the study did show is that multitasking can be beneficial in certain areas of life but more difficult in others.

Cited on Inc.com, MIT neuroscientist Earl Miller explained that our brains “are not wired to multitask well… when people think they’re multitasking, they’re actually just switching from one task to another very rapidly. And every time they do, there’s a cognitive cost.”

You Have To Focus On One Task

When it comes to focusing, multi-tasking can be the enemy that takes you away from what you are currently focusing on. In real life, it can lead to damaging effects. For example, if your driving and you turn your attention away from your driving to look at your phone or tell the children off in the back seat. It can lead to crashes and the death of other people.

Our brain is just a muscle and it can only do what it was designed to do. So multitasking on minimal things is no problem but multitasking on things that matter just gets in the way. For example, try writing and then looking at your phone, then talking to someone. When you look back either nothing has been written or you’re going at a snail pace.

For the brain to truly function on a task with 100% intention you can not multitask. It just doesn’t work to its best ability. When you find your mind truly clear of distraction you will enter the zone of the mind where everything becomes easy and flowing. This is because the brain is fully engaged in one singular task.

Of course, our brains are adapting, thinking of ideas but it has to be solely for the benefit and purpose of what you’re doing.

This is Your Brain on Multitasking

Studies within neuroscience found trying to multitask actually changes the way your brain works. When you focus your attention on something, it activates the part of your mind’s motivational system: the prefrontal cortex, which wraps around the front of your brain.

When you’re focused, both the left and right sides of the prefrontal cortex work in tandem. But when you multitask, they attempt to work independently. Even though it feels like you’re doing two things simultaneously, you’re actually switching between the two sides of your prefrontal cortex. This switch takes a fraction of a second, but those microseconds add up: it actually takes you up to 40% longer to complete the same tasks than if you were to tackle them separately.

Not only that, switching between tasks drains your cognitive resources, making you more prone to mistakes. Your working memory, which is responsible for reasoning, decision making, and learning ability, has a limited capacity. It’s like a muscle that can only lift so much weight and do so many reps before it needs to rest and recover.

How To Get Out Of The Bad Habit Of Multitasking

1. Get Rid Of All Distractions

What stops us from getting in the zone is defiantly modern distractions, like phone, email and social media. You know what distracts you the most and what you find hard to resist. So whenever you are doing something that needs your full attention. Put the distraction as far away from you so they can’t be reached.

2. Listen To Music

Now, this isn’t the top 40 chart, this is music that plays in the background preferably with headphones that focuses your mind. For me, it’s anything that’s calm instrumental with the peaceful piano being my favourite for entering my writing zone.

3. A To-do-list & A Clear Schedule

Knowing what you need to do in your day and when to do it can fend off the multitasking mind. A To-do-list & a clear schedule helps to focus the mind on the singular task at different parts of the day. This makes it a lot easier to enter a zone state for each task you have. When you don’t know what to do this quickly allows the mind to wander to other tasks.

4. Learn To Say No

Always being at someone’s beck and call stops you from entering the zone and leads to multi-tasking their every need rather than focusing on what you want. So when it’s time for you to get in the zone. Have expectations with people of what you expect and quickly say no to them unless it’s an emergency.

5. Know When It’s Zone Time

Everyone has a part of the day that they feel at their mental and physical best. Mine is the morning and this is the time that I use all the above points to create a space where I can get my best work done. Creating that time for yourself limits multitasking and allows the focus to form and the zone door to open.

Over To You

I hope you enjoyed today article, How multitasking can stop you from entering the zone.

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Hi, I’m Adam

I’ve spent over 10 years coaching and mentoring people within sport and business. I have many life skills that I have developed and I want to pass these skills on so people can find their best self. I believe it all starts in the mind and I write about valuable tools and strategies to help people grow in this area.