Make sure you Focus on things you Can Control

There is tremendous power in controlling the focus of your mind. There is no capability difference between you and someone you consider to be an ultimate role model of success.

The only difference is, they learned to use their mind and body with more power on a consistent basis.

They’ve learned the manager state, they’ve learned to use their body effectively and they’ve learned to control their mental focus. Whatever we concentrate our focus on consistently and strive to learn from and make new distinctions about, we will get great at!

“Where attention goes, energy flows”

I don’t care what it is, if focused on something daily and you strive being better, you’re gonna make little distinctions that’ll make you more and more effective every single day.

So you better decide, what you wanna focus on in your life and what you wanna experience on a daily basis, cause that’s where your power is going to come from, that’s where your power is going to emit from, that’s the genesis of your power!

You gotta remember, whatever you focus on is what you get!

One of the things you’re gonna have to become great at, is letting all of the noise drift away into nothing and getting into laser focus on that thing you’re working on…

If you can do that, it will serve you so well in every single area of your life.

If you stick with it, stay with it, become obsessed with it, feed it every day I guarantee you, possibilities will take place!

You can be who you wanna be, you can do what you wanna do, see what you wanna see, it’s all in your power and no-one else’s, so go out and get it!

These are the 3 Things to do before work to increase Focus & Productivity

1. Wake up 1-2 hours before your day actually starts (make things happen giving yourself enough time and finish them completely instead of rushing out the door while still chewing your unfinished breakfast, running late or skipping your morning workout).

2. Start your morning the evening before. Evening routine is more powerful than morning routine, plus we don’t need to waste much of our will-power, avoiding decision fatigue, when our brain is just warming up at the start of the day.

3. Meditation by Gratitude visualization (experience & visualize gratitude). Close your eyes, if you’re not driving or walking of course and think of what you’re deeply grateful for. This could be being with your family, it could be memory of your achievements, whatever it may be. I want you to visualize, taking yourself back to that moment when you felt extremely grateful. It’s incredible how much gratitude can totally upgrade our life. When you start your day of with gratitude, you’re going look for opportunity, more than you’re for obstacles and visualizing these happy moments of your life will bring those positive emotions back again, sometimes with even more intensity, basically re-living the moment again…

I know this may sound unrealistic for some of you and I’m not saying I do all of these practices every day consistently, never sleeping in or practicing gratitude meditation daily, but at least I have something to aim for, and that’s a good start for everyone looking to improve their focus and attention span over time.

I can tell you from my own experience, I feel massive difference and its positive benefits on days or longer periods of time when I manage to stick with it more frequently…

It’s really important for athletes to be able to concentrate and stay focused in sports.

When athletes concentrate, they become totally involved in what they’re doing and feel as if time has stopped.

They don’t care about what’s happening around them, and they aren’t easily distracted.

They’re totally tuned in to what they’re doing.

This feeling is called being “ON” or “IN THE ZONE”.

Focus is one of the most powerful tools in sports psychology. Whatever sport you compete in, the ability to focus is essential to success.

When you’re in the middle of a practice or competition, does your mind ever wander? If so, your performance is taking a hit, because you aren’t completely focused on the task at hand.

You can improve your focus by following these 10 tips I put together for you based on my own research and seeking for self development consistently.

Number #1 Know what you need to focus on

The clearer you are about what you want to focus on, the more likely you’ll be able to stay focused on the factors that contribute to your success.

I suggest you have at least 2-3 short term and 3-5 long term goals you’re aiming for.

Write them down somewhere visible. In my case, it’s sticky notes on a bathroom mirror reminding myself what it is I need to focus on daily.

Number #2 Focus on what you can control

You have control over yourself and your own actions and attitudes — nothing more. Keep your focus here.

If you focus on outcomes (things you have no control over), you’re creating unnecessary anxiety.

Focus on the process and you increase the likelihood of positive results happening.

Number #3 Stay relaxed under pressure

When you’re stressed and anxious, your focus drops.

Find ways to stay calm in high-pressure situations, such as taking deep breaths, stretching muscles to loosen them, engaging in effective routines to keep your focus where it needs to be, or listening to music that keeps you centered.

Number #4 Present Moment Awareness

Athletes tend to lose their concentration when they pay attention to events and experiences that are in the future, in the past, out of their control, or otherwise irrelevant to the task.

Strategies to stay in the now include: focus on your breath, use a mantra, focus on your inner body, become hyper-aware of your environment, and surrender to the emotion you are feeling

Number #5 Use cue words

Cue words are simple words and phrases that remind you of your focus points. These words are a form of self-talk that are used to trigger a response. Cue words are especially useful when you are trying to vary or change a movement pattern. Repeating words and phrases such as relax, go hard, or quick feet will remind you to focus on what you need to do. If your mind is focused on your cue words, your body will follow.

Number #6 Develop effective routines

A routine is like a funnel — it channels your focus and gets you ready to compete. Your routines help you maintain your focus on the right things and prevent many potential distractions from entering your mind.

Routines can be used before and during an event to focus attention, reduce anxiety, eliminate distractions, and enhance confidence.

It can help structure the time before the performance and between performances so you can stay mentally focused when it comes time to perform.

For example, listen to two or three songs on your iPod before competing to get yourself ready, or eat a certain snack that gives you energy boost or calms you down.

Arrive at the playing field giving you enough time to get prepared, or go through a specific type of warm-up and stretching.

Number #7 Use mental imagery

Practice seeing yourself perform exactly as you want to perform, focusing exactly as you want to focus.

The more your train your mind to focus on the right things, the more it will respond.

Mental imagery is simply seeing yourself perform as you desire long before you even step on the field of play. Imagery prepares you to see how you’ll perform, trains you to think about what’s most important in great performance, and allows you to relax by being focused on things within your control, and that matters crucially when it comes to great performance.

Number #8 Rate your focus daily

Keep a journal in which you rate your level of focus before and after each practice or competition. Simple daily evaluations are critical to improving your focus.

By consistently being consciously aware of improving and evaluating your focus, you’ll automatically do so. This type of daily “mental muscle” work will gradually improve your focus in practice and games.

Number #9 Stop Being A Slave To Your Device

Your phone is a great tool, but it can also create negative attention patterns and be a distraction. If you want to get serious about concentration and focus, you must set your life up to support it.

Remove temptation by turning off notifications. You don’t need to be alerted about everything, all the time, do you?

Ideally, you want to engage with your phone when you want or actually need to. By always responding to the ding of somebody or something trying to get your attention, you are negatively training your mind and body to be distracted by irrelevant stimuli.

Turn off push notifications, put it on silent, turn your phone with the screen facing down so you don’t see it lit up when you receive a text and go through periods of putting your phone on airplane mode (especially at night).

Trust me, that message, unimportant missed call, and picture will all be there later…

Lastly, number #10 Create a Strategy to Help You Refocus

This is the most important step in dealing with distractions. Once you have identified the triggers that cause you to lose focus, you can figure out what helps you forget distractions and get back on task.

I recommend using a statement or mantra to help you regain your focus, such as “that’s not important, get open for the sweep” or “let it go, focus on the next move”, in this scenario, referring in terms of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Practice is the best time to work on focus and concentration. You may need to modify your approach before you put it into action in a game.

Every athlete has the power to concentrate on his or her sport. A big part of getting into the zone is learning how to ignore distractions and focus on the right things.

You can apply focus skills to improve your confidence and composure. Some of the best athletes in the world say that focus is the single most important mental skill an athlete can possess.

Learning any new skill takes time. It doesn’t matter if you’re learning a physical skill or a mental one; you need to practice in order to improve.

What techniques for improving your focus and productivity do you use and what do you do to stick with it long term?

Please share your thoughts with me using the comment box below, get in touch with me directly at @fighterpreneur on FB or IG.

I have some BIG NEWS to share with you guys! I wanted to announce and invite you to check out my new YT channel @Fighterpreneur’s Life, where I’ll be posting great motivational videos for more inspiration and happiness on regular basis.

I recently passed my first 1000 subscribers, so thank you all for your support and if you didn’t get a chance to watch any of my videos yet, you’re missing out…

Sooo, please go ahead and make sure you watch & subscribe, never missing these amazing videos I put together for you, to help you stay motivated and ideally remaining on top of our extraordinary lives we were all gifted with!

Here you go, that’s all from me on this topic, so hope you guys enjoyed reading this article and learned something new, actionable and useful again.

Stay strong & healthy you all, dream big and see you again in 2 weeks.

Peace out!