Improving Concentration for Success - Self Help Booklet

4) Improving Concentration and Focus: The Scientific Keys to Success

Success comes from one pointed focus at one point in time.
Most of us live in a near state of constant distraction. Thanks to our electronic gadgets & connected devices (with internet) - smart phones, tablets, digital watches, laptops, the multiple apps and notifications ensures we never get focussed, by multi-tasking thereby loosing focus and concentration. 


"Success has a relation to the satisfaction of the soul in the context of the environment in which one lives; it is a result of actions based on the ideals of truth, and includes the happiness and well-being of others as a part of one's own fulfillment" - Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda

Concentration leads to success and thereby happiness. And there has been no change in meaning or context of this fact from ages and times immemorial. 

In Bhagavad Gita, when Arjuna told that he could see the bird's eye only while aiming he was talking about Concentration. (Reference - Dronacharya conducted a test. He placed a bird made of wood on the branch of a tree and told them to focus on the bird’s eye without shooting it). And when ace cricketers like Virat Kohli Brian Lara, MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar were playing their game, they were able to create new cricket records and break the older ones, because they were focussing on their craft in the game, i.e.  ball, bat and game only....not thinking or doing anything else. Same is with other successful players like Messi when he is playing football. And with leading singers and musicians, i.e. AR Rahman, Shankar Mahadevan, Arijit Singh, Madonna, or Elvis Presley when they recorded their music or had live concert performances. and the list goes on and on in various fields...


Lack of Concentration leads to failure and thereby sorrow - Failure here represents not able to meet the desired goals, and it should not be taken literally. And all types of accidents happen due to lack of concentration resulting in property damage, injury, loss of life. For example, road traffic - car accidents happen due to lack of concentration of the driver on his or her driving. Some extreme examples of failures are like people meet accidents fall, get electric shocks, cuts, burns etc due to careless approach or lack of concentration.   

John Doerr’s first OKR superpower in Measure What Matters is the ability to focus and commit to priorities. This power makes remarkable things happen. Think of it — space exploration or turning your phone into a supercomputer. When focus is our superpower, we can make a positive impact. But when we don't know how to use it, we struggle to live up to our potential.

How to develop Concentration?  Concentration comes from POSITIVE MIND POWER, and one can develop positive mind power by practicing scientific meditation and yoga techniques consistently...and without fail. Positive Mind Power can only be developed when you first eliminate your inherent NEGATIVE EMOTIONS in form of fear, anger, jealousy, frustration, anxiety, worry, threats and mood swings. There are multiple steps to achieve this and the first one is cleansing your environment. Reduce and gradually avoid reading or watching depressing and negative news. And, further discussing or sharing with your friends and relatives. Getting rid of nervousness can also help reduce getting affected by mood swings. In particular, young women have higher emotional anxiety and mood swings compared to men. Because females have an extremely high sense of attachment to their physical appearance leading to higher alert system. The brain is constantly worrying about the male gaze, problem around and intrusion around them in offices, roads, etc. 
It's a myth to develop concentration and mind power by joining a weekend workshop or reading a mind power book.  To explain this point - THE SECRET by Rhonda Bryne, the best-selling mind power book has sold thirty million+ copies. I am ignoring the fact that a book is shared among friends and family members. Then the 30 million readers including me, there should be more than thirty million millionaires added worldwide by now....as everyone wants to be rich as that's the first thing people want to get manifested.  But we didn't become a millionaire and failed to manifest our thoughts, because we didn't knew how to clean our MIND CACHE or preconceived notions related to our life and situations. 
Hong Sau meditation is an ancient and powerful technique that helps to develop the mind’s latent powers of concentration, and is offered as a part of the lessons program by Self Realization Fellowship & Yogoda Satsanga Society of India
Inner and Outer Distractions -
Most young women are constantly conscious about their physical appearance, dressing, male gaze and how. They tend to take more time to complete a task compared to men (with the same skillset and education). Women in general are more distracted than men. With more dressing options available for women to wear, with variety of cuts, deep necklines etc, their subconscious mind is in a constant flux and compulsion to attract the opposite sex leads to a constant array of thoughts leading to lower concentration and productivity.  

Hence, it becomes important for companies and their human resources department to lay out guidelines to improve productivity for their teams. For example wearing simple and comfortable clothes for both men and women (except in select sales personnel). This also means women should avoid wearing very "revealing" dresses with deep necklines and mini skirts.  Also, dresses should not be very bright and harsh colours. Without a standard dressing policy, this will distract the whole office on a routine basis,  and leading to several minutes of wasted time and lowered productivity.
Guidelines to avoid wearing strong perfumes and deodorants.  
Except when they are in the show business like celebrities, models, performing artistes, or a news and media agency.  
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Suggested Readings & References: - 
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - The Essential Yoga Texts for Spiritual Enlightenment - By Swami Vivekananda
Focusing the Power of Attention for Success - by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
Indistractable - How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life - by Nir Eyal


Target Audience - I will use my booklet to target senior working professionals by helping them focus at one thing at a point of time, and not repeat the same mistakes made by me by multi-tasking and not completing my most important task on time, which will lead to my goal of more corporate coaching workshops.