Concentration is perhaps the least understood and trained mental strength skill. It is an essential mind skill for 
optimal performance, especially in a tense or stressful situation.
Here’s a great excerpt from Napoleon Hill concentration.
Controlled Attention Leads to Mastery
by Napoleon Hill
“Controlled attention leads to mastery in any type of human endeavor, because it enables one to focus the powers of his mind upon the attainment of a definite objective and to keep it so fixed at will. Controlled attention is self-mastery of the highest order, for it is an accepted fact that the man who controls his own mind may control everything else that gets in his way.
It was this sort of control which Harriet Beecher Stowe had in mind when she said:
When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, ‘til it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.
The tide seems always to turn in your favor if you are determined to see that it does. Your state of mind has everything to do with turning the tide. Plato expressed this thought in his statement:
The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.
Francis Parkman showed his understanding of the power of the mind, and particularly the power available through controlled attention, when he wrote:
He who would do some great thing in this short life must apply himself to work with such concentration of his forces as, to idle spectators, who live only to amuse themselves, looks like insanity.
Washington Irving expressed his respect for the power of the mind in these words:
Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.
The potentialities of the power of controlled attention, through concentration, are many, but none of them is greater, nor more important, than that of concentration upon a definite major purpose. Hidden in these two words: controlled attention – is a strange power that will enable you to remove all self-imposed limitations which most people accept or set up in their own minds, and by which some are bound throughout their lives.” – Source: PMA Science of Success Course. Pgs. 334 & 335
Concentration abilities are not fully automatic; they need to be trained, just like any other “muscle.” Daily use of concentration, i.e. reading a book, performing a moderate task or figuring out a problem, does not create the type of intense concentration required in high-stress circumstances. Concentration of this magnitude is exhausting.
There a various ways to test and train your concentration. There a several books on concentration
There is another concept in concentration and that is “Circles of Attention.” Nowicki (1994) indicated that Russian sports psychologist placed a great deal of attention to these “circles of attention.” They are:
- Wide Circle of Attention: you are aware of everything in your environment; a broad panorama of what is happening
- Middle Circle of Attention: you are aware of what is happening in the general area that you are responsible for.
- Small Circle of Attention: you are aware of what is going on in your personal space.
- Internal Circle of Attention: you are aware of what is happing in you body, what some describe as the “internal focus.
Concentration has been an important mental strength skill for ages and is crucial in a person’s personal development and personal empowerment.
So…let me ask you….how’s yours…what do you do regularly to improve your concentration?
Please share your experiences, tips and tools in the comments below.
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Hi Hulbert – great observation on your part “That’s why it requires discipline to control what we want to think and feel at all times…” Once we’re aware that we can control our thoughts, focus and concentration we give away all our excuses.
Hi Gregg, great post on focusing our attention. I agree with Napoleon Hill. The more we are aware of what’s going on, the faster we will be able to achieve self-mastery. Sometimes it’s hard to “conquer self” because there’s a part of you inside that’s always trying to get its own way. That’s why it requires discipline to control what we want to think and feel at all times, and being simply aware is one of the most important methods for doing that. Thanks Gregg for this post.