Think for a moment about attention. Absorbed focused lies at the heart of great performance. Unfortunately, our minds have minds of their own — they flit from thought to thought. It’s also more difficult than ever to stay focused in this digital age. Never before have we had to deal with so many seductive distractions. Training your mind operates by the same principle as training your body. By focusing on one thing for a defined period of time — say by counting your breath, or working at a demanding task, or even reading a difficult book — you’re subjecting your attention to stress. As your mind wanders, the challenge is to return your focus to the breath, or the task, or the book. Effectively, you’re training control of your attention. The more intensely you practice, even for short increments of time, the stronger you’ll get."
