Focus - Our Minds Are Being Hijacked

In this podcast, we'll discuss the concept of focus. I recently read a fascinating book called Stolen Focus by Yohan Hari. It explores how our attention is manipulated by social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, leading to an increase in anxiety and superficial thinking among younger generations.

The book encourages deeper thought processes for finding purpose and self-creation. This reminds me of a quote from George Bernard Shaw: "Life isn't about finding yourself; it's about creating yourself." We have countless experiences but ultimately choose our own path.

I also want to mention three other books - Total Focus by Brandon Webb, Steve Jobs' autobiography, and Phil Knight's account of Nike history. Both Apple and Nike are influential companies that have shaped us all significantly due to their founders' intense focus on their missions.

Steve Jobs was known for his 'reality distortion field'. Despite being difficult to work with even getting fired from Apple at one point - he managed to influence others effectively towards achieving his vision for the company. After his return, he refocused the company’s resources which led Apple back into success.

Similarly, Phil Knight became obsessed with shoes while finishing his degree at Stanford which eventually led him to establish Nike. Brandon Webb also emphasizes the importance of intense focus in accomplishing tasks as a Navy Seal.

To conclude, mindfulness is crucial in maintaining quality thoughts amidst distractions – akin to having total situational awareness as described by Webb. It involves continuously redirecting your wandering mind back onto your purpose or ethos.

 Gary Keller's book emphasizes the importance of focus. He suggests that pursuing multiple goals often leads to failure in achieving any. Finding or creating our purpose is vital, a process that evolves over time.

Clayton Christensen, a former Harvard Business Professor and author, also provides insightful concepts in his book about life measurement. In my studies and interactions with clients, two significant ideas have emerged: deliberate practice and an emergent mindset.

Deliberate practice refers to the repetition of fundamental tasks until excellence is achieved - much like professional athletes honing their skills through constant training. An emergent mindset recognizes the need for adaptability along our journey towards set goals.

Military authors often note that no plan survives contact with the enemy; this means we must anticipate obstacles and adapt accordingly. A positive outlook coupled with resilience helps us overcome challenges as they arise.

Christensen narrates how he dreamt of becoming the Wall Street Journal editor but ended up as a professor instead – a career he loved deeply. This illustrates how sometimes it’s necessary to pivot when circumstances change unexpectedly.

There are two mindsets at play here: one encourages persistence while another advises wisdom in knowing when to surrender or shift directions based on acquired experiences.
 
This concept aligns well with Heraclitus' quote stating no man ever steps into the same river twice because both man and river constantly change.
 
Marcus Aurelius once said setbacks can pave way for greater prosperity – highlighting how opportunities may emerge from adversity if we stay mindful of our daily decisions and choices.

 Is exercise and self-care important? Absolutely. Neglecting them has consequences, just like compound interest. Every day offers a fresh start, even when we're stuck in anxiety or depression. Keep trying.

Reading is powerful; it broadens our experiences beyond personal ones. As Jim Mattis suggests, without reading hundreds of books, you risk incompetence due to limited exposure. Learning from others' experiences can be vital for survival.

Our brains have mirroring neurons that allow us to deeply understand what we read - a skill almost lost today. According to Yohan Harry's book "Focus", 85-88% of high school students don't read for pleasure anymore, preferring Instagram or TikTok instead.

Slow down and ponder the meaningful things in life through reading rather than getting caught up in an endless cycle of instant gratification on social media platforms.

I'll end with CS Lewis's profound insight from his book "The Screwtape Letters". He warns against taking the easy road filled with little daily choices that eventually become mountains. Hell wants us regretting not doing what we ought nor enjoyed most in life.
 

In this podcast, I want to, focus on the concept of focus. Really interesting book I came across, about a month ago. It's called Stolen Focus. Why you can't pay attention and how to think deeply again and talks about how, you know, really, our attention is being hacked. Things on social media are very, very powerful.

And there's methods behind, what's on social media, Instagram, TikTok, all those things to grab a person's attention and to keep them engaged in that process. Anyway, it's really good read. The author is Yohan Hari, and it just and again, the point of this book is to dive a little bit deeper into what's really going on. Why the rising generation is increasing in anxiety? Finding meaninglessness in life because we're being hacked in a way to think very shallow quickly looking for quick solutions.

We're we're not being taught to think deeply, to focus and to really be able to make a difference in the world, find our purpose, and to, focus on becoming who we want to become. One of my all time favorite quotes, comes from the playwright George Bernard Shaw, where he says life is not about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself. I really believe that. We all come across many different experiences in life and are influenced by things people, but at the end of the day, we have the capacity to choose for ourselves where we wanna go.

Three books in particular today besides that one I wanna talk about. Total focus, Brandon Webb, former Navy Seal. And these two these two books, Steve Jobs and Phil Knight. Autobiography by Steve Jobs and then Phil Knight. Wrote wrote this book about history and Nike.

So Apple and Nike, 2 of the most influential companies in history. That it impacted all of us. How did that happen? I want to, Talk about a concept in Steve Jobs Books where, where those who were around him, came up with this concept said that he that he has this thing called a reality distortion field around him. Let me just read a little paragraph of that.

And so they they tell other people about it that there's something about this guy, that he just makes things happen. And I'll just read a paragraph. And and you'll just have to fill in the blanks. Yeah. At first, Hertz Hertzfeld thought that Trivel was exaggerating, but after 2 weeks of working with jobs, He became a keen observer of the fun of the phenomenon.

The reality distortion field was a confounding melange of a charismatic rhetorical style indominable, indominable will, and eagerness to bend any facts to fit the purpose at hand. And it basically means that he had the capacity to influence others to get things done. He was 100% focused on on the mission of Apple. And the thing that's so similar to Phil Knight is that he was 100% focused on his mission. They weren't distracted in other areas.

It's like in the story. And and, you know, Steve was a was an amazing, amazing man, but also was very difficult to work for. And as many recall that he was actually fired from the company he created because it was so difficult for many to work with. And when that happened, The the company just went stagnant. How they have been so influential on stuff.

It it didn't happen anymore. And after a number of years, they figured, what do we do? And they brought him back. And the first thing that that Steve did Was he looked at how the company was allocating their resources called resource allocation? Where is all the time and energy going?

This person was doing this. And, anyway, there were too many things going on. Wasn't focused. And so his the first thing he did was he said, this up, this, this, this, this, this, we're getting back to these things right here. And then the company started to take off again.

And so resource allocation as it relates to these guys. And it's the same thing with with Phil Knight. He was absolutely obsessed with shoes. As the story goes, he had an assignment finishing his graduate degree or his degree. I'm not sure if it's the graduate.

Anyway, finishing his degree at Stanford, And the assignment, he just did it on shoes, and he said, and and in that process, it became an all out obsession. So and Brandon Webb and navy seal talks about the same thing that in order to get things done, There must be intense focus and recognizing through what he calls, total situational awareness when distractions are coming and how to quickly get back on task. Now as that that relates to us, k, the sole concept of mindfulness. From my perspective, Mindfulness is simply the capacity to bring a wandering mind back to quality thoughts over and over and over again. But in order for the mind to come back to something, we have to create that.

So we have to create 8, our own vision statement, our purpose, our ethos, because if we don't if we don't know where we're going, if we don't know what we're striving for, then any direction is is okay. But, you know, there's also another amazing book out It's been out for a while. The one thing by Gary Keller's same concept says if if you focus on, I think, the beginning quarter of that book, So if you chase 2 rabbits, you'll catch neither one of them. But it's it it's a great, reminder for all of us to, 1st of all, one of the first orders of business for any of us is to try to find our purpose or to create it or something we dream about. And that is going to be an ongoing process.

Another fantastic book, by Clayton Christensen. He was a Harvard Business professor. He wrote a book entitled how will you measure your life or how will your life be measured? Anyway, some just really cool things in there. So in in my process of studying and working with clients, we come across these 2 concepts.

1 is called deliberate practice. That those, I mean, who wrote that book? Peek is another another book. Peek Buy, and there's Ericsson. And he talked about those who are extremely successful that they do certain fundamental things over and over and over again until they just become excellent at.

It's like a it's like a an athlete, professional athlete, or an Olympian who does, the fundamental things over and over and over again with their skill set where they become absolutely the best of of what they can be. That's deliberate practice. When you're doing something that that actually is paying off and is working, Now there's other concept called emergent, an emergent mindset, meaning that sometimes So we gotta start somewhere. So we're going on a journey. The the, so we have to, you know, plan and plan and plan.

Of what it is we want to become, set our vision statement. But another thing that I've read in in many authors of military books, they say they say something like no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. That means no matter what we set forth to do, there's gonna be obstacles along the way. And sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to. Usually, that's the case.

So we learn to adapt and provide over come by incorporating that mindful warrior mindset can do, sense of humor, 0 victim mentality, and I will not focus on negative things. I will continue to push forward notwithstanding, the, the challenges that I face, because I know I have the capacity to deal with it, and I will figure out a way somehow, some way. The best is yet to come. And, you know, obstacles are simply opportunities to grow. But as as, the emergent thing happens that here's here's the story of Clayton Christensen, what he tells.

He says his dream was to become the editor of the Wall Street Journal. Okay. It simply never happened. He applied for it. He dreamed about it.

But he never got a response from them. But in that process, he was led to becoming a professor, which he absolutely loved. And and so when he talks about the emerge and he says, yeah. You set your dream. You go forward with that, but be intelligent enough to know that as you are pushing forward, sometimes things change, and it's okay to be able to pivot and move in a different direction.

Because that's all life is. Things emerge. And it's those emergent things when those opportunities present themselves. It's like when the wave comes, Do you get on that wave, or are you just waiting for that that that only one that you have set for yourself? See?

So there's 2 different mindsets that you You you hear many say, don't ever give up. Never surrender. There are times when wisdom speaks. No. It's time to surrender.

It's time to pivot. It's time to do something else. I have learned enough. I am gonna take all of the experience and information that I have gained in this straight line endeavor, and I'm gonna pivot just a little bit and use it. That is positive.

That is good. That is using wisdom. So and there's no simple answer to to, figure that out. Every it's called the speed of war. Right?

That's what the military person, speed of war means. Things constantly are unfolding as we are navigating through life. Every single day is a new day. So, I love this statement by, or quote by the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who says, no man ever steps into the same river twice because it's not the same river and it's not the same man. I love the idea.

It's a mindful warrior concept also. This is day 1. Who never lived this day before? We don't know what's coming in the next hour or 2, and it's like, there's a really cool quote too. Just just, popped into my mind.

If I could if I can find it really, really quickly, it's like Alright. What did Marcus really have said? He said. Here's one. This is a good run.

A setback has often cleared the way For greater prosperity, many things have fallen only to rise to more exalted Heights. Anyway, that's not the specific point. That's a really good one. Oh, this is it. Here we go.

The chance for progress to keep or lose turns on the events of a single day. To me, that's exciting. It that's why we need to be mindful and aware aware of our small and simple decisions, our small and simple choices. Is it important that I get up and exercise today? Yeah.

It is. Is it important how I take care of my body today? Yeah. It is. Is it gonna be okay if I, you know, Just blow this off for a little bit.

Well, there are just consequences, you know, small little decisions. I mean, compound interest, I guess, works both ways. The point being that every day is a new day. And no matter where we find ourselves and how how we have gotten maybe, stuck wrapped up in too much anxiety, depression addiction. Keep trying.

Today's a new day. Read, learn from other people's experiences when you are doing something And this is where the power of reading comes in. It's also Jim Mattis, k, secretary of defense. He he he says this about reading. K?

If you haven't read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate. And you will be incompetent because your personal experiences alone aren't broad enough to sustain you. A commander who claims that is too busy to read is going to fill body bags with troops as he learns the hard way. So As we struggle in life, let's learn from other people, learn what they've been through, We have in our brains these things called mirroring neurons. And though we see with our eyes and we can mirror and pick things up, when we read, it causes us to think deeply.

Reading is almost a lost art. One of the reasons, stats I read in in the bookstore and focus, by Yohan Harry, he says, yes. 88 to 85% of high school students, if they would read a book for pleasure, and they would say, are you kidding me? So Instagram, TikTok, or sitting down reading a book. See, one hijacks the brain in this endless thing of more, more, more, faster, quick, flashy than the other one.

Slow down. Slow down, reponder, think about those things that are the most meaningful in your life. Anyway, just wanted to leave you with those, thoughts today. Last up. I'll close with this.

Cool little book also. CS Lewis, the screw tape letters. Is what it says. This this this fits into the lock compounding but no sort of action, please as hell so much as the easy road. The gentle slope soft underfoot without sudden turnings, without milestones, without sign posts, the host of Little Daley Choices, which are Molt Hills that turn into mountains.

What hell wants is a man finally having to say, I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I art nor what I liked. Anyway, something to ponder.