Individual Flow Trigger: Complete Concentration
How your undivided attention is a flow deal breaker
In this edition, I’m breaking down a new outlook on multi-tasking, the neuroscience behind the Complete Concentration trigger, and real word examples of it being applied.
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I once heard a quote on a mastermind call that I’ll never forget.
It was 2015, and I was a member of a life coaching group/community.
But the quote was, “Multi-tasking is doing alot of things, at the same time, in an average way.”
Me on the call:
At this time, I was also doing alot business wise, but getting nowhere, and wondered why—so this really resonated with me.
And throughout my years in sales and being an entrepreneur, I can recall many quotes like that…
“Clarity = Power”
“If you have 3 priorities, you don’t have any.”
“The man who chases two rabbits, catches neither.”
And so on…and so on…
All hinting at the notion that we feel our best and perform our best when our attention is fully on the task at hand.
If you’re a high performer, you get this concept on the surface level.
But lets dive into it so you’ll be able to fit it into the unique aspects of your life.
Complete Concentration
Flow follows focus.
REFRESHER: Peak performance is getting our biology to work for us rather than against us. Primarily through flow, which is an optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our best.
The state only shows up when all of our attention is locked in on the present moment, firmly targeted at the task at hand. This helps keep the ego out of the picture and the prefrontal cortex deactivated.
When locked and loaded, task specific focus becomes the gateway to the merger of action and awareness and the activation switch for automatic processing.
The brain can now pass management responsibilities from the conscious to the unconscious, while the flow-crushing self stays out of the picture.
In other words, we get more shit done, with less effort, while focusing more so on task, versus how we personally feel about the task in the moment.
How I Use Complete Concentration 😎
In 2013, I was an Assistant Manager for a sales organization, and I was rising up the ranks fast!
I was out of the Mobile, Al office. Ryan Leirer was an AM out of the Birmingham office but also worked out of Mobile—during the fall and spring campaigns while attending the University of South Alabama. He was a frat kid and golf player and we connected immediately with being athletes and just from coming up together in same division of offices.
We often noticed that when our Division Manager was teaching or giving a speech on something, we’d be in awe and debrief it afterward because he had our full attention.
Leirer was also a champion sales rep. But the conversations I had with him from a management perspective improved my mindset and confidence in sales as well.
We knew once the summer ended we’d be working together a lot in the fall, where becoming managers of our own offices/territories would have our complete concentration.
How The Greats Use Complete Concentration 🤌🏾
During an interview, that happened over a decade ago, Bolt was asked, “As the face of track and field, and as the fastest man ever, what are the distractions or obstacles you have to overcome—being that you play that role? What’s the hardest part”?
Usain replied, “Stay focused. For me it’s hard. When you’re a champion you’re way ahead of the field. Sometimes you get lazy. You’re not so focused because you just want to relax….but I have great people around me…that keep me focused on the target.”
Too often, and unfairly, referred to as Serena’s older sister—Venus Williams is an all-time great in the sport of tennis! And a big reason for that is her focus on the mental game within tennis.
During an on-court interview in 2010 she shared, “The mental game is huge. It’s 50% of tennis…everyone can play. You have to work on that mental game and put yourself in the situations mentally that you would be in during a match, that even starts off of the court—thinking about what you’d like to do and conquering it mentally.”
Talk about having your attention firmly targeted on the task at hand.
Dot Richardson is a two-time gold medal-winning Olympian softball player for team USA—in 1996 and 2000. This means Dot’s childhood was one that preceded women’s sports on many levels. In fact, she participated in, and won, the inaugural NCAA Division I softball tournament in 1982.
During a Liberty University feature, she expressed, “When I was a young girl, it became very obvious that I just love moving and sports. But I never got the chance to play…the boys didn’t have a problem with me…they’d pick me first in their pick-up games—didn’t matter what sport it was. But society said; ‘girls can’t play organized sports.’ I just felt like I was an athlete without a team.”
Eventually, she found herself playing softball for a youth team. This allowed her to finally zero in on her focus and the rest is history.
This Week’s Book Recommendation📖
Official Book Review: Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan–there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, or earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint.
My Review: In my 20s, I didn’t like this book or Tim Ferriss because I thought this concept advocated working less. Now that I’ve studied peak performance for a couple of years, I see this concept advocates working smarter, delegating out what you’re bad at, and focusing on what you’re great at!
Last Words…
Complete Concentration is more than a flow trigger, it’s also a flow deal-breaker.
When my mentor, Steven Kotler, works with organizations on their peak performance, the very first thing he tells people is that if thy can’t hang a sign on their doors that reads “FUCK OFF I’M FLOWING”, they can’t do this work.
This means no distractions. No multitasking. Email and cell phones off, no YouTube of Netflix in the background, and social media is out of sight.
For how long?
The research shows that 90 to 120 minutes (same duration of REM sleep) of uninterrupted concentration is the ideal time period to maximize focus and, by extension, flow.
And if the task at hand requires significant creativity, then Tim Ferriss’s suggested “four-hour blocks” are often necessary.
By the way, since autonomy and attention are coupled systems, make sure the task at hand, the one that’s about to claim 90 to 120 minutes of your time, is exactly what you want to be doing with you time.
Whether it’s studying game film, going on a date, cramming for a test, or getting some extra recovery in before a big game—if it’s worth doing, than it deserves your undivided attention.
Be an adult. Have your conversations before hand.
Long blocks of uninterrupted concertation can be hard to come by in today’s world.
Communicate like a pro to those in your inner circle.
What can seem like a time suck on the front becomes a time-saver on the back.
Hope this added the fuel to ferociously launch your week! ♾️🔥🚀
See you next Monday! 😎
And when it comes to the infinite game of life…
Choose Flow.
Be Brilliant.
Ball Out.
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