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Focus summary

Name: Focus
Rating: 4.3 (578 reviews)
Author: Daniel Goleman

Daniel Goleman

The Hidden Driver of Excellence

4.3 (578 ratings)

26 mins

Brief summary

'Focus' by Daniel Goleman is a self-help book that explores the power of attention and the benefits of developing better focus. It provides practical tools and tips for improving concentration, mindfulness, and productivity, backed by scientific research.

Topics

Focus Leadership Success

Table of Contents

Focus
Summary of 12 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 12

What is in it for me? Focus, focus, focus.

Have you ever felt that being easily distracted is holding you back from improving your skills, doing better work and living a more fulfilling life?

Our lives are filled with potential distractions: your smartphone, email, even your thoughts about where you’ll take your next vacation. As you let your attention become increasingly scattered by such distractions, you impair your ability to do your work on time and to do it well.

Yet author Daniel Goleman goes beyond the narrow definition of “focus” to present a guidebook for living a focused life, according to which we can gain a richer, fuller existence by paying attention to ourselves, to others and to larger contexts, like our planet and the future.

Drawing from a well of countless real-life examples, Focus provides many ways for the reader to enhance their level of attention, including practicing mindfulness, positive thinking and engaging in focused preparation.

In these blinks you’ll learn why letting your mind wander can lead you to great insights but also hinder you in accomplishing your goals.

You’ll find out why the best quality for a leader is not the ability to keep their eyes on the prize, but actually self-awareness or empathy.

You’ll discover how to train your willpower like a muscle and how if you do something you love, seeing it through to completion requires much less effort.

Finally, you’ll learn why when you’re stressed and can’t think straight, having a positive attitude will make a massive difference.

Attention is the key to high performance in a world of endless distractions.

Whenever you don’t check your email or phone for a while, do you find yourself fighting a remarkably strong urge to drop whatever you’re doing and take a peek? And if you do give in to the urge, do you feel somehow unsatisfied if there are no new messages waiting for you?

We live in distracting times. The constant urge to respond to the overwhelming amount of information and stimuli in our environment leads us to a state of continuous partial attention in which we leap carelessly from one thing to another, from our phones to our email to Facebook and in doing so weaken our ability to select what we pay attention to.

Life “on automatic” diminishes our experience of the present moment.

Having the ability to focus is obviously an advantage, both in life and work, as it enables us to get into a flow state and perform better. But choosing to pay attention to one thing rather than another involves a push-pull process between the bottom-up and top-down minds.

The bottom-up mind, responsible for our automatic and routine mental activity, is very fast, driven by our emotions, and impulsive. In contrast, the top-down mind, in charge of planning, reflection and learning new skills, is slower and requires voluntary attention and self-control.

All types of attention are valuable; open awareness is vital for creative breakthroughs.

It might not always be valuable to have a narrow focus or a goal-oriented type of attention. Sometimes it can be more effective to maintain an open awareness or mind-wandering. Rather than wandering away from what counts, we may well be wandering toward something valuable.

This is because allowing our minds to wander provides fertile ground for serendipitous insights.

Focus on improving your willpower – it’s one of the key factors in achieving “inner focus.”

Accomplishing goals requires strong focus, motivation and determination – all qualities that constitute strong willpower. And the more challenging the goal, the more willpower we require.

Our willpower plays a crucial role in determining the course of our lives. For example, it’s more probable that children who display a high level of willpower will become successful in their futures, compared to those who don’t show such self-control.

Focus on building your empathy – it will help you navigate within any social context.

In order to have fulfilling interactions with others, we need to be empathetic, and empathy takes two main forms: cognitive empathy and emotional empathy.

Cognitive empathy is the kind that enables us to see the world through the eyes of others. It can help us to comprehend other people’s mental states and the ways in which they understand the world.

Outer focus – pay attention to the larger context and manage your impact.

People tend to focus on what’s happening in their immediate environment and to plan only for the near future. The problem with this approach is that they neglect to deal with distant threats which might have a significant impact in the long run.

Yet this is part of our nature: distant threats simply don’t trigger the same sense of fear as more immediate ones like not being able to pay your rent, or getting into a heated argument with a loved one.

Great leadership hinges on effectively capturing and directing the attention of a collective.

When it comes to leading a successful organization, focus is crucial. The ability to move an organization’s focus to the right place at the right time depends on the leader’s level of self-awareness.

While a high IQ score may land you the job, it’s not enough to make you an outstanding leader. Unless leaders have self-awareness, it’s unlikely they will make an inspiring leader.

Inspiring leaders look beyond their own comfort and are motivated to help other people to become successful.

Rather than being overly focused on the “prize” and remaining ignorant of the impact they have on the people around them, inspiring leaders strive to empower others and contribute to their community.

Of course, companies require their leaders to produce great results. But rather than simply instructing others to perform certain tasks, a good leader focuses on identifying and developing other people’s potential.

Successful leaders are aware of the larger context in which they operate.

Successful leaders lead with a focus on the future. To do this requires exploring the broader context in which their organization operates, as this enables them to identify opportunities for growth in the market.

For example, Steve Jobs took the brave step of reorganizing Apple’s portfolio: rather than concentrating their efforts on many different products, Jobs decided that Apple should focus on just four computers – a desktop and a laptop, each for two markets: consumer and professional.

Meditation will help you focus on one thing and keep track of your attention span.

Attention is not an innate gift that you do or do not have. Rather, it’s a kind of mental muscle – one that you can strengthen and grow by exercise.

One way to do this is to learn to be aware of when your mind starts to wander and correct this by refocusing your attention on a given target.

Think happy thoughts: positive thinking is vital for sustaining motivation and achieving goals.

Have you ever noticed that when you feel positive even the most difficult tasks seem much easier?

Why is this?

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What is Focus about?

Focus (2013) is a guidebook for nurturing today’s scarcest resource: attention. Using cutting-edge research, the book reveals that sharpening our focus in a world of endless distractions is the key to professional success and personal fulfillment. What makes Goleman’s contribution special is that the book expands the definition of “focus” beyond mere concentration and calls for a mindful life in which attention is paid to the self, to others and to the planet.

Who should read Focus?

Workers and students who wish to improve their focus and productivity
Anyone who wants to learn the secret of living a focused, mindful life
Leaders who want to channel their vision effectively and improve their relationships with employees

About the Author

Daniel Goleman is a psychologist and a former science journalist for the New York Times and the author of 13 books, including the bestseller Emotional Intelligence. He also lectures frequently for professionals and student groups.

Categories with Focus

Mindfulness & Happiness Management & Leadership Personal Development

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