Training Focus With Exercise
Human beings ability to survive through our history depended on being able to focus on what’s important and what’s moving. This skill hasn’t changed, it’s just moved online or into different forms.
Can focus be trained or improved, or is it something we are born with? When it comes to focus strengthening, I encourage you to think of your mind as a muscle. The parallels between strengthening your body and strengthening your mind are so close.
It’s hard to break out of the mental habit being distracted, letting the monkey mind jump from one shiny thing to the next.
So how do you train your mind to stay more focused? It’s possible to get better at focusing, but I don’t recommend expecting to be focused anywhere close to 100 percent of the time. Not even 80 percent, and perhaps not 50 percent. Just more than now, which is more than enough to see big differences in effectiveness in your day.
When I work with a client I use coaching techniques to help improve focus that I share below. But before you can even begin with the exercises you have to begin with the WHY. Why should you care about this? It’s best to give this a moment’s thought before diving into the exercises below, because when things get uncomfortable, you have to know your Why. Otherwise, you’ll give up when it starts to get hard or frustrating.
Here are some effective and easy ways for you to improve your focus:
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Putting your phone in airplane mode during your workouts will ensure you have no phone call or text interruptions.
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Listen to music, podcasts or audiobooks during your workouts.
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Strengthen your willpower because focus and willpower are intimately connected.
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Meditating 10 minutes daily has been shown to have benefits on focus.
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Practice mindfulness throughout the day.
Yours in Health & Fitness,
Steve Jordan
