Focus Summary

By Daniel Goleman

In today's world, attention might just be the new form of human capital.

Focus is an essential text and a manual for learning how to increase

awareness and attention span. Using a range of case studies, Daniel
Goleman offers practical advice on adopting a positive mental attitude,
training willpower, and ultimately leading more focussed and productive
lives, for the good of ourselves and the planet.

As you read, or listen to this summary, your mind will probably wander 20-
40% of the time, and this "zoning-out" will affect what you remember.
We'll check this at the end. The point here is that our attention is a scarce
resource, and that all of us could benefit from increased focus.

Author Daniel Goleman is a renowned lecturer, and former science

journalist. In Focus, he explains how we're continually fighting internal and
external distractions, that make it difficult to concentrate on the tasks at
hand.

The Nobel-winning economist, Herbert Simon, predicted this in 1997,

when he warned that living in the information age, creates a poverty of
attention. Not only do we struggle with constant internal and sensory
distractions, but we also have to cope with the continuous stream of
technology, which leaves us little to no time to reflect. This often makes it
difficult to focus, especially when we need to complete tasks such as,
reading for meaning, thinking deeply, or communicating carefully. As
Goleman says, we can often "hopscotch" or "multi-task," which
negatively affects our well-being, and our capacity to excel in whatever
we do.

In this brief summary, Goleman makes a strong case for the need to
focus, and build up our attention spans. And, it's not just about self-
improvement; it's also about paying attention, and shifting focus towards
the bigger picture, such as the sustainability of our planet, our own
futures, and the futures of younger generations. Hence, he argues that
it's not only about individual focus; it's also about entrenching the need
for a collective focus. By explaining the neurobiology of different types of
attention, how self-awareness underpins our ability to focus, and what
we can do to strengthen our awareness at any stage of life, we're given
guidelines to help us be more disciplined.

Attention isn't a Straightforward Concept

We're continually told to "pay attention," and this is because our minds
tend to wander throughout the day. The point is that our minds are
continuously moving between selective attention, and open awareness.

When we start a project, we're often advised to start broad, and then
narrow our focus. This same logic applies to our attention and
awareness. Open awareness is peripheral and panoramic, and it allows
different stimuli to move through our consciousness, whereas selective
attention, allows us to bring focus to a specific stimulus. The ability to
consciously select an object of focus, and our ability to sustain this
attention, is ultimately what helps us to learn.

When we're distracted, there's a lot of mental chatter, about all sorts of
things unrelated to what we're doing. This makes it very difficult to retain
information. Unfortunately, this sharp focus isn't like a stretchable
balloon, it's more of a narrow pipe, which means that we can't just switch
attention on a whim, or sustain our focus indefinitely.

On the other hand, open and spontaneous awareness is very different,

but just as important. This panoramic awareness pulls us away from
sharp focus, but can open us up to broad thinking. The open awareness
of a drifting mind, makes us receptive to different insights,
breakthroughs, and novel solutions. This mode of thinking creates the
ideal platform, to then decide where to apply our focused attention. We
often think that this is just mind-wandering, but it can pull us towards
something that we're trying to work out. It helps us to solve problems and
to be creative. If you're always trying to hold onto cognitive control, you
may have trouble switching easily to mind-wandering creativity. This
could hinder self-reflection, social navigation, new ideas, and planning
future scenarios. The systems involved in mind-wandering, are
particularly active just before a creative insight. Interestingly, adults with
attention deficit disorder (ADHD) are particularly good at this kind of
creative thinking. They exhibit very high levels of original creative
thought, and are generally more successful at creative achievements
than those without ADHD. They do well despite their zoning out, or
maybe, because of it.

Open mode attention, also helps our interior focus. We notice our
feelings, sensations, and memories, with a panoramic awareness that we
do not have when focusing on the shopping list. So the process is to be
open to possibility, and then apply a conscious focus to decide which
insights to use, and then to deliberately move from open awareness, to
narrow focus.
Mind-Wandering Should be an Active Choice

Mind-wandering isn't always a bad thing, but it should never be an

unnoticed default position. The ideal is to find a balance between the
two, and deliberately shift to open awareness, rather than being pulled
off task by distractions that cause mind-wandering.

Our minds wander most frequently when we're at work, on the computer,
or commuting. These thoughts are generally skewed towards the
unpleasant, which tends to make us unhappy, stressed, and anxious.
Therefore, we need free time in order to sustain an open awareness, or
what Goleman refers to as, "a creative cocoon." All of us should find a
space, or allocate time to embed ourselves in a creative cocoon where
we can have protected time to think creatively.

As with all things, our capacity for focused attention, does have its limits,
and we often get fatigued. Stephen Kaplan's work on attention
restoration theory, suggests that we take relaxing breaks in restful
surroundings in order to rejuvenate our minds, in order to focus again.
However, it's important to note that not all activities help with fatigue,
and things such as surfing the Internet, playing video games, or
answering emails, are not conducive to recharging the mind. We need to
focus on activities and pursuits that engage with our senses, such as
meditation, where the internal chatter is at its lowest.

Find a Balance

Part of the secret is to find balance, but our neural wiring can make this
difficult. For example, Albert Einstein said that 'The intuitive mind is a
sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a
society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.'

To understand the neurology behind the two types of attention, let's

think about it as cognitive scientists do, i.e., in terms of "bottom-up" and
"top-down" focus.

A full focus leads to being fully engaged, without being aware of what's
happening around us, and this is also known as "flow." When we're not
fully focused, we're often disengaged and lack motivation and purpose.
Being disengaged can also cause us to feel extremely frazzled, with an
overloaded nervous system. The secret to maintaining full focus, is to
manage the great neural divide. This helps you enter a state of flow.

We all have two minds at work, the "bottom-up," and, the "top-down."
The bottom-up neural machinery of the lower-brain is intuitive and
impulse-driven. It's also non-stop operational, and the master of our
habits and preconceived ideas. On the other hand, the top-down, or
neocortex, is the master of self-control, takes on planning and new
behaviors, and manages the bottom-up impulses.
The problem with finding a balance, is that it takes effort and practice. It
takes effort, because the more impulsive bottom-up brain likes to take
control. From a scientific point of view, the circuitry of the bottom-up
functions of the brain, reacts far quicker than the prefrontal cortex. The
prefrontal cortex, i.e. the top-down mind, is geared towards safety,
nutrition, and procreation. Hence, we're most prone to impulsive behavior
when we're distracted, or when too much information is overwhelmingus.
And, in a technological world, with so many distractions creatingcognitive
overload, our self-control wears down, which is why we tend toreact
rather than to reflect, or mindlessly reach for chocolate.

When we're bombarded by sensory and emotional overload, parts of our

brain trigger neural hijacks. Messages are sent to both the right and left
sides of the brain, and we have to wait for the left side to calm the right
side down. Goleman says that resilient people, can have as much as 30
times more activation in the left prefrontal cortex area, than those who
are less resilient. The good news is, that all of us can build the strength of
the neural circuitry responsible for focus. In fact, research indicates that
paying deliberate attention to our own attention spans, is essential for
excellence.

Focus, Trumps IQ

Did you know that our ability to focus, is a better predictor of success
than our IQ?

From the age of about three years, a toddler begins to develop what's
known as executive attention. Executive attention is the ability to focus
deliberately, to ignore distractions, and to halt impulses. This form of
cognitive control, is crucial for self-management, and it forms the core of
willpower, which is the essence of self-regulation. Success is determined
by how we manage our lives, and the interesting thing is that this is
visible from early childhood.

The Dunedin study, carried out in New Zealand, revealed that our
willpower is our destiny. It's probably the most significant study on the
contributing factors to success. Over a year-long study, just over a
thousand children were studied intensively during early childhood. Then,
over two decades later, the research subjects were tracked down, and
only 4% of the original sample were not reassessed. The subjects were
then studied in terms of their overall health, wealth, and any criminal
records. This data was then linked to the batteries of tests carried out in
the earlier childhood study. The findings were fascinating, and showed
that those with higher self-control in early childhood, were a lot healthier,
achieved greater financial success, and were law-abiding citizens. It was
also revealed that self-control is just as important as social class, the
wealth of family of origin, and even IQ when it comes to later financial
success and good health. Other studies have supported this, indicating
that high self-control means better grades, positive emotional
adjustment, good social skills, and adaptability. So, although we think
that IQ is a key factor in success, focus is actually a much better
predictor of overall intelligence and aptitude.

The bottom line is, that we need to work hard to increase children's self-
control levels because this is a key factor in determining their future
success. Instant gratification is everywhere we look, but let's take a
lesson from none other than the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. As his
name suggests, the Cookie Monster is obsessed with cookies, but even
he tries out new strategies for holding out on his favorite treat. For
example, he may try to distract his mind from the temptation in front of
him, or he may opt for delayed gratification because he realizes there are
better cookies around the corner.

These are important lessons, not only for children, but for all of us, and
they've resulted in a growing industry. Brain training games, especially
online activities, show promise in teaching us to focus. Some Silicon
Valley tech experts are also developing what's known as "calming tech,"
which can bring more balance to the online world. Calming technology
includes apps with the aim of helping children to build their focusing
skills. Meditation techniques for children are also growing in popularity,
as are apps like Tenacity, which boost the capacity to focus.

Goleman says that being able to stop on cue, is the holy grail of cognitive
control, and he offers some excellent methods to shift from bottom-up,
to top-down responses.

Exercise Your Attention Muscle

Developing the attention muscle of adults is also crucial, particularly

when it comes to leadership.

Interestingly, our different types of focus form a trio. First, there's inner
focus, which helps us guide our intuition, values, and decisions. Then
there's other focus, which allows us to form good connections to those
around us. Finally, there's what's known as outer focus, which allows us
to manage complex systems in the external world. You need to think of
this trio as an equilateral triangle, because deficits in any of these, can
leave us either rudderless, clueless, or blindsided.

Some experts describe today's business leaders as, being under siege.
This is because success in any leadership position depends heavily on
these three areas of focus, and how leaders understand and balance the
focus trio. Balancing the trio means prioritizing reflective time, and being
mindful of what we need, i.e. focussing on our inner selves. Having a
strong focus on others, by way of other focus, helps us to form good
connections to those around us. Focusing on others also develops
empathy.

Empathy also comes in three forms. Cognitive empathy is our capability

to understand other people's viewpoints, emotional empathy is our ability
to respond physically and emotionally to how someone is feeling, and
empathic concern, is whether or not we're motivated to take action to
help people. The final aspect of the trio is outer focus. This is important
because it involves being mindful of long-term outcomes, as well as
taking into account the long-term consequences of our actions. In an
increasingly globalized world, this is absolutely vital because we need to
shift focus, and be aware of global systems that influence our planet's
very survival.

Shifting focus isn't always easy, because it takes us out of our comfort
zones. Do you remember the days of BBM, and sending BBM pins to your
friends and family? Whatever happened to BlackBerry? Blackberry is a
company that didn't focus on the magic trio, and who didn't manage to
transition out of their comfort zone. Apple, on the other hand, has a
history of weathering storms and adapting to market changes. The basic
fact is that companies have to pick up on approaching changes, and not
to squander time before adapting to a world that has already changed.
These acts of attention, take what scientists call, cognitive effort.

This book shows us, that there's a strong case to be made for leaders to
have the full range of inner, other, and outer focus in order to excel.
Furthermore, if any one of the focus areas is weak, this will throw
everything off balance. The key is to balance the trio, and to use each
type of focus at the right time, in the right way.

In Conclusion

When you ask yourself, 'What's holding you back?' it's likely that it's your
attention span and the fact that you're distracted. Many of us
procrastinate, or try to multitask, and it's killing our productivity and our
passion for work. We're often unhappy, simply because we lack a positive
attitude towards our work, and our daily lives. And this lack of work ethic,
and feeling of being constantly distracted and disinterested, makes us
stressed and anxious.

The power of this book, is that it shows us how to retrain ourselves to

reach high levels of focus. In doing so, we might find ourselves rekindling
the passion that we have towards our work, projects, life, self, and other
people. What's more, it attempts to encourage us to shift our focus, so
that we can start considering global systems, and consider the long term
needs of everyone around us, including the powerless and the poor, as
well as our own peers.

And we haven't forgotten the mind-wandering check. Let's see if you can
answer these questions?

What's the name of the character in Sesame Street who battles with self-
control?

What three areas of focus make up the trio needed to lead effectively?

What was the name of the significant study that assessed the importance
of self-control in children?

Where was this famous study conducted?

The key message is that it's time we all stop measuring IQ, and start
measuring levels of focus.