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People, one of the most powerful things in the history of mankind
is the attention of a human being.
The greatest scientific discoveries of all time,
the greatest inventions of all time have come into existence
because someone, somewhere
managed to pay a little bit more importance to the intricacies of the world
that the world considered to be insignificant.
The reason why standup comedians are able to give us such a wonderful time
is because they manage to pay attention to those little intricacies of our life
that we never really pay attention to.
And most importantly, the reason you are able to listen to me right now
is because while the world was busy in its hustle and bustle
one man was paying very close attention to this world
and decided to challenge the status quo to think different
and to change the world forever.
So the question lies, while on one side there are these people
who have managed to master this art of attention
on the other side there are people like you and me
who cannot even read a book for an hour
without actually getting distracted.
The question is- How do we exactly master this art of attention?
Now, people, I am no genius in this. I am no expert in this
but I began to read a little bit about attention
and about a week ago I read this article which completely changed my perspective
about distraction, in the first place.
This article was written by a monk and the first line said
"Distraction is like a parasite to the mind
if you don't kill your distraction, distraction will kill your dreams."
If you look at an apple tree guys,
an apple tree takes about 6 years to actually start giving you fruits
and when it starts giving you fruits
it's got lush green leaves, beautiful fruits and a very very strong trunk.
But soon enough, as the weather keeps changing
there are a few parasites which begin to pop up on the trunk of the apple tree
and sometimes in the branches of the apple tree.
Now, if you look at the size of the parasite, it look very insignificant
but if you don't kill that parasite, soon enough
the entire tree is going to rot
because the parasite is going to suck all of its nutrients.
Distraction to our mind is just like the parasite to a healthy apple tree.
With all this humungous potential in our mind
if we let the parasite of distraction grow into our mind
we will never be able to utilise our mind to its full potential, eventually
it is going to end up killing, not us but our dreams.
And if you only understand the depth of this story very well
you will begin to take distraction very very seriously.
So, I'm just gonna give you a few takeaways by which I just hope
that you will be able to pay much more attention to what you're doing right now.
and what is important, without actually getting distracted, eventually
utilising the potential of your mind a little bit more.
So, here's a thing that you are supposed to know.
People, every time you pick up something to work on
and every time you are reading a book
you need to understand that your brain is forming possibly a million, a billion neurological connections
eventually, to help you understand the information properly
to turn that information into knowledge
and to turn that knowledge into wisdom so that
it can help you enhance your life.
And when this process is actually happening, your brain is exercising a superpower
that no other species possesses.
Eventually, taking up a lot of energy
to process every bit of the information that your are producing.
But you know what?
because this is never really told to us, we take is for granted.
And that's the reason why the superpower that you have been practicing
never really gets utilised to its fullest
eventually, to never get utilised at all
because we never focus.
So the question is- What exactly is the root cause of this problem
and how exactly are we supposed to tackle it?
The first thing that I want you to know is
actually understand how does the technology around you work in the first place.
People, companies spend a billion dollars to make sure that
they make Instagram a part of your lifestyle.
It's not a coincidence that you open Instagram every time you're bored.
It's not a coincidence that when you are in a restaurant and everybody is talking
when you feel out of the conversation, you open up Instagram.
It's not a coincidence but a strategic move
which has been planned by some of the best behavioural scientists in the world.
And it's not a bad thing because that's how business is done
but it becomes a bad thing once it begins to intrude into your life so much
that it becomes a hurdle for your progress.
And the one who is supposed to act on it is not Instagram but you.
So, here's a very simple 3 step procedure
by which I have been able to focus on my work and I just hope
it helps you focus on your work too.
The first thing that you're supposed to do is segregate all the applications in your phone into 3 categories.
The first category, you can call it 'Important'.
The second category is 'Not so Important'
and the third category is 'Not at all Important'.
Now, in my 'Not at all important' category, I have Zomato, Swiggy, Amazon, Flipkart.
And the first thing that you're supposed to do after you find out all of these not at all important applications
is to turn of their notifications.
Now, the question is- What happens with Zomato?
Zomato is not like Instagram then why should you switch off the notification?
Well, you have to switch off the notification because
When you are working on something very very important
you will get a Zomato notification, you will open up the Zomato application
and then you will understand that your friend just called you
and told you that Dhoni just retired
"OH MY GOD, DHONI JUST RETIRED!"
so you begin to see Instagram posts about Dhoni
and then you begin to see YouTube videos on 3 best Dhoni moments, eventually
to enter into a Sushant Singh Rajput video
because Dhoni is related to Sushant Singh Rajput
and god knows within 5 minutes you're watching this.
[Arnab Goswami chattering]
And that's the reason why you have to turn off the notifications
of Zomato and all other applications
which will give you an excuse to pick up your phone.
The second category is 'Not so important' and here's where
you have to turn off the notifications of all the groups that you have on WhatsApp
wherein you have 'good morning' and 'good evening' messages. Why?
Because the 'Good morning' and 'Good evening' messages are not dangerous.
They just give you an excuse to pick up the phone
and soon enough you'll get a message from your friend
[THE CYCLE REPEATS]
[ARNAB GOSWAMI CHATTERING AGAIN]
And that's the reason why you're supposed to turn off the notifications
for all the insignificant groups that you are a part of.
Now, people, I want to leave this completely upto you and your maturity to decide
which of those applications and which of the notifications in those applications
are a priority in your life; because everybody has different priorities.
This is the first step to actually increasing your focus
and decreasing your distraction to help you put in much more work
and to utilise the potential of your mind.
And every time you feel the reluctance to turn off the notifications in your phone
always tell yourself one thing
"If you don't kill distraction, distraction will kill your dreams."
And I'm 100% sure that you will have more persistence
to turn off the notifications to improvise your life.
And this is what reminds me of what Ray Kroc once said
when he was asked what exactly was his secret
to building a $700 million food chain empire
at the age of 52.
And he responded by saying one word "Persistence"
"Nothing in this world can take place of good old persistence.
Talent won't because nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius won't because unrecognized genius is practically a cliché.
And lastly, education won't because the world is full of educated fools.
Persistence and determination alone are all powerful."
And at the end of the day, people, the question is all about one thing.
Do you have the persistence to kill your distraction or are you going to let it kill your dreams?
