Dandapāni was a monk for 10 years. When his vows expired, he left the monastery life and is currently living in New York – one of the most crowded places on Earth. He is currently an entrepreneur, a Saivite Hindu priest, and a motivational speaker on the topic of mental focus.
He has worked with some of the world’s top athletes and multiple entrepreneurs by teaching them the ways on how they can leverage their minds into being the best at what they do. In this article, we will discuss the lessons Dandapani has taught in his interviews and how you can apply them in your daily life.
So if you want to learn to focus your mind to achieve your goals, do your best to read until the end without distractions or letting your awareness drift away.
1. You cannot focus when you want to without practicing awareness concentration
Your awareness is like a muscle. If it’s not accustomed to concentrating, it will face challenges in focusing on a single task. It’s the main reason why from time to time you catch yourself asking, “What was I doing again?”
2. It’s harder to focus later on in life if you weren’t taught so while young
You might’ve been scolded as a child by someone who asked you to do something. They’ve probably said, “Can you just focus for a second?!” But you weren’t taught what it means to focus and you probably still have no idea up till now. Don’t worry, you can still improve yourself.
3. Technologies aren’t instruments of distraction – you just lack discipline
We say all the time that our gadgets ruin our lives because they take so much of our time. Dandapani disagrees. He said, “What’s ruining your life is your inability to exercise discipline around the use of technology.”
4. To focus, you must first define concentration
Dandapani defines concentration as the ability to keep one’s awareness on one thing for an extended period of time. For example, if you were able to eat your dinner without thinking or doing anything else except stuffing yourself and drinking, then for that entire duration, you were concentrating.
5. Willpower is the key to practice concentration
The opposite of concentration is distraction and we’re so susceptible to it. How many times have you found yourself searching for restaurants to eat your lunch at or doing anything else while you’re working in your office? And how many times did your awareness drift away to the point you forgot that there was work to be done?
If your answer is “countless times”, I’m going to say you have a weak willpower. But you’re wondering why is willpower important here? Your willpower is your strength of bringing your awareness from distractions back to your most important task at hand.
It’s normal to be distracted. It’s neither bad nor wrong. What really matters is your ability to immediately be aware that you’re distracted and pull that awareness back.
6. Your mind doesn’t move, your awareness does
Speaking of awareness, you should understand it’s not synonymous with your mind. Dandapani describes the mind as a room with different areas and your awareness is like a ball of light. Each time you think of something, that ball of light moves from one area to another.
So instead of saying you have a monkey mind, say that you have a monkey awareness and shoot that monkey with a tranquilizer to calm it down. To do so, take a deep breath when you feel distracted.
7. Start by doing one thing at a time
The last and most important piece of advice that Dandapani gives to improve your concentration and focus is to do one thing at a time. Don’t stop until one task is done. Don’t move into another task unless your first one is done. If you get distracted, bring your awareness back to the first task to get it done. Don’t multitask because it’s a lie. Just get one thing done at a time.
Getting ready for work? Cook your breakfast. Eat it. Drink your morning beverage. Wash the dishes. Prepare what you’ll wear for the day. Take a shower. Do your morning skincare routine. Brush your teeth. Wear your clothes. Do everything one at a time. It will be hard at first, but once you get accustomed to this kind of routine, your mental process starts to adapt into being more focused.
To know more about Dandapani, visit his website at dandapani.org. If you’re looking to learn more from his lessons on mental focus, I suggest watching interviews of him on YouTube. You can start with this video.
Cover image source: dandapani
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