Focus - Attention - Self Discipline - Self Control - Will Power

Being able to stay focused on something is an extremely valuable skill. Focusing helps us to become more proficient at sports, games, musical instruments, as well as become better at controlling our addictions and our behaviors. Being able to focus also helps us become more proficient when listening, reading, learning and working. Understanding the skills and the components of concentration are extremely important. There are many benefits that come from the ability to focus our attention on things that are important.



Attention is focusing on one thing or one person without being distracted with other thoughts or other actions. There are several variations of focusing. You can have broad concentration or narrow concentration, internal focus or external focus. You can adjust the Intensity to be relaxed or strong. You can adjust the duration to be short or long. Controlling the wandering mind takes practice. Choose the right location and learn how to tune out distractions. Focus and Self-control is also about thinking clearly and not being distracted from your morality. Attention is the behavioral and cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a discrete aspect of information, whether deemed subjective or objective, while ignoring other perceivable information. Filtering in order to complete a goal. It is the taking possession by the mind in clear and vivid form of one out of what seem several simultaneous objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration of consciousness are of its essence. Attention has also been referred to as the allocation of limited processing resources. Single-Tasking instead of multitasking.

Attention Skills: Knowing when to focus on small details and when to focus on the bigger picture. Knowing how to filter out unimportant sights, sounds or information. Paying attention without getting distracted. Holding a train of thought when interrupted. Following through on a task without needing to hear directions several times. Concentrate on one activity at a time. Follow spoken directions. Process information quickly. Keep up in conversation. Attentive.

Spacing Out - Attention Problems - Hypnosis.

Listening - Interested - Willpower - Vigilance - Commitment - Awareness.

Composure is having steadiness of mind under stress and being calm and in control of oneself.

Serene is not being agitated and without losing self-possession. Completely clear and fine. Serenity.

Level-Headed is to be calm and sensible and able to stay reasonable and rationale during times of stress or conflict. Stays balanced and composed even in difficult situations. Not overly reactive. Confident.

Placid is when you're not easily irritated and you're good-tempered and tranquil and not agitated to a point where you lose self-control. Placid also means a body of water that is free from disturbance by heavy waves.

Equanimity is having mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation. Equanimity is a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind.

Mental Toughness comes from learning and acquiring the most valuable knowledge and information that the world has to offer so that you can overcome almost every obstacle in life. Resilience - Patience.

Exercising self-control, will power and constraint should feel good, and you should feel grateful that you have this power. You should not feel guilty or shameful when you lose your control at certain moments. It usually means that you let your guard down in some way. But as long as that you are aware of these lapses and can list the reasons why you did not exercise your self-control at that time, then eventually you will learn the mechanisms of self-control and you will also be aware of your vulnerabilities. You will feel thrilled and happy about yourself when you enforce your self-control. It's a beautiful feeling.

Serious is being concerned with important matters rather than play or trivialities. Requiring effort and concentration in order to understand complex and not easy to answer problems that can be of great consequence if not taken seriously.

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize is to remain focused on achieving a positive end result, without being distracted by problems or setbacks.

Deter is to prevent and show opposition to something harmful. To turn away from being manipulated. Delay.

Forgo is to do without something or cease to hold or adhere to something. To lose something or lose the right to something.

Time Management (prioritizing)

Attention Management refers to models and tools for supporting the management of attention at the individual or at the collective level (cf. attention economy), and at the short-term (quasi real time) or at a longer term (over periods of weeks or months). Distractions diminish people's ability to remember. Divided attention does impair memory, but people can still selectively focus on what is most important, even while they're multitasking.

Focus - Flow

Focus is the concentration of attention or energy on something. Direct one's attention on something. Bring into focus or alignment; to converge or cause to converge; of ideas or emotions. Maximum clarity or distinctness of an idea. Special emphasis attached to something. Cause to converge on or toward a central point. A point of convergence of light (or other radiation) or a point from which it diverges. A fixed reference point on the concave side of a conic section. Maximum clarity or distinctness of an image rendered by an optical system. Put an image into focus.

Hyperfocus is an intense form of mental concentration or visualization that focuses consciousness on a subject, topic, or task. In some individuals, various subjects or topics may also include daydreams, concepts, fiction, the imagination, and other objects of the mind. Hyperfocus on a certain subject can cause side-tracking away from assigned or important tasks. Hyperfocus may bear a relationship to the concept of flow. In some circumstances both flow and hyperfocus can be an aid to achievement, but in other circumstance or situations, the same focus and behavior could be a liability, distracting from the task at hand. However, unlike hyperfocus, "flow" is often described in more glowing terms, suggesting they are not two sides of the same condition under contrasting circumstance or intellect.

Concentrate is to focus one's attention or mental effort on a particular object or activity. To direct one's attention on something. Make central. Make more concise. Concentrate also means to make something more denser, more compressed, stronger, or more purer or free from impurities or unwanted materials. Concentration is giving your complete attention to something with intense mental effort. Giving constant diligence and attention. Concentration can also mean to increase the strength of a solution or substance in a given volume. The spatial property of being crowded together or increased density.

Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. Peak Performance - Professional.

Engaged is having one's attention, mind or energy occupied by something important, sometimes consuming all of one's attention or time. To carry out or participate in an activity and be involved in something important. Engage for service under a term of contract.

Occupied is having one's attention, mind or energy kept busy with some activity or goal. Something that consumes all of one's attention or time. To be held, filled or in use. To reside in or to live in a certain place. Take up all the available space.

Preoccupied is being deeply absorbed in thought. Having or showing excessive or compulsive concern with something. Engage or engross the interest or attention of beforehand or occupy urgently or obsessively.

Intensive is being concentrated on a single area or subject or into a short time, being very thorough or vigorous.

Spellbound is having your attention fixated as though by a spell. To render motionless, as with a fixed stare or by arousing terror or awe. To maintain the complete attention of someone because you are fascinated.

Fixated is to pay attention to something exclusively and obsessively.

Self-Directed Learning - Learning Methods - Meditation

Keep your Eye on the Ball is to continue thinking about or giving attention to something important. To stay focused.

Open your eyes really wide for 10 seconds, it's a way to jump-start your curiosity.

Mushin is a mental state into which very highly trained martial artists are said to enter during combat. They also practice this mental state during everyday activities.

In the Midst means in the middle of doing something or what you're doing at the moment. Midst is the location of something surrounded by other things.

Busy is to be fully engaged or occupied with something. Actively doing something.

Dopamine primes the brain for enhanced vigilance. Neuroscientists discover a circuit that helps redirect attention to focus on potential threats. In this study, Tye identified two populations of neurons in the prefrontal cortex, based on other brain regions that they communicate with. One set of neurons sends information to the nucleus accumbens, which is involved in motivation and reward, and the other group relays information to the periaqueductal gray (PAG), which is part of the brainstem. The PAG is involved in defensive behavior such as freezing or running. When we perceive a potentially dangerous event, a brain region called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) sends dopamine to the prefrontal cortex, and Tye and her colleagues wanted determine how dopamine affects the two populations they had identified. To achieve that, they designed an experiment where rats were trained to recognize two visual cues, one associated with sugar water and one with a mild electrical shock. Then, they explored what happened when both cues were presented at the same time. Gaze Detection.

Research Identifies Changes in Neural Circuits Underlying Self-Control, Decision Making During Adolescent Brain Development. Study shows developing brain networks support cognition in youth. Researchers applied tools from network science to identify how anatomical connections in the brain develop to support neural activity underlying executive function. The human brain is organized into circuits that develop from childhood through adulthood to support executive function -- critical behaviors like self-control, decision making, and complex thought. These circuits are anchored by white matter pathways which coordinate the brain activity necessary for cognition. However, little research exists to explain how white matter matures to support activity that allows for improved executive function during adolescence -- a period of rapid brain development.

Will - Discipline - Self Control

Discipline is the ability to exercise control over irrelevant impulses and restraint from base desires. Discipline is when one uses reason to determine the best course of action regardless of one's desires.

Inhibited - Think for Yourself - Resilience - Self-Manage - Confidence - Executive Functions

Self Discipline is when a person can be motivated on their own without the help from other people or without having to be reminded about what is needed to do or reminded to do what is right. Virtuous behavior can be described as when one's values are aligned with one's aims or goals. To do what one knows is best and to do it gladly.

"Do you want the pain of discipline, or the pain of regret and disappointment?"

Will is the capability of a conscious choice with intention. A fixed and persistent intent or purpose. A decision determine by best choice.

Will Power is the trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior, determination or purpose. The power to control yourself and pull your own strings and to act deliberately. Will power is a skill that needs knowledge and practice, because the body can influence the mind. Will Power is that faculty of the mind which selects, at the moment of decision, the strongest desire from among the various desires present.

Free Will is the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate. The ability to act at one's own discretion. Free will is the ability to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.

Locus of Control is the degree to which people believe that they have control over the outcome of events in their lives, as opposed to external forces beyond their control and sometimes blames outside forces for everything. Rules to Obey.

Control is having the power to direct or determine. Having great skillfulness and knowledge of some subject or activity. The ability to determine the behavior or supervise the running of. Have a firm understanding or knowledge of; be on top of.

Self-Control is an aspect of inhibitory control, is the ability to control one's emotions and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses. As an executive function, self-control is a cognitive process that is necessary for regulating one's behavior in order to achieve goals. A related concept in psychology is emotional self-regulation. Self-control is like a muscle. In the short term, overuse of self-control will lead to depletion. However, in the long term, the use of self-control can strengthen and improve over time.

Self-Control is not about sacrificing pleasure, it's about understand what pleasure is and using pleasure effectively as a reward for good behavior and not using pleasure as a reward for bad behavior that wastes time and does more harm than good.

Self-Regulation is the ability to calm yourself down when you're upset and cheer yourself up when you're down. If, like most of us, you can stand to improve self-regulation skill, a good place to start is an understanding of the biology and function of emotions in general and specifically feelings.

Restrain is to keep under control or keep in check or keep your cool. To place limits on extent or access. Restrain is to be in control of impulses. To hold back and place limits on particular feelings that are intrusive or detrimental. Restraint is the act of controlling by restraining someone or something. The discipline in personal and social activities. A rule or condition that limits unchecked freedom.

Temperance is the trait of avoiding excesses. Abstaining from excess. Temperance is the practice of self-control, restraint, abstention, discretion, and moderation tempering the appetition. Moderation or voluntary self-restraint. It is typically described in terms of what an individual voluntarily refrains from doing. This includes restraint from retaliation in the form of non-violence and forgiveness, restraint from arrogance in the form of humility and modesty, restraint from excesses such as splurging now in the form of prudence, and restraint from excessive anger or craving for something in the form of calmness and self-control. Simplicity.

Rigour refers to a process of adhering absolutely to certain constraints, or the practice of maintaining strict consistency with certain predefined parameters. Hold back. Restrict.

Delay is to cause an activity or a decision to be slowed down or put off until a later time. To act later than planned, scheduled, or required.

Delayed Gratification is the ability to resist the temptation for an immediate reward and wait for a later reward. Generally, delayed gratification is associated with resisting a smaller but more immediate reward in order to receive a larger or more enduring reward later. Knowing how to control yourself for the benefit of your partner instead of just thinking of yourself. A growing body of literature has linked the ability to delay gratification to a host of other positive outcomes, including academic success, physical health, psychological health, and social competence. Investing.

Slow is moving at a low speed and not moving too quickly and taking a comparatively long time.

Temptation is to seduce, lure or entice someone away from duty, principles, or proper conduct. The desire to have or do something that you know you should avoid. The act of influencing by exciting hope or desire.

Prudence is the ability to recognize the appropriate course of action to be taken in a given situation at the appropriate time. Knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress. The ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason.

Discretion is the freedom to act or judge on one's own. The power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies. Knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress. The trait of judging wisely and objectively.

Determinism is the philosophical theory that all events, including moral choices, are completely determined by previously existing causes. Determinism is usually understood to preclude free will because it entails that humans cannot act otherwise than they do because they have not learned otherwise. The theory holds that the universe is utterly rational because complete knowledge of any given situation assures that unerring knowledge of its future is also possible. Some philosophers suggest variants around this basic definition. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have sprung from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and considerations. The opposite of determinism is some kind of indeterminism (otherwise called nondeterminism). Determinism is often contrasted with free will. Indeterminism is the idea that events or certain events, or events of certain types, are not caused, or not caused deterministically but random. Some things just happen for no reason? No reasons that you know of, that is. Determinism is the philosophical doctrine that all events transpire in virtue of some necessity and are therefore inevitable. Traditionally, the view relies on strict notions of causality, and most philosophical arguments in its favor have attempted at clear definitions of cause and effect as a basis for the belief that determinism is true.

Deterministic is relating to the philosophical doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes regarded as external to the will. Probability.

Praxeology is the deductive study of human action based on the notion that humans engage in purposeful behavior, as opposed to reflexive behavior like sneezing and inanimate behavior. According to its theorists, with the action axiom as the starting point, it is possible to draw conclusions about human behavior that are both objective and universal. For example, the notion that humans engage in acts of choice implies that they have preferences, and this must be true for anyone who exhibits intentional behavior.

Commitment Device is a means with which to lock yourself into a course of action that you might not otherwise choose but that produces a desired result". In other words, a commitment device is a "way to change one's own incentives to make an otherwise empty promise credible".

Dedicated is devoted to a cause or ideal or purpose. Solemnly dedicated to or set apart for a high purpose. Give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause.

Devoted is zealous enthusiasm or affection. Set aside or apart for a specific purpose or use.

Committed is bound or obligated, as under a pledge to a particular cause, action, or attitude. Responsibility.

Pledge is a Promise solemnly and formally. Oath - Goals.

Diligence is conscientiousness in paying proper attention to a task and giving the degree of care required in a given situation. Persevering determination to perform a task. A diligent effort.

Vigilance is the process of paying close and continuous attention. Vigilant attentiveness. Carefully observant or attentive and on the lookout for possible danger.

Don't Let Your Guard Down means not to get too lazy or be too relaxed or too complacent. Don't stop being careful or stop being alert and cautious about potential trouble or danger. Don't become less guarded and don't stop being safe.

Put your Mind to it is to decide that you are going to do something and to put a lot of effort into doing it. You can absolutely accomplish anything you want if you put your mind to it and work hard. If you really want something, then go for it. Just remember that there are no guarantees and that you will make a lot of mistakes along the way.

Intent is an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions.

Enkrateia is having power over oneself, self control.

Promise is a verbal commitment by one person to another agreeing to do or not to do something in the future.

Conducive is making a certain situation or outcome likely or possible. Coping (adapting).

Initiative is taking a series of necessary actions and to set in motion a particular goal. Readiness to embark on bold new ventures.

Get a Hold of Yourself is to get control of ones' thoughts and emotions and stop behaving in a foolish or uncontrolled way.

Stoicism is having an indifference to pleasure or pain.

Delayed Exchange Test is to see if  a person is willing to wait for a bigger reward by being able to control an impulse to take a quick reward that is less in value or size. Object Permanence.

Impulse Control (habits)

Patience is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on negative annoyance/anger; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can have before negativity. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast. Antonyms include hastiness and impetuousness. Tolerance.

Careful is being cautiously attentive and unhurried and acting with care and dignity. Showing careful forethought and being mindful of the future.

Consider is to perceive or think about something in a particular way; deem to be. Focus on as an example. Look at attentively. Give careful consideration to. Show consideration for; take into account. Think about carefully; weigh. Judge or regard; look upon. Analyze carefully; study to find a solution. Regard or treat with consideration, respect, and esteem.

Motivation - Addictions - Agency - Human Power - Potential Energy

Steel Will or Will Power should never be confused with Blind Faith.

Freewill - Rush (youtube) - There are those who think that life, Has nothing left to chance, A host of holy horrors, To direct our aimless dance, A planet of playthings, We dance on the strings, Of powers we cannot perceive, The stars aren't aligned, Or the gods are malign, Blame is better to give than receive, You can choose a ready guide, In some celestial voice, If you choose not to decide, You still have made a choice, You can choose from phantom fears, And kindness that can kill, I will choose a path that's clear, I will choose free will, There are those who think that, They've been dealt a losing hand, The cards were stacked against them, They weren't born in Lotus-Land, All preordained, A prisoner in chains, A victim of venomous fate, Kicked in the face, You can't pray for a place, In heaven's unearthly estate, You can choose a ready guide, In some celestial voice, If you choose not to decide, You still have made a choice, You can choose from phantom fears, And kindness that can kill, I will choose a path that's clear, I will choose free will, Each of us, A cell of awareness, Imperfect and incomplete, Genetic blends, With uncertain ends, On a fortune hunt, That's far too fleet, You can choose a ready guide, In some celestial voice, If you choose not to decide, You still have made a choice, You can choose from phantom fears, And kindness that can kill, I will choose a path that's clear, I will choose free will.

Attention Span - Loss of Focus - Distracted - Tuning Out - Spaced Out

Attention Span is the amount of concentrated time one can spend on a task without becoming distracted. Most educators such as psychologists agree that the ability to focus attention on a task is crucial for the achievement of one's goals.

Memory Span - Filtering - Alarm Fatigue - Spatial Intelligence - Preoccupied

The Average Human Attention Span is around 4 Minutes, and advertisers and governments know this. Sometimes people can only focus for a small amount of time before they space out or become confused or distracted.

Inattentive is showing a lack of care or attention or just not listening.

In One Ear and Out the Other is a term that means that a person was not listening or paying attention to what was said, information seems to enter one ear and then exit the other ear without the information being processed. Sometimes the person is ignoring or dismissing or disregarding what was said, so what ever is said, will be forgotten almost immediately after being heard. You can't hear what you refuse to understand, and you can't understand what you can't hear.

Talking to the Wall means that someone does not listen to you or react to you when you talk. No matter how hard you try to explain to someone, they refuse to understand even a little of what you're trying to say. It's like you're talking to the wall because no one else is there except for you. The wall of ignorance is like talking to a brick wall.

Off Track is defined as someone or something who is not moving forward properly or who is not going in the right direction or has gone off topic or is no longer on the subject being discussed.

Digress is to lose clarity or turn aside especially from the main subject of attention or course of argument in writing, thinking, or speaking. Change the Subject is to begin talking about something different, especially to avoid embarrassment or the divulgence of confidences.

Distracted is being unable to concentrate because one's mind is preoccupied. Having the attention diverted by known reasons or unknown reasons. Complex Span Test involves remembering the location of an item despite Distractions.

Interruption Science is the interdisciplinary scientific study concerned with how interruptions affect human performance, and the development interventions to lessen the disruption caused by interruptions. Interruption science is branch of human factors psychology and emerged from human–computer interaction and cognitive psychology.

Inattentive kids show worse grades later in life. Teaching children how to focus and how to sustain focus is extremely important to learning, just as long as students are learning the right things at the right time.

Change Blindness is a perceptual phenomenon that occurs when a change in a visual stimulus is introduced and the observer does not notice it. Denial or lack of Knowledge? Change Blindness Test (youtube).

Inattentional Blindness is a psychological lack of attention that is not associated with any vision defects or deficits. It may be further defined as the event in which an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight. When it simply becomes impossible for one to attend to all the stimuli in a given situation, a temporary blindness effect can take place as a result; that is, individuals fail to see objects or stimuli that are unexpected and quite often salient or most noticeable or important and having the quality that thrusts itself into attention. Passive.

Cocktail Party Effect is the phenomenon of being able to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli, much the same way that a partygoer can focus on a single conversation in a noisy room. This effect is what allows most people to "tune into" a single voice and "tune out" all others. It may also describe a similar phenomenon that occurs when one may immediately detect words of importance originating from unattended stimuli, for instance hearing one's name in another conversation.

Gorillas In The Midst (youtube)

Spacing Out or Highway Hypnosis is a mental state in which a person can drive a truck or other automobile great distances, responding to external events in the expected, safe and correct manner with no recollection of having consciously done so. In this state, the driver's conscious mind is apparently fully focused elsewhere, while seemingly still processing the information needed to drive safely. Highway hypnosis is a manifestation of the common process of automaticity, where the conscious and subconscious minds are able to concentrate on different things. Multitasking.

One Thought Leads to Another (retrace your thoughts, go back over again, reassemble mentally).

Attention Deficit characterized by problems paying attention, excessive activity, or difficulty controlling Behavior which is not appropriate for a person's age.

Attention Deficit Disorder is characterized by problems paying attention, excessive activity, or difficulty controlling Behavior, which is not appropriate for a person's age. ADD symptoms appear before a person is twelve years old, are present for more than six months, and cause problems in at least two settings (such as school, home, or recreational activities). In children, problems paying attention may result in poor school performance. Although it causes impairment, particularly in modern society, many children with ADHD have a good attention span for tasks they find interesting.

Our ability to focus may falter after eating one meal high in saturated fat. Previous research has suggested that food high in saturated fat can drive up inflammation throughout the body, and possibly the brain. Fatty acids also can cross the blood-brain barrier. Study also looks at effect of leaky gut on concentration. If the women had high levels of endotoxemia, it also wiped out the between-meal differences. They were performing poorly no matter what type of fat they ate. Endotoxemia is the change in the permeability of the intestinal flora, which allows the passage of lipopolysaccharide derived from intestinal bacteria into the bloodstream.

Mind-Wandering is the experience of thoughts not remaining on a single topic for a long period of time, particularly when people are engaged in an attention-demanding task. Mind-wandering tends to occur during driving, reading and other activities where vigilance may be low. In these situations, people do not remember what happened in the surrounding environment because they are preoccupied with their thoughts. This is known as the decoupling hypothesis. Studies using event-related potentials (ERPs) have quantified the extent that mind-wandering reduces the cortical processing of the external environment. When thoughts are unrelated to the task at hand, the brain processes both task-relevant and unrelated sensory information in a less detailed manner.

Default Mode Network shown to be active when a person is not focused on the outside world and the brain is at wakeful rest, such as during daydreaming and mind-wandering. But it is also active when the individual is thinking about others, thinking about themselves, remembering the past, and planning for the future. DMN is a network of interacting brain regions known to have activity highly correlated with each other and distinct from other networks in the brain.

Default is an option that is selected automatically unless an alternative is specified. Default in computing is to assume a particular value when none other is specified. Consent.

The frontoparietal network is activated when attention is focused on external cues, the salience network is engaged when attention is directed to relevant events, and the default mode network is recruited when attention is focused internally. Executive Functions.

Absent-mindedness is where a person shows inattentive or forgetful behavior. It can have three different causes: A low level of attention ("blanking" or "zoning out"), intense attention to a single object of focus (hyperfocus) that makes a person oblivious to events around him or her; unwarranted distraction of attention from the object of focus by irrelevant thoughts or environmental events. Gibberish.

When your attention shifts from one place to another, your brain blinks. The blinks are momentary unconscious gaps in visual perception. Attention is beneficial because it increases our ability to detect visual signals even when we are looking in a different direction. Why we Hear some sounds but not other sounds.

Defense Mechanisms is an unconscious psychological mechanism that reduces anxiety arising from unacceptable or potentially harmful stimuli.

Ovsiankina Effect is the tendency to pick up an interrupted action again when it has still not been achieved an interrupted task, even without incentive, values as a "quasi-need". It creates intrusive thoughts, aimed at taking up the task again. Remembering of the unfinished action over a vacant one.

Attention Restoration Theory asserts that people can concentrate better after spending time in nature, or even looking at scenes of nature. Natural environments abound with "soft fascinations" which a person can reflect upon in "effortless attention", such as clouds moving across the sky, leaves rustling in a breeze or water bubbling over rocks in a stream.

Selective Attention Test (youtube)

Joint Attention is the shared focus of two individuals on an object. It is achieved when one individual alerts another to an object by means of eye-gazing, pointing or other verbal or non-verbal indications. An individual gazes at another individual, points to an object and then returns their gaze to the individual.

Fixation as a visual activity is the maintaining of the visual gaze on a single location.

Prefrontal Cortex Regulates Sensory Filtering through a Basal Ganglia-to-Thalamus Pathway. To make adaptive decisions, organisms must appropriately filter sensory inputs, augmenting relevant signals and Noise Suppression. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) partly implements this process by regulating thalamic activity through modality-specific thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) subnetworks. However, because the PFC does not directly project to sensory TRN subnetworks, the circuitry underlying this process had been unknown. Here, using anatomical tracing, functional manipulations, and optical identification of PFC projection neurons, we find that the PFC regulates sensory thalamic activity through a basal ganglia (BG) pathway. Engagement of this PFC-BG-thalamus pathway enables selection between vision and audition by primarily suppressing the distracting modality. This pathway also enhances sensory discrimination and is used for goal-directed background noise suppression. Overall, our results identify a new pathway for attentional filtering and reveal its multiple roles in sensory processing on the basis of internal goals. A brain circuit that suppresses distracting sensory information holds important clues about attention and other cognitive processes. We attend to only a fraction of the sensory data available to us. We can pick out a conversation in a loud room, amid the rise and fall of other voices or the hum of an air conditioner. We can spot a set of keys in a sea of clutter, or register a raccoon darting into the path of our onrushing car. Somehow, even with massive amounts of information flooding our senses, we’re able to focus on what’s important and act on it. Researchers are trying a different approach, studying how the brain suppresses information rather than how it augments it. Perhaps more importantly, they’ve found that this process involves more ancient regions much deeper in the brain — regions not often considered when it comes to attention. By doing so, scientists have also inadvertently started to take baby steps toward a better understanding of how body and mind — through automatic sensory experiences, physical movements and higher-level consciousness — are deeply and inextricably intertwined. The brain tunes out distractions. The brain wasn’t brightening the light on stimuli of interest; it was lowering the lights on everything else. A thin layer of inhibitory neurons called the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), which wraps around the rest of the thalamus like a shell. Prefrontal cortex, which issues high-level commands to other parts of the brain, was crucial. The full circuit, they found, goes from the prefrontal cortex to a much deeper structure called the basal ganglia (often associated with motor control and a host of other functions), then to the TRN and the thalamus, before finally going back up to higher cortical regions. So, for instance, as visual information passes from the eye to the visual thalamus, it can get intercepted almost immediately if it’s not relevant to the given task. The basal ganglia can step in and activate the visual TRN to screen out the extraneous stimuli, in keeping with the prefrontal cortex’s directive.

Our Brains Are Pretty Much On Autopilot When We Type (youtube) - When we type, our brain is doing most of the work without our conscious input. So you can blame your brain for al teh typsos. Typing.

Quiet Eye (youtube, PBS)

"If you don't learn to control yourself then someone or something will end up controlling you, and not always in your best interest." 

There are many benefits of having the ability to focus and pay attention. In order to maintain your abilities and keep your mind strong, you have to practice and exercise the control that you have over the mind. The Brain loves to learn.

Dynamics of neural recruitment surrounding the spontaneous arising of thoughts in experienced mindfulness practitioners.

Self-Directed Learning

Sophrosyne is an ideal of excellence of character and soundness of mind, which when combined in one well-balanced individual leads to other qualities, such as temperance, moderation, prudence, purity, and self-control.

Task-Positive Network is a network of areas in the human brain that typically responds with activation increases to attention-demanding tasks in functional imaging studies. The task-positive network encompasses regions of the dorsal attention system, but in addition includes dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal regions, the insular cortex, and the SMA/pre-SMA. Notably, the nodes of this network are also correlated during rest (i.e., in the absence of any task). The task-positive network is anti-correlated with the default mode network.

Task-Negative main function is to reorient attention towards salient stimuli. TN is considered to be involved mostly, if not entirely, in involuntary actions. The neural network is right hemisphere lateralized and includes the right temporal-parietal junction and the right ventral frontal cortex. This system shows activity increases upon detection of salient targets, especially when they appear in unexpected locations. Activity increases also are observed in the ventral system after abrupt changes in sensory stimuli, at the onset and offset of task blocks, and at the end of a completed trial.

Brain Areas (image of attention network)

Concentration Exercises - Activities to improve Focus

Juggling - Focus Games - Games

You can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it, but of course that's easier said then done. Staying focused takes more then will and desire, it also takes Practice, good skills and good techniques that will help you stay on track. Skills like time management skills, good foresight and good planning techniques, good management techniques, good problem solving techniques, good Awareness, having good emotional control, it's commitment and dedication, it's having good learning techniques, good study skills, it's knowing how to avoid distractions and being good at handling stress and pressure. It's having good health, good stamina, good work ethics and knowing when to take breaks. It's understanding your purpose, your abilities and your weaknesses. It's understanding your priorities and your responsibilities. And don't be overwhelmed or feel inadequate, just start, you can still learn a lot from the experience as long as you are aware of those learning moments and understand them.

"To have a Goal is to have a purpose."

Stanford Marshmallow Experiment was a series of studies on delayed gratification in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In these studies, a child was offered a choice between one small reward provided immediately or two small rewards (i.e., a larger later reward) if they waited for a short period, approximately 15 minutes, during which the tester left the room and then returned. (The reward was sometimes a marshmallow, but often a cookie or a pretzel.) In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores, educational attainment, body mass index (BMI), and other life measures.

Marshmallow Test reproduced by Dr David Walsh (youtube)

The ability to turn down immediate pleasures or instant gratification in favor of gaining the long-term satisfaction and fulfillment from achieving higher and more meaningful Goals.

Spatial Awareness

Visual Attention Lab (Harvard) 

Akrasia is lack of self-control or the state of acting against one's better judgment.

Sometimes focusing on one thing can lead to other ideas or questions. So you might get off track from the original goal. So it's best to quickly write down these new questions or ideas and then return to the original plan. Sometimes you start off doing one thing but then end up doing something else, which is not always a bad thing. But you need to discipline yourself to stay on track if you want to reach your goal in the necessary timeframe. But don't ignore what you learn along the way because it might be important. 

"There will always be things that will catch you off guard."

You have to exercise self-control everyday in order to keep this ability strong, just like you would a muscle. Always take a moment in your day to stop a Habit and show yourself that you are in control. Eventually you will become more aware and more in control. So Training, Persistence and Practicing Willpower is a must. Finding your Zone or Flow.

What Not to Do List

Video Games is a way of exercising your focus. But you should exercise your focus on things that benefit you.

S.L.L.S. - Stop - Look - Listen - Smell

Take a timeout and refocus. Set a recurring alarm on your phone for every two hours. Start and End the Day with Control.

Iceman Wim Hof is able to influence his autonomic nervous system and immune system at will. Wim Hof Method. The method appears to allow him to generate heat that dissipates to lung tissue and warms circulating blood in the pulmonary capillaries. Anterior insula is where the brain's higher thermoregulatory centers are located. Periaqueductal gray matter area is associated with brain mechanisms for the control of sensory pain and is thought to implement this control through the release of opioids and cannabinoids. Generating a stress-induced analgesic response in periaqueductal gray matter.

Body Temperature Regulation - Heat - Breathing Exercises

Thermogenesis is the process of heat production in organisms. It occurs in all warm-blooded animals, and also in a few species of thermogenic plants.

Anna Bågenholm is a Swedish radiologist born in 1970 in Vänersborg, who survived after a skiing accident in 1999 left her trapped under a layer of ice for 80 minutes in freezing water. During this time she became a victim of extreme hypothermia and her body temperature decreased to 13.7 °C (56.7 °F), one of the lowest survived body temperatures ever recorded in a human with accidental hypothermia. Bågenholm was able to find an air pocket under the ice, but suffered circulatory arrest after 40 minutes in the water. After rescue, Bågenholm was transported by helicopter to the Tromsø University Hospital, where a team of more than a hundred doctors and nurses worked in shifts for nine hours to save her life. Bågenholm woke up ten days after the accident, paralyzed from the neck down and subsequently spent two months recovering in an intensive care unit. Although she has made an almost full recovery from the incident, late in 2009 she was still suffering from minor symptoms in hands and feet related to nerve injury. Bågenholm's case has been discussed in the leading British medical journal The Lancet, and in medical textbooks.

The conscious ability to cause goosebumps or voluntarily generated piloerection

Reading, Listening, Watching, Meditation, Sports and Juggling are some of the things that require long periods of focus, so use them to measure and strengthen your focus.

Addictions - Memory - Prioritizing - Routines - Traits - Intelligence - Self Smart

Self Control over Behaviors, Impulses, Habits, urges, cravings, emotions and desires.

Disposition is an artificial habit, a preparation, a state of readiness, or a tendency to act in a specified way that may be learned.

Will to Power is the main driving force in humans – achievement, ambition, and the striving to reach the highest possible position in life. These are all manifestations of the will to power; however, the concept was never systematically defined.

Commitment and Sticking to the plan regardless of the obstacles, discomfort or difficulties that may arise.

Awareness of your motivations and triggers.

Confidence - Temptation - Confusion

Stroop Effect: Name the colors of the following words. Do NOT read the words...rather, say the color of the words.

Speed of Processing Theory is the interference occurs because words are read faster than colors are named.

Selective Attention Theory is the interference occurs because naming colors requires more attention than reading words.

Binding Problem is a term used at the interface between neuroscience, cognitive science and philosophy of mind that has multiple meanings. Firstly, there is the segregation problem: a practical computational problem of how brains segregate elements in complex patterns of sensory input so that they are allocated to discrete "objects". In other words, when looking at a blue square and a yellow circle, what neural mechanisms ensure that the square is perceived as blue and the circle as yellow, and not vice versa? The segregation problem is sometimes called BP1. Secondly, there is the combination problem: the problem of how objects, background and abstract or emotional features are combined into a single experience. The combination problem is sometimes called BP2. However, the difference between these two problems is not always clear. Moreover, the historical literature is often ambiguous as to whether it is addressing the segregation or the combination problem.

Linear Learning

"What can be Measured can be Improved.” - Quantified Self

Knowledge Management - Math

Knowing when to take breaks and when to exercise. - Time Management.

Having Hobbies or a variety of activities that stimulates your imagination, gives inspiration and reenergizes your energy level.

Independent Learning - Healthy Nutrition - Sleep

Focus comes from eliminating distractions, distractions from outside influences and from thoughts inside the mind. Good planning, good methods, and always learning.

Being in control is liberating. It frees you from making the same mistakes over and over again. You'll still be spontaneous and creative, and your mind will still wonder, but this time you'll be a little more aware and a lot less out of control. You may think that discipline is too constraining, but it's not, it's actually less constraining because you have more control over your constraints.

You also become better at decision making because you are now more aware.

Father the Sleeper has Awaken (youtube)

Be Here Now, Live in the Now, not thinking of the past, not thinking of the future, calm your mind and just be in the present moment. Let go of your self-serving self-interested desires. Learning to live in the moment several times a day can help with focus, memory, relaxation and meditation.

Sometimes you have to Stand Back and ask yourself, What am I doing?  How did I get here?

Before you learn the Skills and knowledge that creates Self Discipline, Self Control and Self Awareness, you first have to know the reasons why you are seeking these disciplines. What do you want to achieve, what are your goals and what is your purpose? It’s just not enough to be aware of the benefits that come from having disciplines, but most importantly, you have to know the specific reasons why you need disciplines and what you plan to do with them. These are some of the questions you need to ask if you are going to stay on track and also be able to recognize the things that will take you off track. If you leave one question answered if may be that one question that will unravel everything that you are trying to achieve. You have to know your weaknesses and you have to know your strengths. This goes way beyond having Routines and Rituals. You still need to be aware of whom you are and what you are trying to achieve. So when changes do occur you will be able to recognize these changes and still maintain your Focus. Of course maintaining focus over long periods of time is not recommended because it can be unhealthy and also threaten mental and physical stability. So one of your disciplines will be learning to have Balance and Symmetry in your life. You need a Time and Task Management System that can be modified when situations change. You also need a system that reminds you that you are still a human that needs more then just disciplines in order to thrive. 

The only mind control you should have is your Conscience...

The capacity to rationally weigh Principles of responsibility.

Conscience - Routine

Prioritizing your thoughts is essential. Instead of having uncontrolled Random thoughts you should have control of your thoughts so that you don't waste time with irrelevant or low priority things that want to control your mind and your time. You can only think of one thing at a time, so Choose Well. You brain can only process so much information at once, so it's important that you know which processes should be running. Like the process for total self awareness, or the process for awareness of your surroundings and the process for listening to a person or persons. Trying to be aware of several things at once is not very effective. Daydreaming while driving is a good example. There's a big difference between Multitasking and Focus.

Related Subjects - Controls - Training - Listening - Comprehension - Awareness - Executive Functions - Meditation - Hypnosis - Silence is Golden - Emotions Effect on Focus - Behavior - Know Thyself - Brain - Memory.