FM 10-3 Focus: Field Manual

How do you achieve total concentration and laser focus? First, you must define concentration and focus. Concentration is the action of focusing your attention or mental effort. In other words, to direct your attention to a single object. Its Latin root means center. Remember, concentration is the action, whereas focus is the object to be acted on.

At any given time, your focus is the central point of your activity, attention or interest. It is a center of activity, attraction or attention. The ability to focus gives you control over your life. Either you are in focus or you are out of focus. It takes practice to maintain consistent focus. Furthermore, you must have a clear objective (purpose, goal, plan, desire, point) to focus on.

When you focus your mind, your power of concentration increases. With practice every day you will see consistent results. Below are a few excellent ways to to help you improve your concentration ability.

Using The Pseudo Telekinesis Technique

The pseudo telekinesis technique is a powerful exercise to to help you increase your concentration:

  1. Place a coin on a table in front of you.
  2. Sit in a comfortable position, free of distractions.
  3. Position the coin 30 or 40 cm away. Concentrate full attention on the coin features (primarily its shape). Do not touch the coin.
  4. Next, imagine your concentration as a force to move the coin. In other words, force of your concentration on the edge of the coin to make it move.
  5. Direct your mental effort, your concentration, to the edge of the coin. Keep your attention on the edge for the whole session.
  6. Maintain concentration on the shape of the coin, while forcing your attention to the edge of the coin. Give maximum effort to look at the edge. Keep a narrow minded look at the edge of the coin.
  7. If you are doing the technique correctly, you will become unaware of your surroundings (flow state). When you become distracted, turn your attention back to the coin.

This technique can be used for any object of choice. But a smaller object with fewer features is easier to concentrate on.

Living In The Moment

Live in the moment by placing full attention on your present actions. Because this keeps your mind focused and on track. First, know your intention, purpose or aim of focus. Why are you doing what you are doing? What is the reason? What is the desired outcome? Momentary awareness allows the mind to concentrate.

To achieve total concentration and laser focus, you need to work strictly on your goals. But first, you must have mental clarity. To clarify, you need an object of focus before you can achieve total concentration. Remember, Thought → Action → Method → Circumstance.

Strictly Staying On Task

Strictly follow a schedule. Set and follow a daily action plan. In addition, eliminate everything that distracts you from strict action. Because you need a calm, clear and focused mind to achieve your goals. Force your thoughts to align to the tasks you are doing.

To emphasize, your thoughts must always be on what you are doing. Keep practicing this, living in the moment, to ensure you are moving in the right direction.

Following Strict Routines

Strategic rituals and routines are fundamental tools to success. Because they make it easier to stay on a productive path. Also, by decreasing decision fatigue, strategic routines optimize energy reserve. Consequently, following routines help you achieve total concentration and laser focus.

In conclusion, to achieve total concentration and laser focus you want a clear objective to focus on. Because concentration is the action and focus is the objective. To achieve total concentration you need absolute focus. Total concentration on an objective (purpose, goal, plan, desire, point) moves you into flow.

You are in flow state whenever you have a calm mental state, laser focus and total concentration. In addition, your mind is in the present, without distraction. Achieve total concentration by using the Pseudo Telekinesis Technique. This technique can be used on any object to increase your concentration ability.

Your capacity to live in the moment is fundamental to concentration. In contrast, an unfocused mind is incapable of directing mental effort onto a single point. First, you must define your objective. Second, you must define an action plan to achieve your objective. Finally, you must strictly follow your action plan by staying on task. For this reason, strategic rituals and routines are needed to achieve total concentration and laser focus.

Improve your mental focus by making a commitment. Because a clear and focused mind is fundamental to success. In fact, all great achievement requires sustained mental focus. In addition, mental focus and concentration unlocks higher states of consciousness. Below are 5 ideas to help you understand and improve mental focus.

Improve Through Mental Clarity

Higher levels of mental clarity allow higher degrees of focus. You want a controlled mind, in contrast to an uncontrolled mind. Because mental control and focus is needed for clear direction. In fact, all success qualities (energy, motivation, focus etc.) are acquired through mental clarity. Subsequently, you must increase your clarity to improve your mental focus.

Mental Focus By Controlling Your Mind

Increasing mental clarity raises the potential for mental focus. Because removing mental blockages gives space to organize your mind. As a result, you can direct thoughts and actions more efficiently. To control the mind requires eliminating internal and external distractions. Consequently, you can increase energy, focus, motivation and clarity by removing distractions.

Improve Through Meditation

Don’t complicate the meaning of meditation. It is simply a method to calm and clear the mind. First, practice observing your thoughts, mental images and emotional states. Then you can practice more strict forms of meditation. Also, practice stopping your pointless thought stream. Because you primarily want thoughts aligned with attainment of your goals.

Thoughts have creative power that influence your actions. For this reason, practice meditation to free your mind and direct your thoughts. Then, it will be easier control your thinking for maximum success.

Mental Focus Through Visualization

First, improve your mental focus through mental clarity. Then, further increase focus through visualization. Practice sitting down to visualize the outcome you want to achieve. With this in mind, follow a strict routine to practice visualization. For example, see the steps below for a general routine.

  • Choose a place without external distractions – ideally same place every session
  • Sit upright in a comfortable chair – do not lounge
  • Work up to 15 – 30 minutes of concentrated effort
  • First, master body control – body relaxation
  • Second, master mind control by inhibiting all thought – this is extremely difficult
  • Third, let go of all physical and mental tension – release emotional blockages
  • Finally, progressively visualize ideal outcomes desired – mentally create your ideal life

Visualization is a powerful mental exercise. In fact, your ability to visualize in detail determines your success. Improve your mental focus by accurately visualizing your goals. With consistent practice, your mind and body will move you rapidly toward your goals. As a result, high energy and motivation will make progress seem effortless. Mastering visualization is absolutely fundamental to success.

Improve By Removing Distractions

Make the decision to eliminate all distractions that weaken your forward momentum. For instance, most mainstream media (social, tv, magazines, podcasts, videos, games etc.) are distraction to your success. Also, be aware that friends and family can be distractions. Anything that takes you off your success path is a distraction. Consequently, your potential energy for mental effort is diminished by distractions. Remove distractions for a clear and powerful mind.

Improve your mental focus through consistent practice. Always be seeking mental clarity. Because mental clarity makes controlling your mind effortless. Then thoughts and actions will become more powerful. An excellent method to improve your mental focus is meditation. Subsequently, mental distractions are removed by practicing meditation. Finally, remove environmental distractions to further improve your mental focus. Make the decision to improve your mental focus now.

Clear Thinking And Focus

Clear thinking and focus is fundamental to success. In fact, these aspects increase self awareness and discipline. Which are necessary for goal accomplishment. As a result, clear thinking improves your ability to focus and concentrate on task.

In addition, clear thinking and focus will help you clarify your vision. A clear mind gives more potential to focus mental effort. Subsequently, your mental effort can be direct to your desired objectives. Below are 5 ways clear thinking and focus will help you achieve your goals.

Use Single-Tasking

A powerful mind has the ability to focus on one thing at a time. Don’t dismiss this concept. Mental clarity requires you to give 100% attention to the present moment. Because wandering thoughts decrease your potential to focus mental effort. Notably, single-tasking disciplines the mind to focused thinking. As a result, your subconscious can then be aligned with your vision.

Increase Self Awareness

High self awareness is fundamental to success. In fact, self-awareness is a major component of self control. Self awareness is understanding your personality and character. Also, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions. In addition, self awareness allows you to understand other people. And also, how they perceive your responses to them in the moment.

Self awareness increases insight. Which will allow you to see more accurately into the future. Consequently, you can better plan your path to goal achievement. Self awareness is fundamental to becoming a leader and visionary.

Achieve A Calm Mind

A calm mind is free of agitating or wandering thoughts. Furthermore, it is focused and present in the moment. For this reason, a calm state is the ideal mental state to be in. As a result, you will achieve a powerful mind that thinks clearly. In addition, a calm mind makes better decisions and has increased insight. These qualities support greater success. Calming the mind can be done by meditating and concentrating on your breath.

Control Your Emotional State

Your attitude and emotional state are directly related. Don’t underestimate the importance of controlling your attitude. Because your attitude affects your emotional state. Furthermore, a negative attitude will result in a negative emotional state. In that case, the negative emotional state will decrease the clarity of your thinking.

Accurate thinking can only be achieved with a positive mental state. Notably, clear thinking and focus allows you to control your emotions. Emotional control is a major key to mental mastery. Certainly, clear and accurate thinking help see the truth in situations.

Learn To Develop Accurate Understanding

Be aware that belief can reduce accurate understanding. Because a belief has no basis on fact. Therefore, you want to practice accurate thinking by following scientific inquiry. Observe your beliefs to see how they are effecting your judgement. You want to see the truth in any situation to maximize a positive outcome. Learn to remove beliefs to develop accurate understanding.

Clear thinking and focus can be achieved by giving 100% focus on the present moment. Controlling your thoughts bring greater self awareness. In addition, a calm mind and controlled state will improve clear thinking and focus. Finally, accurate thinking through scientific inquiry further clarify your mind.

Increase Concentration For Maximum Mental Power

Increase your concentration for maximum mental power. Concentration is the act of focusing attention or mental effort. Truly, the skill of concentration is fundamental to success. In fact, major accomplishment demands concentration. In this case, concentration can be increased through intentional effort.

Below are 5 powerful ways to increase your concentration.

Powerful Postures And Body Movements

Don’t underestimate the mind-body connection. Certainly attention and thought precede action. But action can also precede attention and thought. Action → Attention and Thought.

Why is this fact important? Because right attention, attitude and thought makes concentration possible.

In this case, use powerful postures to increase your concentration. Here are a few examples of powerful posturing and body movement.

  • Stand up straight in superman pose.
  • Sit up straight with shoulders back and chest out.
  • Face forward – chin up with eyes focused on point of attention.
  • Deep and relaxed focused breathing.
  • Jumping jacks for 15 to 30 seconds.

To emphasize, you achieve higher states of concentration through the mind-body connection. Because action directs your mental state. Of course concentration is a mental state. So you can affect concentration through certain actions.

Deep And Focused Breathing

Concentration requires your mind to be fully relaxed and focused. In addition, your mind must be free of distractions. Because focused thought and full attention results in concentration. Notably, your breathing span correlates to your attention span. Consequently, practice deep and focused breathing to increase concentration.

Don’t complicate the process. Simply give awareness to your breathing until your concentration becomes natural. To clarify, maximize mental power to focus mental effort on the object of concentration.

Through Healthy Eating

You must optimize your diet to increase your concentration. In fact, healthy eating is fundamental to increased mental energy. In general, you must follow the diet that is optimum for you. Study nutrition and begin experimenting. Decide and commit to discover your healthy diet.

In this case, start with a base of what to eat and what not to eat. Here are examples of healthy eating.

  • Keep yourself properly hydrated – drink water!
  • Eat plenty of organic vegetables – broccoli, cabbage, spinach, kale, asparagus.
  • Get healthy oils and fats – coconut oil, avocado oil, MCT oil, fish oil, virgin olive oil, grass-fed butter.
  • Eat quality proteins – grass-fed beef and lamb, pastured eggs, sardines, sockeye salmon, grass-fed beef collagen.
  • Get nuts and seeds – coconut, almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts.
  • Eat quality proteins – grass-fed beef and lamb, pastured eggs, sardines, sockeye salmon, grass-fed beef collagen.
  • Get quality starches – sweet potato, carrot, butternut squash, white rice, plantain, taro.
  • Eat quality fruit – avocado, blackberries, blueberries, pineapple, tangerine, grapefruit.

Although these are excellent suggestions, you can add other healthy alternatives. Keep it simple. Equally important, eliminate certain foods for healthy eating. Here are examples of foods to eliminate.

  • Limit sugar – sugary drinks, cakes, pies, cookies etc.
  • No alcohol.
  • Eliminate grains containing gluten – wheat, rye, barley.
  • Limit refined carbohydrates – most crackers, bread, baked goods.
  • Eliminate bad oil and fats – canola, margarine, trans-fats.

Take responsibility for your health. Educate yourself to find the best diet for you. No excuses.

Getting Adequate Sleep

Getting adequate sleep is a simple way to increase your mental energy. Also, just like your diet, experiment to find your optimum sleep. In particular, define an evening routine that you follow every night before bed. For example, first shut of all phone, computer and tv devices one hour before bed time. Second, read, meditate and plan next day etc. Decide and follow a routine. Experiment.

Defining And Following Your Vision

Clarifying your greater purpose or vision makes it easier to concentrate. Because mental clarity increases the mental effort available to focus attention. Consequently, focused attention results in increased concentration. Increased concentration results from the self awareness of knowing your vision. Do not underestimate the power of defining and following your vision.

You can increase your concentration through powerful postures and body movements. Because actions that result in right thought, attitude and attention will increase concentration. For example, deep and focused breathing automatically increases concentration. In addition, healthy eating raises mental energy to direct mental effort.

Make the decision to improve your eating and sleeping habits. Finally, define and follow your vision. A clear vision gives mental alignment needed for full concentration.

Focus For Mental Clarity

Increase focus brings mental clarity. In fact, consistent focus is fundamental to achieving your goals. Developing the skill of focus will result in more sustained focus toward desired objectives. First, start your focused state and then continue this state for maximum progression toward your goals. Below are 5 powerful ways to increase focus.

Committing To Attain Your Goals

Make the decision to increase focus by committing to achieve your goals. Decide to commit absolutely to attain your goals. To emphasize, decision is to choose what you want and eliminate all other possibilities. Decide now. As a result, your certainty will move you forward along the path to goal achievement. Don’t underestimate the power of decision.

Removing Environmental Distractions

Be disciplined to only focus on activities that move you toward your goals. Remove distractions that don’t align with your path to goal achievement. In particular, eliminate environmental distractions that have negative influence on a success mindset. For example, watching the news has a negative influence on mindset. Other common distractions include:

  • Watching entertainment videos, playing video games and entertainment reading
  • Socializing without purpose, pointless social media activity and internet surfing
  • Daydreaming, negative thinking and speaking, arguing and judging

Of course, these are basic examples. Certainly you can eliminate these and other distractions to increase focus. Be disciplined and remove the distractions that keep your from building forward momentum. Because you want absolute focus on always moving toward your goals.

Understanding The Nature Of Focus

To increase mental focus you must be aware of other important aspects. To clarify, you want to focus both your attitude and your behavior. First, you will want your attitude to be positive to develop certainty and positive expectation. Second, you will want to your behavior to be positive to act on your goals. To emphasize, positive focus of attitude and behavior will increase your overall mental focus.

Be aware to control your thinking and to act consistently toward your goals. Also, improve your attitude by maintaining positive beliefs and faith in your vision.

Practicing Single Tasking

Practice single tasking to direct maximum energy to the task on goal. Because single tasking will help you concentrate on each task to keep on path. Consequently, this will increase focus and remove wandering thoughts. By consistently single tasking, forward momentum will result in higher levels of focus.

Living In Strategic Environments

Strategic environments are in alignment with your path to goal achievement. In fact, the right environment will make achieving your goals easier. Because a strategic environment adds positive reinforcement and removes negative distractions. As a result, you can increase focus on goal with even higher levels of focus.

Following strict routines is one way of setting up strategic environments. For example, organize everything in your home to align with your goals. Eliminate all items that distract you and add items to trigger positive action. For instance, an alarm clock is a basic trigger to begin your morning routine. Don’t underestimate the power of living in strategic environments.

In conclusion, increasing your focus will bring more clarity and consistency. Make the decision to accomplish your goals. Eliminate all other alternatives other than success. Because your commitment increases the mental discipline needed to eliminate distractions.

With the right environment, you improve attitude and behavior. Consequently, these aspects of focus allow you to organize your life for maximum achievement. Finally, increase focus by setting up and living in strategic environments. The power of controlling your environments can’t be over stated.

Focus Is Fundamental To Success

The ability to keep thoughts focused is fundamental to success. You want to keep your thoughts in strict alignment with your goals. In contrast to having random thoughts going in all directions. To clarify, keep thoughts focused through consistent and concentrated effort toward achieving goals. As a result, your focused alignment will bring high levels of progress.

Define And Follow A Plan Of Action

Keep thoughts focused by following a strict plan of action. Because this keeps your thoughts from going in all directions. Consequently, you will learn to place full attention on your plans for increased productivity. This allows you to accomplish your goals more efficiently and quickly.

In fact, consistently following a plan of action will increase mental clarity and organization. As a result, you will achieve full mental control for exceptional and maximum results.

Practice And Monitor Living In The Moment

Living in the moment is fundamental to creating in the present. To clarify, you want to stop thinking about the past or future. Because the present moment is the correct reality to act in. For this reason, place full attention in the moment to accomplish your task on goals.

Also, with practice you will consistently enter the flow state. Consequently, the flow state allows you to harness a higher energy state to direct on task. Furthermore, with more practice your mind will become more disciplined in momentary concentration. As a result, increased focus will bring you more clarity, intuition and positive experience.

Set Up And Use Strategic Environments

Keep thoughts focused by setting up the right environments for success. For example, organize your work space to optimize for accomplishing specific tasks. Because you want to eliminate distractions and energy leakages. To clarify, you can set up your own personal environments and/or use other’s environments. For instance, joining and using a gym is taking advantage of other’s environments. Below is a short list of examples.

  • Organize your workspace to limit distractions and decision making
  • Set up a workout space at home or join a gym
  • Join or create a mastermind centered around your primary goal
  • Organize your kitchen and eating area for healthy eating
  • Go to seminars related to skills you need to learn

Also, define and set up routines that help keep thoughts focused. Use triggers to cue specific actions. Consequently, you will depend less on willpower when you set up and use strategic environments.

Take Massive Action Daily

By taking massive action daily you conditioning the mind for high performance. In fact, this will increase your focus and mental control. As a result, your thoughts will remain on task while building momentum toward your goals. Furthermore, this increased focus on goals will result in increased progress.

In conclusion, you can learn to keep thoughts focused with practice. First, define and follow a plan of action to focus your thoughts and actions in one direction. Living in the moment is fundamental to increasing focus. Because you must monitor your thoughts to keep your mind from wandering. In fact, you must set up and use strategic environments which inspire and motivate you to success. Finally, take massive action daily to condition your mind for high performance.