If you ever feel: cluttered, scattered, distracted, unfocused, disorganized, preoccupied, overwhelmed, out of control, out of your mind... you can change your life!ConZentrate shows you how to master the art of paying attention, in thirty-five clear, practical, simple ways.Whether it's how to focus on a tedious task when the office is buzzing around you, or how to stop procrastinating, or how to keep your home from being a place of overwhelming clutter-- or ever how to tackle the challenges of A.D.D.-- Sam Horn's user-friendly book will inspire you to learn how to conzentrate, and discover the key to peak performance.

Sam Horn, president of Action Seminars, has presented her real-life workshops to more than 400,000 people since 1981. Her impressive client list includes Young Presidents Organization, National Governors Association, Hewlett-Packard, Four Seasons Resort, the Fortune 500 Forum, the US Navy, and the IRS. She was the top rated speaker at both the 1996 and 1998 International Platform Association conventions in Washington DC, and is the emcee of the world-renowned Maui Writers Conference. She is also the author of Tongue Fu!, What's Holding You Back?, and ConZentrate, which have been featured in Readers Digest, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Family Circle, Bottom Line Personal, and Executive Female, to name a few. She is a frequent media guest who has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, including "To Tell the Truth" and NPR's popular "Diane Rehm Show." She lives with her sons Tom and Andrew in Virginia.

Acknowledgments

vii

Introduction

ix

PART 1: Want to Get a Head?

1

(16)

What Is ConZentration, Anyway?

3

(6)

If You Don't Mind

9

(8)

PART 2: Train Your Brain

17

(32)

ConZentrate on Command

19

(9)

Focus Pocus

28

(5)

I WA-WA-WA-Wander. Why?

33

(7)

Get the Nots out of Your Thinking

40

(9)

PART 3: Focus When You Don't Feel Like It

49

(28)

Want to Change Your Mind?

51

(4)

Vigor Mortis? Try a Little A.R.D.O.R

55

(14)

Put Procrastination Behind You

69

(8)

PART 4: Mind Your Own Business

77

(44)

Give Me Some S.P.A.C.E

79

(10)

Office ER

89

(7)

Avoid ConZentration Interruptus

96

(6)

Make Communication T.I.M.E. Sensitive

102

(10)

Don't Agonize, Organize

112

(9)

PART 5: ConZonetration

121

(38)

Let It Flow, Let It Flow, Let It Flow

123

(6)

Practice Picture-Perfect Performance

129

(12)

Develop a W.I.N.N.E.R.'s Mentality

141

(18)

PART 6: Make Your Home Your Castle (Not Your Hassle)

159

(26)

Fun H.O.U.S.E.

161

(11)

Cleanliness Is Next to ... Impossible

172

(13)

PART 7: Now and Zen

185

(28)

Don't Hurry, Be Happy

187

(7)

Oh, Say, Do You See?

194

(9)

Meditation---It's Not What You Think

203

(10)

PART 8: Does It All A.D.D. Up?

213

(28)

Stay O.N. T.A.S.K

215

(17)

Mind Your Manners

232

(9)

PART 9: Head Master

241

(28)

S.T.U.D.Y. Do Right

243

(15)

Memories Are Made of This

258

(11)

PART 10: Good Thinking

269

(24)

Make Up Your Mind

271

(8)

Mental F.I.T.N.E.S.S

279

(14)

PART 11: It's All in Your Head

293

(40)

Worried? R.E.S.T. Assured

295

(8)

Sad? B.E.A.T. the Blues

303

(7)

Mad? Be a C.O.O.L. Head, Not a Hot Head

310

(5)

Keeping It Together When Your World's Falling Apart

315

(18)

PART 12: Keep This in Mind

333

(20)

Are You Having the T.I.M.E. of Your Life?

335

(12)

Common Zense

347

(6)

Postscript

353

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

ConZentrate

PART 1

Want to Get a Head?

Life consists of what a man is thinking all day.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

WAY 1

What Is ConZentration, Anyway?

Every time I ask what time it is, I get a different answer.

--Henny Youngman

Iknow how Youngman feels. Every time I ask people what concentration is, I get a different answer. Former New York Mets manager Wes Westrum said, "Baseball is like church. Many attend, but few understand." Concentration is like that. We do it every day, but up until now, few of us have understood exactly what it means or appreciated the pivotal role it plays in almost everything we do. The following five definitions incorporate both the traditional interpretation of the word and my new approach to this all-important skill.

As you read these definitions, please think back to a specific time you experienced that type of ConZentration. Remember where you were and what you were doing. Re-experience how good it felt to focus so clearly and comprehensively.

1. ConZentration is the ability to be single-minded.Charles Dickens described a character in one of his books this way: "He did each single thing as if he did nothing else." Focusing on one task can be a challenge because we often have many different things to do. That's why it's important to understand that ConZentration meanstemporarilyignoring less important obligations. Deferring other projects doesn't mean they're not important, just not as important as the priority we've selected right now.

2. ConZentration is interest in action.What did the Zen practitioner say to the hot dog vendor? "Make me one with everything." Can you think of a time you were so engrossed in what you were doing, you became one with it? Perhaps you were reading a good novel, playing chess, or gardening. Remember what an exquisite experience it was to lose yourself in that activity? Athletes call this the zone, that blissful state in which we're not even thinking about what we're doing, we're just doing it. When we're enthralled, captivated, or spellbound, we are in a state of flow, or as the poet Virgil observed, "all aglow in the work."

3. ConZentration is mental obedience.Do you sometimes suffer from "mind mutiny"? One student laughed upon hearing this definition and said, "Sometimes my mind acts like a rebellious teenager. I tell it what to do, and it ignores me." ConZentration is the power to make our mind do what we want, rather than letting it do what it wants.

4. ConZentration is cerebral staying power.Noel Coward commented, "Thousands of people have talent. I might as well congratulate you for having eyes in your head. The one and only thing that counts is: 'Do you have staying power?'"

Bryce Courtenay, author of the best-selling novelThe Power of One,was asked by a Maui Writers Conference attendee, "What's the secret to being a great writer?" Courtenay replied in his dramatic, gravelly voice,"Bum glue.Nothing beats sitting at your desk and writing until it comes out right."

Famous philosophers throughout time have arrived at the same conclusion: mental tenacity--the ability to persist in a "state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement"--is the key to attaining what we want in life. As Seneca said, "There is nothing which persevering effort and unceasing and diligent care cannot accomplish."

5. ConZentration is mindfully managing our T.I.M.E. (Thoughts, Interest, Moments, Emotions).Please note the new definition of T.I.M.E. Traditionally, we've measured time in days, months, and years. Wouldn't you agree, though, that when wethink back over our life, we don't remember days, months, or years; we remembermoments.Specifically, those moments in which our thoughts, interest, and emotions were fully engaged in a person, place, or process.

While developing the concept of ConZentration, I reached an interesting conclusion. If we reframe our concept of time, we can remove our compulsion to race through life. Instead of thinking there's never enough time, we realize we have all the time we're going to get ... right now. We come to understand the best way to make the most of our time, is to make the most of this moment.

American psychologist and philosopher William James said, "Our experience is what we attend to." In other words, our life consists of what we pay attention to. If we focus on meaningful, positive things, we'll have a meaningful, positive life. If we focus on meaningless, negative things, we'll have a meaningless, negative life. Yes, this is simplistic. It is also enduringly profound and one of life's great truths. As Buddha said, "We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts."

In the final analysis, the quality of our life depends on our ability to consciously choose who and what we give our Thoughts, Interest, Moments, and Emotions to.

Examples of ConZentration

For one who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends. But for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy.

--Bhagavad Gita

Seminar participants often ask for a good example of ConZentration. One of the best demonstrations of ConZentration I ever witnessed was years ago in New York's Grand Central Station on a busy Easter weekend. For some reason, only one person was manning the octagonal information booth in the center of the concourse. Travelers were running up from all sides, pounding on the glass windowpanes, waving their arms, and yelling, "Where's Track 19?" "How do I catch the train to Connecticut?" "Can I purchase my ticket on the train?"

By all rights, the employee should have been a nervous wreck. Instead, he was the picture of ConZentration. Why? He was calmly giving his complete attention to the individuals who had waited in line, instead of chaotically trying to serve everyone at once. He was the personification of all five definitions of ConZentration. He wassingle-minded,putting hisinterest in actionand making hismind obey.He was courteouslycontrollingthese very stressful circumstances andmindfully managing his T.I.M.E. He persisted in giving unceasing and diligent attention despite a confusing environment that was doing its best to tear him to mental pieces.

Focus and Flow

At times I think and at times I am.

--Paul Valéry

ConZentration is afocuswe facilitate and aflowwe fall into. One is a thinking "doing" state, the other is a nonthinking "being" state. One requires exertion (we ConZentrate on studying for a test) and the other is effortless (we get caught up in a movie and lose track of time). You'll learn how to do both in this book.

When was the last time you experienced the congruent state of focus and flow when everything was right with the world? Perhaps you were sharing a holiday meal at the dinner table with your family. Everyone was in good spirits and good health, and you were flooded with a sense of gratitude. Maybe you were skiing through fresh powder snow on a beautiful blue-sky day. Your knees were pumping on the turns and bouncing over moguls, and you were in a state of pure exhilaration. Perhaps you got caught up in reading a romantic novel; hours went by and you weren't even aware of it.

What those experiences had in common was ConZentration. You were completely immersed in and connected with what you were doing. Alan Watts said, "This--the immediate, everyday, and present experience--is IT, the entire and ultimate point for the existence of a universe." ConZentration helps us focus on and in the moment, instead of frantically rushing from moment to moment.

Action Plan 1. What Is ConZentration, Anyway?

I used to think the human brain was the most fascinating part of the body, and then I realized, "What is telling me that?"

--comedian Emo Phillips

I still think the human brain is the most fascinating part of the body, and you will too as soon as you start noticing how exquisite experiences can be and how effective you are when you give things your full attention.

Today's assignment is to increase your awareness of the many different ways you focus during the day. Consciously catch yourself ConZentrating. Put your interest in action by savoring every tangy bite of a crunchy apple. Discipline your mind to stick with an unpleasant chore and experience the satisfaction that comes from a job well done. Turn on your answering machine when you get home and control your T.I.M.E. by enjoying an evening at home without interruptions.

When an interviewer asked TV newscaster Diane Sawyer the secret to her success, she said, "I think the one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention." Promise yourself you'll accept no substitutes. Resolve today to "give notice," and you will reap the rewards of a day lived mindfully versus mindlessly.

CONZENTRATE. Copyright © 2000 by Sam Horn. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.