Recently, thinking about success in Steemit and in general, I asked myself the question, "What is the main force in a human that can make him successful?" What do the rich have, which the poor don't? What do the Olympic Champions have, which the unknown athletes do not? What makes a person successful? Is there any secret? Well, let's try to discover!
The human power is in the ability to concentrate.
Concentration is synonymous to meditation. When you keep your attention on something, it means you concentrate or meditate. You can change your life due to focusing your attention on certain things.
An object, on which we focus our attention, we usually call “a goal”. It can be also an image, a dream, or an icon. It is the state that you want to be in and that you try to achieve.
It is the goal that one keeps in his mind.
What can force a professional athlete to wake up early, follow a strict diet and workout hard? It is the goal that he keeps in his mind. He is focused on his goal and he is constantly meditating. This concentration is invisible and it is inside of him. Nevertheless, this athlete demonstrates an incredible will power, in comparison with some other man, who sleeps peacefully at home. Who will succeed in life? Who has more chances to be happy?
The ability to concentrate is the most difficult and most important thing for a human.
No less important is to choose the subject of concentration and daily meditation. However, the common law is: the greater a man's ability to concentrate and to keep the goal is, the higher his energy level may rise and the more opportunities in life he can have. Finally, the higher the personal energy level rises, the better your life may become.
Do you know about the “Marshmallow Experiment”?
As you know Marshmallow is a sweet treat, a candy. The idea of the experiment is as follows: a child aged 4-6 years old is left alone in a room with one marshmallow. He is told that he can eat this marshmallow whenever he wants. But if he can wait a little (15 minutes), he will be able to eat two marshmallows instead of one. Some children ate the given marshmallows immediately. Others could wait a quarter of an hour and ate two marshmallows after. Of more than six hundred children that participated in the experiment, only one third of them were able to hold on and get the second candy. 20 years later it turned out that children, who had waited 15 minutes, were much more successful in life than children who had eaten the marshmallow at once.
What is the difference between children, who can wait for 15 minutes, from others, who cannot? It is the ability of concentrating. All that was required was to set a goal and to keep this goal in the mind and memory within 15 minutes. Only one third of the tested children were able to hold on for 15 minutes. Fewer children would be able to hold on for 30 minutes if the experiment continued. And so forth.
Every morning we wake up and think about our goals. As long as we keep our goals in mind and cherish them, we are powerful and inspired for living and acting. If we forget or lose the goals–the objects for meditation, we lose strength and may feel weak and lost. It is true.
The memory and the goal.
In fact, a human power is in possessing memory and the ability to keep in mind the goal. However, the ability to keep in mind the goal is only half the battle. Another half is the right choice of the goal–the object for meditation. And this is another great topic for discussion.
Food and communication.
Actually, the better a man's memory is, the more strength he possesses. A man’s energy is influenced directly and indirectly by his state of mind and what he is focused on. However, finding an object for inspiration is the first step. The second step is to keep your attention on this object. We feel weak when we lose memory, as with losing memory we lose the purpose. We may lose memory for different reasons. One of which, and, perhaps the most significant, is communication. And another one is the consumed food.
When you listen to a person and trust him, you let his goals and values penetrate your inner world. However, if they conflict your personal goals and values, you may lose your goal. By losing the goal, you may lose your strength for acting. It is quite simple.
When you consume the wrong food, which pollutes your organism, your consciousness becomes clouded. It may become difficult to focus the attention or to remember something. You know how hard it is to concentrate, when you have overeaten or have been poisoned with food. Alcohol intoxication (poisoning) is a typical example. A drunk person (or poisoned by food) loses his memory. That is why he behaves oddly and badly. He forgets who is a friend and who is a foe, what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong.
The same happens to us every day, only on smaller scale, like on the background. When you eat the wrong food, you may forget about the meaning of your life, about the goals to which you aspire and which give you strength for acting and overcoming difficulties. When you are involved in a small talk (or you are just a listener) or when this talk contradicts your goals, you may forget about your personal goal and lose strength.
Thus, when you forget about the goal, your everyday internal meditation is interrupted. The level of your energy lowers and it makes you weak. Life may seem a heavy burden with no purpose and the lack of joy. Therefore, the way to being a healthy and successful person should begin with keeping in memory your main goal, constant meditations and mindfulness. It will fill you with the essential energy, which may transform into many other types of energy, such as health, money, knowledge, fame, etc.
Conclusions.
The conclusion is simple: the more particular you are in contacts and food, the easier it is for you to concentrate. So, if you feel that you are losing strength, try to talk less, reduce small talks, avoid eating the wrong food, find your goal and concentrate on it until you achieve it.
You are a good writer and your topics are my interests too! Following you now. Thank you for what you are producing. 🙏🏽
And I've just checked out your blog.Thank you for your kind words, @steemed-open!
It really resonates! Great to meet you! :) Following you from now on!
@omfedor it's mutual. Glad to connect with you.
Seriously one of my favorite posts on Steemit!
I agree with most things onthis.
But I struggle with concentration at times, I feel like it's something people should try to practice as much as possible in their lives! I loved that you brought up the marshmallow experiment. I believe that focusing on one thing = the reward can significantly help you be successful . Instead people give into their urges and they get only one.
Thank you for such high praise, Kaylin!
There are many tips on how to achieve a high level of concentration. I found that food is one of the most powerful things. Now I'm experimenting with a raw food diet. And I see how much more power and concentration it gives me.
Being concentrated on a particular thing is not easy especially at the current age where you have plenty of distractions around you. It takes a great will power to do this. The best part is, you can still train your mind to do it. Meditation is the best way to train your mind to focus on something.
True. And as I've said, the first step is to choose a goal, and the second is to focus on it. These two steps are required. And you're right, is not easy nowadays. However, the winner is the one who does not give up ;)
Thank you, @raj23!
I'm going to fail your challenge by participating in small talk here!
Great post. I would also fail the marshmallow test everytime ;D
Hahah! :) @opheliafu, you're the exception! You can be successful without all this stuff! ;)
BTW, recently tried marshmallows for the first time ever. Honestly, not so tasty as I expected :)
For sure I could pass the test! Hahaha! :)
This made me think about one of Kurosawa's interviews. I've linked it at the bottom of this, the relevant part is at 4:27. What he brings up is an old custom about how if you're going to climb a mountain, don't look at the peak. Maybe that sounds a bit different than keeping the goal in mind, but I think it works with the marshmallow example and a few other points in the article. With the marshmallows it was being able to be patient to receive a better reward, but with climbing a mountain it is the patient who make it to the top. It's about knowing what you want and working diligently towards it, while not being caught up in how much work or time it will take, nor not how the peak looks from far away. Creative success is a grind man, whether you're a blogger, a street drummer, or a classically trained painter. It's all about consistency, dedication, and a willingness to learn.
That's true, @carlyle!
Yup...Food is key not just in focus but in all aspects of wellbeing. If you eat right for a week then shit food the next, the results and change are very significant. In focus, in daily stamina in moods in everything. Steemit takes an immense amount of focus to produce a better than good post so EAT YOUR GREENS!!!!,lol
Absolutely! The role of food cannot be overemphasized. Tested myself many times!