Focus: The Key to Harmonious Communication
21 June 2011
Read by 1993 persons
Knowing how to focus is key to better communication and effective management.
Studying karatekas helps identify four skills that demonstrate great concentration:
Beyond athletic performance, focus gives the karateka a deep sense of satisfaction and well-being. This helps build self-confidence and self-esteem.
During a face-to-face professional interview, focusing your mind on your interlocutor's speech allows you to actively listen and develop your discernment of what is said. We can exchange ideas constructively and give clear, relevant feedback.
Try this for just half a day: for each person you talk to, let them speak freely. Don't think about anything else or interrupt to tell your own story. At the end of your conversation, summarize what the person wanted to tell you. What do you observe?
Focus avoids getting lost in our emotions
By keeping our minds focused on our goal, we avoid many disruptive emotional overloads that often cause inappropriate behavior in the context. We can take a step back from situations and continue to progress on our projects.
An example everyone has experienced: you are working on a file that occupies your entire mind. An alert notifies you of an incoming email. You read it... You lose all concentration on your file and your mind is cluttered by the emotion caused by reading the email.
Test this: for half a day, don't look at your emails as they arrive and focus on your current files without being disturbed. Observe the amount of work you have accomplished during that morning or afternoon. Compare it to what you would have accomplished by reading your emails as they arrive and answering the phone.
And therefore, focus saves time
Not only do we become more efficient, but even better, it takes us less time to achieve our goals.
Test it! Trust yourself and tell yourself that you have 20 minutes less to complete a 2-hour task that you master perfectly (leading a business meeting, preparing a PowerPoint presentation, tidying your desk...). And tell yourself that you will use those 20 minutes saved to enjoy a good moment with yourself. Observe your results.
Again, the strength of this exercise lies in its recurrence.
By integrating into our professional and personal lives this ability to live in the present moment, by developing our compassionate attentiveness to others, by learning to fully engage in our actions, without tension and with fluidity, we contribute in the workplace to deploying our talents, skills and performance. And this feeling of well-being is one of the keys to motivation in the workplace.
Published June 21, 2011
sourcea.fr
Studying karatekas helps identify four skills that demonstrate great concentration:
- Being fully present in the moment
- Observing the situation
- Focusing one's mind and resources – mental and physical – on one's objective
- Letting go to allow for quick and efficient action
Beyond athletic performance, focus gives the karateka a deep sense of satisfaction and well-being. This helps build self-confidence and self-esteem.
During a face-to-face professional interview, focusing your mind on your interlocutor's speech allows you to actively listen and develop your discernment of what is said. We can exchange ideas constructively and give clear, relevant feedback.
Try this for just half a day: for each person you talk to, let them speak freely. Don't think about anything else or interrupt to tell your own story. At the end of your conversation, summarize what the person wanted to tell you. What do you observe?
Focus avoids getting lost in our emotions
By keeping our minds focused on our goal, we avoid many disruptive emotional overloads that often cause inappropriate behavior in the context. We can take a step back from situations and continue to progress on our projects.
An example everyone has experienced: you are working on a file that occupies your entire mind. An alert notifies you of an incoming email. You read it... You lose all concentration on your file and your mind is cluttered by the emotion caused by reading the email.
Test this: for half a day, don't look at your emails as they arrive and focus on your current files without being disturbed. Observe the amount of work you have accomplished during that morning or afternoon. Compare it to what you would have accomplished by reading your emails as they arrive and answering the phone.
And therefore, focus saves time
Not only do we become more efficient, but even better, it takes us less time to achieve our goals.
Test it! Trust yourself and tell yourself that you have 20 minutes less to complete a 2-hour task that you master perfectly (leading a business meeting, preparing a PowerPoint presentation, tidying your desk...). And tell yourself that you will use those 20 minutes saved to enjoy a good moment with yourself. Observe your results.
Again, the strength of this exercise lies in its recurrence.
By integrating into our professional and personal lives this ability to live in the present moment, by developing our compassionate attentiveness to others, by learning to fully engage in our actions, without tension and with fluidity, we contribute in the workplace to deploying our talents, skills and performance. And this feeling of well-being is one of the keys to motivation in the workplace.
Published June 21, 2011
sourcea.fr
