The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Einstein Distraction Index’

The publishers of The Skinny on Series sent The Skinny on Willpower: How to Develop Self-discipline, The Skinny on the Art of Persuasion and The Skinny on Networking for me to review. In previous blog posts, I reviewed The Skinny on Success and The Skinny on Time Management. The objective of The Skinny On series of books is to provide concentrated learning by extensively researching a topic, distilling the salient facts, and presenting them in a “progression of drawings, dialogue and text intended to convey information in a concise fashion.

You can easily read this book in less than two hours and at end of The Skinny of Willpower, the author Jim Randel provides a 15-Point Plan for improving your willpower which is quite helpful. As I have said in previous reviews of The Skinny On series, and I will mention it again, the reason why I do not like the books is why most people will love them. Though Jim Randel does a good job of summarizing the topic, and the series is a response to the fast-paced world we live in, I feel like he is spoon feeding the reader. I am detailed oriented so I like to read and distil information for myself. However, I recognize that not everyone can do that or is willing to expend the time and effort.

Now having said that, the author provides a bibliography for people like me to read further about the topic, and throughout the book, he has the names of the books that he referenced for information on willpower.

Willpower is defined as “the strength to act, or forbear from acting in the pursuit of a goal – is a critical determinant to success… [It is] the effort needed to get going in a forward motion.” Jim Randel is qualified to write The Skinny on Willpower because he and his team spent countless hours reading and listening to everything they could find on willpower, searching online for insights, as well as speaking to professors and researchers and interviewing highly accomplished people.

As outlined in the book, to achieve your goal you have to be very specific about what you’d like to accomplish and be committed to yourself in attaining your goal – you have to have a real hunger, and the “why” underlying the goal achievement drives the how. Additionally it’s important to break the goal into bite-sized pieces so that you do not become overwhelmed, and when you have negative thoughts in your mind about your goal, it’s good to have a response to get you through that moment to eject all thoughts of negativism, and find the strength deep within you to work on achieving your goal.

Randel identifies three steps you need to take to keep you focused on your goal.

1. Take your temperature – how badly do you want it
2. Set realistic expectation – the best things in life seldom come easily
3. Don’t compare yourself to others – it’s what you think about you that really matters, be in it for the long haul

Here are the author’s 15 points for improving willpower and self-discipline:

1. Be sure you are totally committed
2. Prepare yourself for a difficult journey
3. Prepare for your challenges by reducing the instances in which you will exert willpower
4. Identify your goal and the process to get there in as concrete, specific and finite terms as possible
5. Divide your challenge into small manageable pieces
6. Maintain vigilance over your thoughts
7. Control your dominant thoughts
8. Frame your challenges in a pleasurable, not painful manner
9. Pick your spots
10. Force yourself to visualize the end of a succession of “either/or” choices
11. You really have more willpower than you realize
12. The more you use your willpower, the more confidence and strength you have for new challenges
13. Turn positive activity into habits
14. Self-discipline is not self-deprivation
15. Strong willpower can take you to new heights in life.

The 15-points listed above for improving your willpower and self-discipline is a good summary for you to refer to after you have read The Skinny on Willpower which I recommend because my goal is to help you succeed. I also recommend that you revisit my blog post on the Einstein Distraction Index – it will strengthen your resolve against giving in, and I also recommend that you create a mind movie which is a sequence of photos, and mantras that represent what you are trying to accomplish, accompanied with music that uplifts you and make you happy. Having willpower is often what separates the successful from the unsuccessful.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

All book links are affiliate links

There is a story which says that when Einstein was a teenager he developed the “Distraction Index”, a method of deep concentration, which allowed him to concentrate totally upon whatever he was doing for up to 42 minutes. I found one reference to this information on the web several years ago.  I also called the university to confirm, but no one could find the information. However, I just conducted research on the Internet again and I found a lot more information, as well as a video which I have included in this post.

Anything “Einstein” makes for a compelling story, so let’s assume for a second that the Einstein Distraction Index information is correct. The ability to focus is important in an age where there are so many things competing for our attention. This is a great technique to focus. One of the best ways to learn to focus is to get a magazine, which will be filled with many distractions. The goal of the drill is to be distraction free for a specified period of time such as three minutes, five minutes, whatever amount of time you choose. It is best to start off with a small amount of time and work your way up.  Einstein is said to have been distraction free for 42 minutes. Wouldn’t it be great if you were distraction free for a time period greater than 42 minutes? Each of us has a bit of genius inside.

• On a blank piece of paper, write the phrase “I won’t be distracted by that anymore” at the top
  of the page
• Set a timer for five minutes and start to read the magazine
• Each time you’re distracted, make a note of it and read the phrase you wrote out, silently to
  yourself
• Start reading your material again
• When the timer goes off, count the number of distractions that you had in five minutes

If you’re honest when doing this simple exercise, you’ll be surprised by the amount of distractions that you have had in five minutes. When you can be focused for five minutes without distractions, repeat the process for seven minutes and then for 10 minutes. If you keep on doing this you’ll be able to learn how long you can be distraction free.

Einstein’s Secret Method for Deep Concentration and Focus

If you cannot view the YouTube video click here. (Watch up to 2 mins and 15 secs)

This is a another good technique to teach  to your children. Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Note: I learned how to use the “Distraction Index” from a High Speed Learning course taught by Lydia Danner, several years ago.

Photo Credit: Fotopedia via Apture

Video Credit: Einstein’s Secret Method for Deep Concentration and Focus Uploaded by SearchResults100 on Feb 4, 2012

Related articles

• 12 Blog Posts People are Reading on The Invisible Mentor (theinvisiblementor.com)