Our son Braeden is six years old. He is homeschooled, and every morning we sit with him for 15-30 minutes of structured “school time”: reading, writing, and math. One sunny morning last week we had finished reading and writing and were working on a page in his math book. He started off strong, hammering out the answers to a few addition problems. But as he is wont to do, his focus started flagging.
He was writing a sum, 6+5=11. He got as far as 6+… and his eyes began to wander over the paper, lingering on the vivid cartoon characters on the page. He then became interested in the pastel colored eraser at the end of his pencil. His gaze drifted to the chandelier over the table and he hung there, staring at it.
“C’mon, buddy, stay with it,” I encouraged him, and I gently tapped the paper with my finger. He refocused long enough to finish a few more problems, then drifted off again.
Many days are like this. Once in a while he’s able to drive all the way through and maintain his concentration for a full thirty minutes. It’s natural for a six-year-old to be easily distracted, and we expect it. We’re very patient with him, and in the past year his ability to concentrate has grown. He can refocus rapidly in a way he couldn’t before.
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I see this same focus problem in most of the adults I know. It’s common to have difficulty concentrating on challenging tasks for more than a few minutes at a time. I believe that for my son to define success for himself and then achieve it, he will need to be able to focus for 3-4 hours at a stretch on tough stuff – challenges so difficult that they initially appear impossible.
This is the kind of focus that makes magic. It makes the impossible possible. I want this not only for my child, but for everyone I meet.
Very few people have this kind of focus. Those that do – every single one I’ve ever met – have been successful according to their own measure of success.
[In some cases I strongly disagree with what they consider success, but that’s a story for another time.]
Powerful, unshakeable focus is a rare skill. Which makes it all the more important to train yourself to focus on hard stuff for long periods, so that YOU can accomplish these things, so that YOU can be one of those rare people and write your own ticket, so that YOU can make the world a better home for us all.