Self-Mastery: The Power of Concentration – Part 2
Before I get into more about concentration I want to make sure you knew about and saw the video I made “Goal Setting Like A Warrior” You can watch it on YouTube HERE.
OK…back to concentration…oh yea…this is part of an e-book I’m writing and will only be available in its completed version in The Warriors Path membership site to be launched by end of January, 2012.
There is nothing that uses up your force and energy as quickly as unfocused non-supportive excitement, the excitement that comes from an unpleasant situation.
This is why an irritable or angry person is never magnetic; they are never admired or loved; they haven’t developed those finer qualities that a real man or women possesses.
Anger, sarcasm and negative excitement weaken a person. The person that allows themselves to get overly emotional will become nervous in time, because they use up their vital energy in unproductive dispersion.
A person that cannot control themselves and keep from becoming highly emotional cannot concentrate.
Positive excitement is good; enthusiasm is great, as long as it’s coupled with intention and action.
When the mind can properly concentrate, all the energy of every cell is directed into one channel, then there is a powerful personal energy generated. Every person possesses millions of these manifestation cells, and each one of these has a center where life and energy are stored up and generated.
If this energy is not wasted on random thoughts, but conserved and controlled, a person is influential. But when the opposite happens and a person has weak and scattered thoughts, they are not influential or successful.
Just as it is impossible for a steam engine to run with all its valves open, or a hose to work with many holes in it, it’s impossible for you to waste your energy AND run at full speed.
Your Psychic Center
Every neuron in your brain is a psychic center of thought and action, each one is pulsating with an intelligent force, and when this force, your thoughts and motions, are kept in cheek by a mental strength and concentration, the result will be magnificent!
Your muscles, bones, ligaments, feet, hands and nerves, etc., are agents for carrying out the directives of your mind. One main purpose of thoughts (mental messages) is to create physical movement (action) as the energy travels along the wires of nerves and muscles.
Just for that reason, when you consciously create control over these messages, impulses, thoughts, emotions, and physical movements and over these physical instruments you develop your mental strength of self-mastery. To the extent you succeed here you will you develop the power of concentration.
Any exercise or work that excites the mind, stimulates the senses, calls the emotions and appetites into action, confuses, terrifies or emotionalizes, can potentially weaken the power of concentration.
This is why uncontrollable excitement is not supportive of mental strength. This is the reason why persons who participate in excess, i.e. drinking, anger, sex, TV, daydreaming and food, lack the power to concentrate.
But those whose actions are deliberate and directed by their intelligence develop concentration.
There are occasions were a willful, excitable persons can concentrate. Unfortunately it’s spasmodic, erratic concentration instead of controlled and focused concentration. Their energy works by “spells”; sometimes they have plenty, other times very little; it is easily excited; easily wasted.
The best way to understand it is to compare it with the discharge of a gun. If the gun goes off when you want it to, it accomplishes the purpose, but if it goes off before you are ready for it, you will not only waste ammunition, but it is also likely to do some damage.
This is what most people do. They allow their energy to explode, thus not only wasting it but endangering others. They waste their power, their magnetism and so injure their chance of personal success.
The majority of people like this aren’t really well liked or respected and never will be, until they gain control over themselves.
It’ll be necessary for them to practice various kinds of concentration exercises, and keep doing them for some time. They must completely overcome their sudden, erratic thoughts, and regulate their emotions and movements. They must from morning till night train their mind to be steady and direct and keep the energies at work.
The lower area of the brain is the store house of the energy. Most people have all the dynamic energy they need if they would concentrate it. They have the machine, but they must also have the engineer, or they won’t get very far.
The engineer is the self-regulating, directing power. The person that doesn’t develop their engineering qualities won’t accomplish much in life. The good engineer controls his every act. All work assists in development. By what you do you either moves your toward your personal goals…or away from them.
It’s essential to keep this point in mind. When you are uncertain what you should do, ask yourself, “Is this getting me closer to me goal?” If not, don’t do it.
I am a firm believer in “work when you work, and play when you play.” When you’re involved with pleasure and play time you can develop the power of concentration by thinking of nothing else but pleasure; when your mind dwells on love, think of nothing but this and you will find you can develop a more intense love than you ever had before.
When you concentrate your mind on the “You” or Real Self, and all its’ wonderful possibilities, you develop concentration and a higher awareness of yourself. By doing this systematically, you develop tremendous personal power, because you cannot be methodical without concentrating on what you are doing.
When you take a walk and breathe in the fresh air, study the plant, trees, birds etc., you’re concentrating. When you get to work at a certain time each morning you’re developing an empowering systematic habit and concentration.
If, on the other hand you form the habit of being on time one morning, a little late the next, and still later the following one, you are not developing concentration.
Whenever you fix your mind on a certain thought and hold your mind on it at successive intervals, you are developing concentration.
If you hold your mind on a specific object, you centralize your attention, just like a magnifying glass focuses the rays of the sun. Therefore always hold your mind on what you are doing, no matter what it is. Keep a careful watch over yourself, unless you do your progress towards your personal goals will be very slow.
Regularly practice inhaling long, deep breaths, not simply for the improvement of health, although that is no small matter, but also for the purpose of developing more power, more love, more life.
All Work Assists In Development
You might think it irrational to try to develop concentration by using physical exercises; remember that the mind and body are always connected. When you steady your nerves and develop muscles, you steady your mind. If your nerves get out-of-order and your mind will become erratic and you won’t possess the power of direction, which, in other words, is concentration.
You must understand how important physical exercises and fitness are in developing concentration. Everyone is continually receiving impulses that must be directed and controlled if one is to lead a successful life.
This is why a people must control the movements of his eyes, feet, fingers, etc.; this is another reason why it is important to control his breathing. The slow, deep, prolonged exhalations are of wonderful value.
Deep breathes steady the circulation, the heart action, muscles and nerves of the mind. If the heart flutters, the circulation is not regular, and when the lung action is uneven, the mind becomes unsteady and not fit for concentration. This is why controlled breathing is very important as a foundation for physical health.
You must not only concentrate your mind, but also the action of your eyes, ears and fingers. Each of these has “miniature minds” that are controlled by the Master Engineer. You will develop your mental strength and personal power quicker if you completely understand this.
Let Others Do The Talking
If you have ever associated with great men/women, or read their biographies, you will find that they usually let the others do the talking. It is much easier to talk than it is to listen. There is no better exercise for concentration than to pay close attention when some one is talking. Besides learning from what they have to say, you may develop both mental and physical concentration.
When you shake hands with someone, think of your hand containing hundreds of individual minds, each having an intelligence of its own. When you put this feeling into your hand shake it shows personality. When you shake hands in a listless way, it denotes timidity, lack of force and power of personality.
When the hand grip is very weak and stiff, the person has little enthusiasm in their nature, no passion and no magnetism. When the hand shake is just the opposite, you will find that the nature is also.
The indifferent person is non-magnetic and they show that they are by their non-magnetic hand shake. When two developed souls shake hands, their clasps are never light. There is a thrill that goes through both when the two currents meet. Enthusiasm arouses the opposite currents of the positive and negative natures.
When there is no enthusiasm, life loses its charm. The hand quickly shows when personal energy is being aroused. This is why you should study the art of hand shaking and develop your social affections.
Breathe Deep
A person that loves themselves reflects love, but a person that hates reflects hate. The person with a bad nature, a hateful disposition, evil thoughts and feeling is erratic, freakish and fitful. When you allow yourself to become irritable, watch how you breathe and you will learn a valuable lesson.
Watch how you breathe when you are happy.
Watch your breathing when you harbor hate.
Watch how you breathe when you feel in love with the whole world and noble emotions thrill you. When filled with good thoughts, you breathe a plentiful supply of oxygen into your lungs and love fills your soul. Love develops a person, physically, mentally and socially.
Breathe deeply when you are happy and you will gain life and strength; you will steady your mind and you will develop your power of concentration and become magnetic and powerful.
If you want to get more out of life you must think more of love. Unless you have real affection for something, you have no sentiment, no caring, and no magnetism. So arouse your love affections by your will and enter into a fuller life.
The energy of love always magnetizes, but it must be steady and controlled. Love can be concentrated in your hand shake, and this is one of the best ways to influence another.
The next time you feel yourself becoming irritable, use your will and be patient. This is a very good exercise in mental strength and self-control. It will help you to keep patient if you will breathe slowly and deeply.
If you find you’re starting to speak too fast, just control yourself and speak slowly and clearly. Keep from either rising or lowering your voice and concentrate on the fact that you are determined to keep your poise, and you will improve your power of concentration.
When you meet people of some importance, assume a respectful attitude towards them. Do this at all times. Watch both them and yourself. Static exercises develop the motor faculties and increase the power of concentration.
If you feel yourself getting irritable, nervous or weak, stand securely on your feet with your chest up and inhale deeply and you will see that your irritability will disappear and a silent calm will pass over you.
If you are in the habit of associating with nervous, irritable people, quit it until you grow strong in the power of concentration, because irritable, angry, fretful, dogmatic and disagreeable people will weaken what powers of resistance you have.
Any exercises that gives you better control of the ears, fingers, eyes, feet, help you to steady your mind; when your eye is steady, your mind is steady. One of the best ways to study a person is to watch their physical movements.
When we study a person’s actions, we are studying their mind, because actions are the expressions of the mind. As the mind is, so is the action. If it is uneasy, restless, erratic, unsteady, its actions are the same.
When it is composed, the mind is composed. Concentration means control of the mind and body. You cannot secure control over one without the other.
Many people who seem to lack ambition have sluggish and weak minds. They are steady, patient and seemingly have good control, but this doesn’t mean they’re able to concentrate.
These people are lethargic, inactive, slow and listless, because they lack energy; they do not lose control because they have little force to control. They have no temper so nothing can disturb them.
Their actions are steady because they possess little energy. The natural person is internally strong, energetic and forceful, but his energy, force and strength, thoughts and physical movements are well under his control.
If a person does not have energy, both mental and physical, they must develop it. If they have energy that can’t be direct and held to a single point, they must learn to do so.
A person may be very capable, but, unless they exercise their “Will” to control their abilities, they’ll not achieve their personal goals and personal success.
We hear so much talk about the benefit of being physical fit, but the real benefits have been lost. There is nothing that creates mental strength as hard physical activities and exercise. When you learn to control you body, you learn to control your mind.
You can begin to develop your power of concentration by enrolling in Warrior Mind Fundamentals. This online mental training program will help you develop the mental strength so that you can reach your personal success, achieve your perusal success and live a life of power, purpose, passion and perseverance!
To find out more about Warrior Mind Fundamentals go HERE now.
