Like me, have you ever noticed that major athletes just before a major event wear headphones? Have you ever wondered why? You may say duh, to focus, of course, but it’s a little more than that. Turns out there's an actual science to the art of focus. So much so that as a mother I can see clear benefits as to why we need to teach our kids this art and life skills to enable them to focus.
Though I have a bachelor’s in Neuroscience, in writing this article I learned quite a bit about the executive center that exists in our brain that allows us to focus. The executive center basically is a strip of neurons in the prefrontal cortex, just behind the forehead primarily responsible for resolving conflicts arising from events that require decision making and managing priorities in general.
There's a reason why Focus is so important for every human being. Generally, the more focused we are, the more successful we are at whatever we focus on. Paradoxically the more distracted we are the less well we do. This truly does apply across all aspects of our lives, personal, career, academic, sports etc.
Dr. Dan Goleman, goes as far as to say “Focus is the hidden ingredient in excellence”. And that “lacking focus we are more likely to falter at whatever we do”. In hearing this, it makes 1000% sense why athletes such as Michael Phelps don a wicked set of noise canceling headphones before competing.
This effectively allows him to eliminate distractions, elevating the distractions on his executive center and to hone in completely ,
on the task at hand i.e. “winning”. While this is a simplistic view of what it takes to produce a champion such as Phelps, I do recognize that, of course, he must apply this same amount of focus, months on months, and in his cases year upon year of strenuous training cycles, which makes what he has been able to accomplish even more awe-inspiring.
To that end, the following 3 reason’s are why I will focus (pun intended) my time as a parent to teaching my kids life skills to help them to focus:
1. Meditation
My eldest is quite hyperactive. She’s a typical 5-year-old. However, one of the biggest differences that we’ve made, that has had a huge impact, is teaching her a mini version of meditating. Breathing technique to help her focus. This brings benefit one of focus, we are teaching her a skill for life that will help her to cope through the hills and valleys that is life.
2. Yoga
Another tip that some schools have started to incorporate, that has shown to have major health impact and impact on focus in children is yoga. Now I will say that her school has not fully implemented there have been so many recent studies that show a reduction in frustrations among students, increased focus and in relation, improved grades and a reduction in the need to apply disciplinary measures.
3. Decision-Making Skills
Now my daughter is extremely smart and athletic and wants to do everything. She currently loves gymnastics, and swimming and wants to start dancing and ice skating. This is in addition to wanting to sing and act. Now, I refuse to push her in one direction or another. We are big in our household of wanting her to follow her passion. As in the long run, we are all here to follow our God-given gift and destiny.
But even at this age, we are in discussions with her to use her executive center to prioritize. Which would you rather do, because we can only afford to take 2. This is teaching her even at this age to eliminate distraction, utilize her executive center and focus in on a decision of her choosing. In essence focus.
Now, these are all skills that we are teaching her even at this young age are all to help her focus, as I believe that even at her age, focus is so important, more so for girls than boys. As she grows, and if she chooses to marry or not, have a family or not, just have children or not, she will find herself as I often do in circumstances where you have competing priorities. Do I focus on my family and being the best Mum I can be? Or that deadline that my boss says must be turned in my 7 a.m. in the morning? Do I focus on making my man feel so good, or the crying baby whose cries are messing with my hormones?
Worst yet, and probably more poignant in our current cultural and political climate, she will encounter critics, people with differing opinions to herself. People who judge her just based on the color of her skin, people with differing moral compasses. And in those moments, in addition to what we have instilled in her, focus will be key in achieving staying the path and achieving whatever goal she has set forth in front of herself.
Now I go back to the sentence above “Focus is the hidden ingredient in excellence” and teaching our kids how to focus is our duty. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.