You’re probably bombarded by messages like “Don’t do this” or “Don’t do that” on a daily basis by media or by some other source.  While that sort of thinking might work to help you keep rules and regulations in mind, it’s not a very healthy outlook to keep for the other factors of your life.

The Power of Positive Thinking

As kindergarten as it might sound, thinking good and happy thoughts actually affects your outward disposition and behavior.  Job applicants are the most popular anecdotal example because those who think positively and believe that they will get the job are a lot more relaxed and confident.  Your behavior is a psychological aspect of yourself, so changing the way you look at things will definitely affect the way you walk, talk, and act.

And it’s not all about just thinking good things that makes a difference.  When you think positively and, say, imagine yourself achieving your goal, you keep yourself focused on the finished line.  Thus, your actions are more probable to bring you one step closer to that finish line.  When you think positively despite setbacks or difficulties, you keep yourself from getting distracted with negative comments, and you get back on the road a lot more quickly.

Visualize and Affirm

You can break down positive thinking into two components - one that stretches from the time you prepare yourself to the time you actually work for a goal and another for the period of time after you have made your effort.

Before you set out to meet the challenge, set a clear goal and visualize yourself achieving that goal.  In your head, see yourself making that grade or winning that competition.  See yourself shaking the boss’ hand as he tells you that you just got yourself the promotion.  Imagine yourself crossing that finish line victorious.  You might call it mere fantasy, but it’s actually very effective preparation.  It helps you tune out the small, irrelevant, and insignificant disturbances to allow you to focus more on where you want to go and how you can get there.

If you managed to reach your goal, celebrate.  Congratulate yourself.  It sounds like gloating, but it’s actually affirmation because you’re telling yourself that you did a great job and was, thus, able to achieve the goal.  Affirm the good traits you brought out and positive actions that you did.  Tell yourself that you were confident.  Tell yourself that you were focused.  Doing so makes it easier to tap into those same things the next time around.

If you don’t reach your goal, on the other hand, affirm and use positive language nonetheless.  Don’t tell yourself that you didn’t place first in the race.  Tell yourself that you won second, and that you’d like yourself to go faster and stronger next time.  You give yourself congratulations for whatever you were able to achieve while at the same time provide a strong motivation for practice and improvement.

Have you tried reading but you end up reading one line over and over again or you end up staring at a page for a considerable length of time?  This could be frustrating if you’re trying to study for an exam or you are trying to rush a work for a deadline.  Have you experienced talking to someone and finding your thoughts wandering?  Have you experienced sitting in class and finding out that an hour has passed and you didn’t hear any word that your professor said?  Concentrating can be a challenged for some people.

What is Concentration?

Simply put, concentration is a person’s ability to focus his thoughts in a particular direction for a considerable time without getting distracted by other things.  Everyone has the ability to concentrate.  Some people are quite good with concentrating.  There are people though who find it quite difficult to focus their attention in one particular thing without their thoughts wandering.  This can be quite frustrating.  If you find difficulty concentrating, you need to practice and develop your concentration skills.

Your ability to concentrate may depend on a lot of factors.  It can depend on your commitment to your work.  It can also depend on your enthusiasm for a project, an assignment, or a work.  If you don’t know how to go about doing the job, you might be quite disinterested and end up losing your concentration.  If you have problems and you are tired and stressed out, you’d have problems concentrating.  If the place is not conducive to concentrating, you might not be able to concentrate on your work at all.

Tips on How to Improve Your Concentration

If you want to improve your concentration skills, here are some tips that you can follow:
a.    Redirect your thoughts.  When you find your thoughts straying from what you should be concentrating on, redirect it.  Do not let it wander off.

b.    Set aside distracting thoughts.  Commit a time to what you should be concentrating on.  Do not allow yourself to be distracted by problems or worries.

c.    Setup an award system for yourself.  Promise yourself rewards for maintaining concentration.

d.    Create an inviting and calm environment to allow you to concentrate.

e.    Keep yourself fit.  If you are too sleepy to concentrate, it is highly doubtful if you’d be able to finish a paragraph of a book you’re reading.

f.    Do not force yourself if your mind keeps wandering.  It doesn’t help at all.