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“I am not able to concentrate on my studies and work. When I start one task, I think I have not finished another. I stop my current task and start the other. When I am in mid way in, I think I should complete the work which I have already started before continuing this. This goes on like a cycle and all my work remain incomplete. When I am at office, my house problems haunt me and I can’t work to my potential. When I am in my home, I think about the problems I faced during the day and this affects my personal life. I need some method to concentrate on my work and studies”

Most of our minds, including mine, are not focused. It wanders here and there. This is a symptom of an untrained mind and it takes a bit practice to train our mind. I was also facing the same problem. Recently while I was reading the book, the monk who sold its Ferrari, I came across a technique to overcome this. I found this technique so powerful that I thought I should share this with my readers.

This is a technique which is so powerful and effective and it is called Heart of the Rose. This technique actually improves your power of concentration and prevents us from getting distracted.

All we need to perform this exercise is a fresh rose and a silent place. Natural surrounding is best but a quiet room will do fine too. If a physical rose is not available, any similar object would do fine. Any object for you to stare for a few minutes without any external distraction. We need to stare at the center of the rose, its heart.

Rose is a symbol which says that in our life we will meet thorns if you have faith and believe in your dreams you will eventually move beyond the thorns into the glory of the flower. Keep staring at the rose. Notice its color, texture and design. Savor its fragrance and think only about this wonderful object in front of you.

At first, other thoughts will start entering your mind, distracting you from the heart of the rose. This is the mark of an untrained mind. But you need not worry, improvement will come quickly. Simply return your attention to the object of your focus. Soon your mind will grow strong and disciplined.

The effectiveness of this technique is when you practice this everyday. For initial few days, we will not be able to concentrate for even 5 minutes. Our mind keeps wandering. We live in such a frenetic life that we have forgotten how to remain still.

After a week or two you should be able to perform the technique for twenty minutes without your mind wandering onto other subjects. This will be your first indication that you are taking back control of the fortress of your mind. It will then focus only on what you command it to focus on. It will then be a wonderful servant, able to do extraordinary things for you.

Another good technique, which needs to be done along with the Heart of Rose technique is to make sure we have a few minutes in silence, stepping out of the busy world we are at, taking our self out of all our schedules and appointment, just to ask this question,: Why I am here? Where am I going? What are my priorities? How well am I progressing? Why did I do that? Why did I say that? Trying to answer these questions gives us a better sense of direction and we start to feel more confident.

You can do this anywhere from your bedroom to your office. This is something like disconnecting from the material world and connecting yourself to the nature. This has a high relaxing effect on our senses and practicing the ritual of solitude at the same time everyday makes it a habit and this becomes part of your routine daily activity.

When your mind is not focused your thoughts jump quickly from one thought to another. Your mind is restless and there is no inner peace. When your mind is focused and concentrated it becomes quieter and more obedient, and you see and understand everything better, faster and more clearly.

Lack of concentration is one of the frequent complaints among us. We get distracted and this leaves most of our tasks incomplete. I found that there are two types of distractions: external and internal.

External Distractions: They are related to the physical environment of our study. They are: Noise, conversations, inappropriate furniture, inadequate lighting, Interruption from other people, telephone, Television, Work: paid or unpaid, housework, Internet, email, chatting.

Internal Distractions: They are related to our body, thoughts and emotions. They are : Hunger; tiredness; illness, Lack of motivation; boredom; lack of interest , Personal worries; stress; anxiety, Negative thinking , Daydreaming , Lack of organization; dyslexia.

There is an interesting web site I found which discussed about mind concentration. The site discuss in great detail regarding the issues faced by people regarding mind concentration and gives readers a step by step methods to over come it. Check this out.

http://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/learning/online/concentration.html .

My friends would ask me “Where I get time to do all these things. I am so busy with my work and studies”. I truly agree. We work. Many of us also continue their studies either part time/or full time. We are preparing for competitive exams. We are all busy in our life.

The fraction of time we spend to have our breakfast, lunch and dinner is very small but the food we take gives the energy we require for the entire day. In the same way, the above mentioned techniques are there open to anyone and the bold decision of yours to take out a few minutes per day to implement them will reconnect yourself to the nature and this will start making a tremendous change in your life and within a few days, you will start making a difference.