Influence in Action: How to Build Your Conversational Capacity, Do Meaningful Work, and Make a Powerful Difference

AWARENESS PRACTICES

Building Your Ability to Focus on Purpose

Attention works much like a muscle—use it poorly and it can wither; work it well and it grows.

—DANIEL GOLEMAN

Just like a muscle, your ability to control your beam of awareness can be strengthened with a specific kind of training. These exercises—strength-training workouts for your mind—are called mindfulness awareness practices (MAPs). Given the importance of disciplined awareness for building your ability to stay in the sweet spot, I’ll repeat the advice provided in Conversational Capacity: If you don’t have a MAP, start one; and if you do have one, ramp it up.

Meditation, the most ...