June 28, 2017
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What's focus and how it can change your life

 
I'm busy doing [some important work of] mine, I request you to do your own [work].
The art of focus.

It's an important skill taught in martial arts.

And can be used in a multitude of areas. When you're at your grandparent's house, and there's a power cut, you've the entire cool and windy night to listen to stories. Stories inspire us, make us a wiser person and urge us to give life, a different perspective. Ah, so here's the one I was told this time:

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, a king wanted to appoint a Prime Minister to his court. As it was, and still is, the most important position in the empire, the Prime Minster was required to be a man of supreme intellect.

An entrance exam was organised by the king. Lots and lots of enthusiasts turned up and when the results came out, only 3 candidates were selected for the final test round. After hearing this good news of their selection, these three folks headed out of the king's castle on their way to home.

The only thing they were wishing for was the following day's question paper. Oh how dearly they prayed to Lord to provide them anyhow with at least a mere glimpse of the questions!

Amazingly, the moment they stepped out of the castle, they were taken aback with surprise. Almost all of the hoardings, newspapers, radio (the people who went around from village to village announcing things) talked of the same thing – the following day's question paper. It was out there already!

It went on to read something like this:

Tomorrow, at 10.00 A.M. will report at the castle, from whence the three of you would be led to a chamber. You'll then be locked inside. At the door there will be a lock. You've to open the door. The person who comes out the first will be declared as the Prime Minister by His Highness.
On reaching their abodes, two of those three immediately set out their books and started learning about the types of locks, the mechanisms they work on, the various kinds of puzzles you'll have to solve to open them etc. The third person however quietly went and sat in a corner. Upon asking him, he replied:
I'm busy doing [some important work of] mine, I request you to do your own [work].
Time flew by, in came the silent night. Those two by now had completed most of the literature on locks that was available to them. The third man, however still sat silent. I leave the answer to whether or not he was contemplating life to my dear readers to ponder on.

At 11 P.M. he was again disturbed by the presence of the other two scholarly folks, who once again asked him to study a thing or a two. He again gave the rather monotonous reply of his:

No, I'm doing my work. Please do yours.
Which led them think that he's not suitable for the post of the Prime Minister. Or rather he doesn't want to become one. There's no zeal within him. There's no fire. It's better to leave him alone and continue our studies. And they went back to get immersed in their books.

This man still sat in a corner, and funnily enough because we at this point are expecting something rather extraordinaire, went to sleep. Although his normal bedtime ranged from 11 P.M. to 7 A.M. but that day he chose to wake up at 8 A.M. And that was only to find the book loving mates still studying. Turns out they studied the entire night. They would've slept for around 3 hours or so, if not less.

At 9 A.M. they once again tried to ask him to study, but he remained adamant with his answer. Finally it was time to go for the test.

On their arrival at the castle, they were greeted by the king, who reiterated the question to them. The men were locked and the test commenced. As soon as they saw the lock, the two quickly opened their books to figure out what's the mystery in the lock and how would they be able to open it. The third man however went to a corner and sat quietly. No doubt, he was given crude remarks by them, who urged him to try opening the lock, who knew he could get to be the Prime Minister. Like we expect, he gave his dull reply yet again.

After about half the time it takes to an hour, he stood up, walked to the door, opened it and went to meet the king. The other two was so deeply engrossed in their books that they failed to take notice of the happening in their vicinity. It was only when the king himself entered the door and informed them that your reading would be in vain. The Prime Minister had already been appointed.

The thing that intrigues us, or should if that's not how he opened the door, is what was he doing while sitting in the corner? He was arranging his chain of thoughts. More precisely, he was removing completing the pending thoughts he had in his mind to make room for something which was extremely important. But, wait. How did he open the lock?

He didn't. There was a lock. There was a door. The question wasn't to unlock the lock at all, it only asked them to open the door. The king had cleverly used a deception trick, so the door appeared as if it was attached to the lock which you'd have to open if you really wanted to pass, but what gave its appearance wasn't the reality.

What I want you to know is that he was able to do this with the power of focus. And you should be doing this too. Concentrate at the task at hand. Don't think of a hundred things while working. Finish one first and then deftly move on to the next. I hope to see you reach something as great as our newly appointed Prime Minister's.