Focused Mind is a Happy Mind

If you’ve ever delved into happiness studies, you might have encountered concepts like mindfulness, flow, and being present in the moment, all of which promise to increase your happiness. However, these concepts can be vague and challenging to apply. 

This is why today, I will simplify them, making them more concrete and applicable to anyone’s life.

To do so, please consider the following example of two situations:

1. Being at work
2. Being on holiday

As such, if you are:

a) At work and thinking about holidays, you are unhappy, or:

Work + holiday = unhappiness

b) Similarly, if you are on holiday and thinking about work, you are unhappy, or:

Holiday + work = unhappiness

c) Conversely, if you are at work and fully focused on work, you are happy, or:

Work + work = happiness

d) If you are on holiday and completely present in the moment, you are happy, or:

Holiday + holiday = happiness

This principle can be applied to any combination of situations, suggesting that happiness stems from mindfulness, flow, and being present in the moment. Conversely, feeling tired, distracted, or absent-minded often leads to being less happy.

It’s important to note that it is possible to focus on multiple things simultaneously as long as they are relevant to the task at hand. For instance, engaging in conversation often involves focusing on the space you are in, the topic being discussed, and the person you are talking to, all of which may shift depending on the moment.

To this extent, I once read that Bill Clinton applied the above principle very well during his presidency, as arguably he was one of the busiest people alive. At any given moment, he had to deal with many important and often conflicting tasks. Like all other presidents, his schedule was packed from morning till evening, and he was known to be late to different meetings because often important topics couldn’t be discussed satisfactorily within the limited time allocated.

However, people who met Bill Clinton often complimented and admired him for being focused on whatever task was presented to him at that moment. The rest of the world seemed to disappear for him, and he was completely absorbed by the task at hand. Consequently, Bill Clinton almost never lost his temper or appeared absent-minded thinking about some other major political issue at that time. More often than not, he seemed to be present, focused, and composed because he considered one thing at a time.

Moreover, interestingly, happiness overall improves people’s well-being across virtually every domain in life. On average, happy individuals tend to earn more money, have more and better relationships, are more productive, focused, risk-taking, healthier, and spiritually awakened compared to their less happy counterparts. People actually state that they enjoy their lives more when they are happy, which is obvious but still very important to notice. As such, virtually every domain in life improves because of happiness, making it almost like a competitive advantage we have in life and work.

So, if you found this article helpful and want to learn more about how you can change your life for the better, please continue reading this blog or get in touch to inquire about our Happiness Transformational Mastery program.

Stay happy!