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    Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence
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    Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence
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    Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence
    Ebook335 pages6 hours

    Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence

    By Daniel Goleman

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Bestselling author Daniel Goleman returns with a groundbreaking look at the secret to high performance and fulfillment: attention.

    'A highly readable manifesto for turning our smartphones off once in a while' Financial Times

    For more than two decades, psychologist and journalist Daniel Goleman has been scouting the leading edge of the human sciences for what's new, surprising and important. In Focus, Goleman delves into the science of attention in all its varieties, presenting a long overdue discussion of this little-noticed and underrated mental asset that matters enormously for how we navigate life.

    Goleman boils down attention research into a three parts: inner, other, and outer focus. Goleman shows why high-achievers need all three kinds of focus, as demonstrated by rich case studies from fields as diverse as competitive sports, education, the arts, and business. Those who excel rely on what Goleman calls 'Smart Practices' such as mindfulness meditation, focused preparation and recovery, positive emotions and connections, and mental 'prosthetics' which help them improve habits, add new skills, and sustain excellence. Combining cutting-edge research with practical findings, Focus reveals what distinguishes experts from amateurs and stars from average performers.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateOct 8, 2013
    ISBN9781408845974
    Author

    Daniel Goleman

    Daniel Goleman is the bestselling author of several books, including Emotional Intelligence, Focus, and Optimal. He was a science journalist for The New York Times, received the American Psychological Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and was honored by Harvard for his contributions to education, business, and society. He lives near New York City. Find out more at DanielGoleman.info.

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    Reviews for Focus

    3.5/5

    122 ratings13 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The first half of this book was fascinating. It presents excellent information and insight into how our brains work with regard to attention and focus.

      The second half was really just a collection of anecdotes about high powered people and how they succeed or fail at managing focus. It was ok, but not really very informative.
    • 4/5
      In "Focus" Daniel Goleman takes a wide-ranging perspective on the subject of attention. Goleman explains how what individuals and organizations focus on impacts learning, creativity, relationships, parenting, emotional intelligence, systems, gaming, the environment, leadership, and more. Goleman admits in an endnote that such breadth of coverage precludes depth of explanation. However, he provides a helpful section on resources for those wanting to explore in more depth topics the book touches on. Goleman does a good job in identifying the role of focus in many aspects of our personal and organizational lives. His lively writing style stimulates the reader’s curiosity to want to know more. Goleman mentions some ways we can increase focus, but this is not a how-to book. Goleman gets us to pay attention to the importance of focus. The reader will need to explore other resources to learn the skills for strengthening focus.
    • 2/5
      In a bit of irony, this book lacks focus. It's a decent survey of the overall importance of focus, but it ranges from light neuroscience, to environmental activism on, to leadership. Aside from mindfulness and breathing, there's nothing prescriptive in here for achieving greater focus individually or as a society. Don't bother.
    • 4/5
      Now focus. I’m going to tell you something important. And...shhhh...it’s a secret. Ready? Okay, here it is: The most important thing is...focus. Yes, focus. So, are you doing that? If you aren’t, could you please try it? Yes, focus. I’m telling you it’s important. Simple. But important. So let’s all go out there and focus.
    • 5/5
      A book that operates on several levels at once, from the individual to the organisation to the country to the world. It provides valuable research and techniques we can apply to improve our ability to pay attention. It was inspiring to read about how we can change the world by deploying our attentional abilities.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed this very much. Not too long, but packed with knowledge!
    • 5/5
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    • 4/5
      In Focus, Daniel Goleman trains one’s attention into what makes the subject of “focus” in all its varieties, the most the driving force behind excellence in life. Focus as he puts it so aptly is so crucial yet it is so often little-attention is accorded to it and at best under-rated as mental asset that matters enormously for how we navigate life. Goleman discussion delves into recent research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience wherein he establishes three pillars so pursue this subject of cultivating attention: inner, other, and outer focus. Goleman shows why high-achievers need all three kinds of focus, as demonstrated by rich case studies from fields as diverse as competitive sports, education, the arts, and business. Those who excel rely on what Goleman calls Smart Practices such as mindfulness meditation, focused preparation and recovery, positive emotions and connections, and mental 'prosthetics' that help them improve habits, add new skills, and sustain excellence. Combining cutting-edge research with practical findings, focus reveals what distinguishes experts from amateurs and stars from average performers
    • 5/5
      It is engrossing in ideas but not thorough with the outcomes. , well paced chapters keeps the tone right . Clear writing and easy comprehension
    • 5/5
      Very educational
    • 1/5
      Goleman's book is a bland melange of politically correct truisms and resume wagging claiming to be science/advice/insight. Claims focus is the key to excellence but spends most of his time talking about mindfulness and saving the world. Title should have been, "Mindfulness can save the world," but that would not have flown off the business shelf at the airport news stand. Goleman is a narcissistic bore. Half his anecdotes seem to revolve around another line on his resume. The story of the online poker fiend ends with the rounder purchasing a copy of one of Goleman's books. Oh, and didn't you know, it was Goleman not Malcolm Gladwell that first reported on the whole 10,000 hours to mastery concept. Goleman is more than happy to spend an irrelevant chapter telling you so.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      All the online reviews which point out the irony of this book's complete lack of focus are exactly right. It is a grab bag of short and superficial treatments of diverse subjects which have all been treated better elsewhere. Many of the subjects have only a tangential relationship to what is apparently the main topic of the book, namely attention. For example, global warming gets a guernsey because it is an important problem, so we should all pay attention to it!. And writing about the marshmallow test as if you're not the 98th person to do so in print is an insult to the reader's intelligence.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5

      Very difficult to get something concrete, practical and useful out of this book (for me).

      1 person found this helpful