Copyright Fast Company
Japanese psychology often likens attention to a flashlight. Wherever you shine this flashlight is where your focus and energy go. However, problems can arise when people shine this flashlight inwards for too long. They focus obsessively on their thoughts and emotions, and particularly those related to things outside of their control. Another common tendency that causes problems is shining the flashlight on other people’s behavior, the past, or the future. These are all inherently uncontrollable areas. Worrying about these factors can lead to a mental loop where it seems impossible to find solutions. When you start fixating on past events you can’t change, it can lead to feelings of guilt, regret, and depression. Similarly, focusing excessively on the future and constantly trying to predict and prevent every possible negative outcome can lead to anxiety. A powerful example In a 2020 study by Lucas LaFreniere and Michelle Newman, the researchers asked participants with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) to track their worries over time through a journal. When they then looked back on those journal entries, they found that 91.4 per cent of their worries never came true. What’s even more striking is that 30 per cent of the worries that did come true turned out better than expected. The implications of this study are profound. We waste the vast majority of the mental energy we invest in worrying. That’s because the vast majority of the time, the outcomes we feared either don’t happen or aren’t as bad as we anticipate. Subscribe to the Daily newsletter.Fast Company's trending stories delivered to you every day Privacy Policy | Fast Company Newsletters This research underscores the importance—whenever possible—of redirecting the flashlight of attention. You need to shift from uncontrollable, anxiety-inducing thoughts to more practical, solution-oriented thinking. Attention in the world of high performance I recently co-authored a research paper called Building a transdisciplinary expert consensus on the cognitive drivers of performance under pressure: An international multi-panel Delphi study. The study focused on identifying the cognitive elements of performance in high-pressure situations, including the military, first responders, upper echelons of business, and competitive sport. The study included 68 experts from the military, elite sport, high-stakes business, and performance neuroscience. Our task was to identify the cognitive drivers under pressure and rate them in order of importance. Across those four high-performance fields, the experts unanimously ranked attentional control as the most critical trainable skill for thriving under pressure. More than processing speed, more than working memory, more than effort, they identified attentional control as the number one driver of performance under pressure. That’s because attention is the brain’s gatekeeper. It dictates what we notice, how we feel, and, ultimately, how we behave. If there are things hijacking your attention, whether that be notifications, headlines, or other distractions, you lose the ability to act with intention. Practical exercises for shifting the flashlight of attention Here are some quick tips to shift the flashlight of your attention: 1. Zones of control exercise On a piece of paper, draw two circles. In circle 1, write down everything you can control about a problem. In circle 2, list what’s outside of your control. Focus your energy solely on circle 1, which is what you can control, and do your best to let go of circle 2. 2. Attentional flashlight practice Imagine your attention as a flashlight. Throughout the day, periodically pause and ask yourself: Where am I shining my flashlight? Is it focused on something productive and within my control, or is it caught in rumination or worry about uncontrollable events? 3. Social media detox Take a break from social media for a day or a week. Use this time to observe how much better you feel when you’re not comparing yourself to others. Replace your social media time with activities that enrich your life, whether that be exercise, reading, or spending time with loved ones. 4. The news headlines challenge Set a timer for five minutes. Read today’s news headlines on your preferred website (don’t click through to articles). List each headline in two columns: zone 1, ‘Can I directly influence this?’, and zone 2, ‘Outside my control’. Notice how the zone 2 column is likely full while the zone 1 control column is nearly empty. This isn’t about avoiding important issues—it’s about recognizing where you can spend your energy in a productive way. Focus on local actions you can take rather than global problems you have no way of solving. 5. Mindful breathing Spend five to ten minutes each day practising mindful breathing. This exercise helps redirect attention from racing thoughts and worries to the present moment. This grounds you in what you can control, which is your breath and your immediate surroundings. 6. Attentional audit exercise Grab a blank page and write out a list of categories for how you spend your time. Record every purposeful activity, social media, TV or streaming, ruminating or worrying in your own head, exercise/movement, meaningful connections, and hobbies or meaningful activities. Estimate how much time you spent on each category in the last 24 hours. Finally, sketch this as a heat map, using circles of red or orange for activities of high attention, and blue or green circles for low-attention activities. Make sure the size of the circles reflects the time spent. Are you happy with your heat map? If you have a partner and/or kids, this activity is worthwhile doing it together, and then using your heat maps as discussion prompts for what makes a meaningful life. Attentional deployment is about redirecting your focus away from the unhelpful and toward the helpful. Attention is your mental currency, so spend it wisely and don’t waste it on worrying about things that are beyond your control. Japanese psychology often likens attention to a flashlight. Wherever you shine this flashlight is where your focus and energy go. However, problems can arise when people shine this flashlight inwards for too long. They focus obsessively on their thoughts and emotions, and particularly those related to things outside of their control. Another common tendency that causes problems is shining the flashlight on other people’s behavior, the past, or the future. These are all inherently uncontrollable areas. Worrying about these factors can lead to a mental loop where it seems impossible to find solutions. When you start fixating on past events you can’t change, it can lead to feelings of guilt, regret, and depression. Similarly, focusing excessively on the future and constantly trying to predict and prevent every possible negative outcome can lead to anxiety. A powerful example In a 2020 study by Lucas LaFreniere and Michelle Newman, the researchers asked participants with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) to track their worries over time through a journal. When they then looked back on those journal entries, they found that 91.4 per cent of their worries never came true. What’s even more striking is that 30 per cent of the worries that did come true turned out better than expected. The implications of this study are profound. We waste the vast majority of the mental energy we invest in worrying. That’s because the vast majority of the time, the outcomes we feared either don’t happen or aren’t as bad as we anticipate. advertisement This research underscores the importance—whenever possible—of redirecting the flashlight of attention. You need to shift from uncontrollable, anxiety-inducing thoughts to more practical, solution-oriented thinking. Attention in the world of high performance I recently co-authored a research paper called Building a transdisciplinary expert consensus on the cognitive drivers of performance under pressure: An international multi-panel Delphi study. The study focused on identifying the cognitive elements of performance in high-pressure situations, including the military, first responders, upper echelons of business, and competitive sport. The study included 68 experts from the military, elite sport, high-stakes business, and performance neuroscience. Our task was to identify the cognitive drivers under pressure and rate them in order of importance. Across those four high-performance fields, the experts unanimously ranked attentional control as the most critical trainable skill for thriving under pressure. More than processing speed, more than working memory, more than effort, they identified attentional control as the number one driver of performance under pressure. That’s because attention is the brain’s gatekeeper. It dictates what we notice, how we feel, and, ultimately, how we behave. If there are things hijacking your attention, whether that be notifications, headlines, or other distractions, you lose the ability to act with intention. Practical exercises for shifting the flashlight of attention Here are some quick tips to shift the flashlight of your attention: 1. Zones of control exercise On a piece of paper, draw two circles. In circle 1, write down everything you can control about a problem. In circle 2, list what’s outside of your control. Focus your energy solely on circle 1, which is what you can control, and do your best to let go of circle 2. 2. Attentional flashlight practice Imagine your attention as a flashlight. Throughout the day, periodically pause and ask yourself: Where am I shining my flashlight? Is it focused on something productive and within my control, or is it caught in rumination or worry about uncontrollable events? 3. Social media detox Take a break from social media for a day or a week. Use this time to observe how much better you feel when you’re not comparing yourself to others. Replace your social media time with activities that enrich your life, whether that be exercise, reading, or spending time with loved ones. 4. The news headlines challenge Set a timer for five minutes. Read today’s news headlines on your preferred website (don’t click through to articles). List each headline in two columns: zone 1, ‘Can I directly influence this?’, and zone 2, ‘Outside my control’. Notice how the zone 2 column is likely full while the zone 1 control column is nearly empty. This isn’t about avoiding important issues—it’s about recognizing where you can spend your energy in a productive way. Focus on local actions you can take rather than global problems you have no way of solving. 5. Mindful breathing Spend five to ten minutes each day practising mindful breathing. This exercise helps redirect attention from racing thoughts and worries to the present moment. This grounds you in what you can control, which is your breath and your immediate surroundings. 6. Attentional audit exercise Grab a blank page and write out a list of categories for how you spend your time. Record every purposeful activity, social media, TV or streaming, ruminating or worrying in your own head, exercise/movement, meaningful connections, and hobbies or meaningful activities. Estimate how much time you spent on each category in the last 24 hours. Finally, sketch this as a heat map, using circles of red or orange for activities of high attention, and blue or green circles for low-attention activities. Make sure the size of the circles reflects the time spent. Are you happy with your heat map? If you have a partner and/or kids, this activity is worthwhile doing it together, and then using your heat maps as discussion prompts for what makes a meaningful life. Attentional deployment is about redirecting your focus away from the unhelpful and toward the helpful. Attention is your mental currency, so spend it wisely and don’t waste it on worrying about things that are beyond your control. Excerpted from The Hardiness Effect: Grow From Stress, Optimise Health, Live Longer. Copyright © 2025 by Dr Paul Taylor. Available from Wiley.
