Focus Under Attack: why your attention demands your attention
If there’s one mindset myth that needs blasting into oblivion, it’s this: That high performance boils down to drive, grit and determination. Now, I’m not for a moment diminishing the role that these factors play in achievement. They are indeed critical to success. (I will, however, argue to my grave that they have little to do with personality – but we’ll save that for another day.) From the moment we step foot in a classroom, we’re conditioned to believe that if you have these ‘traits’, you’ll go far. And if you lack them? You must hold yourself to account when you underachieve. (I still recall the sting of the school report that said, “Nicole could do brilliantly in maths if she was as motivated and dedicated to learning as she is to talking.”) This comforting, simplistic narrative follows us into adulthood and we perpetuate it without questioning its validity, because it seems to make sense. But from my perspective as a performance expert, it misses the most critical part of the puzzle – the part that drive, grit and determination always struggle to override… Attention. In short, attention is your brain’s capacity to zone in on one thing, for long enough to do it to the standard you need. Sounds easy, right? But for many high achievers, attention is surprisingly difficult to maintain. I call this the peak performance paradox and I see it repeatedly in the experts I support. Highly ambitious, capable people with strong values, a deep sense of purpose, solid strategies and a good growth mindset. They do the ‘inner work’, they know their worth, and yet still, they can’t shake the feeling they are fulfilling just a fraction of their full potential. When we dig into it, the peak performance paradox almost always bounces back to focus. It makes sense when you think about it. When was the last time your working day had zero distractions? No rolling to-do lists looping in your mind? No habitual checking of emails or messages? No back-to-back calls? No frantic task switching? Ask yourself: when did you last have the space you really need to think, plan or create? It sounds almost luxurious. Sadly, our on-demand culture is engineered against it. Even the very objects designed to save us time and effort compete for our attention in exactly the same spaces. Just last week, for example, I wasted fifteen minutes locating a message because the sender communicates through text, messenger, social media, email and voice notes. It may sound extreme, but it’s worryingly common. This means your attention is often divided between multiple things – all at once. For high-achievers, that pressure is extra intense because expert-level performance comes with greater responsibility, higher expectations, and a constant need to over-deliver. This fragmented attention quietly rewires your brain away from peak performance. However, the effects are so gradual, that it’s easily mistaken for other things. (Think stress, menopause, tiredness and even conditions like dementia.) The good news? Attention is a trainable mental system that everyone can improve. It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, or even if you have attention challenges such as ADHD. Every single person can train their brain to improve their baseline of attention. Focus Isn’t Something You Have – It’s Something You Do It starts with understanding that attention isn’t something you’re born with, it’s something you do. Neuroscience shows us that it’s a dynamic neural system governed by executive control networks in the brain. It sounds complex, but in plain English it means that your ability to focus is far more influenced by mental load, environment and training than by your genetics. Let me illustrate this with my favourite example. My son is autistic. Like many neurodivergent people, he can hyperfocus. I’ll never cease to marvel at how deeply he can concentrate if he’s motivated by something. He can sustain attention for hours – even days – going far beyond what most of us could manage. (I’m not saying this is always a positive thing. The neurodivergent brain can just as easily hyperfocus on the ‘wrong’ thing – which I’ve discovered to my own peril.) But even my son’s ability cannot override the distractions. All it takes is a noisy environment, sensory overload or a niggling worry to snap him right out of it. The same is true for you. Motivation and stamina can only take you so far, the conditions have to be right for your attention to lock in. The trouble is, most of us are unaware of what those conditions are. Because attention is about capacity. No matter how much you want to achieve something, if your attention is fragmented – bouncing between tasks either physically or mentally – sustained focus becomes almost impossible. Yet this is how most of us now operate: flitting, multitasking and reacting from one moment to the next. It’s tempting to give into this juggling and see it as a sign of your competence. But research shows that repeated multitasking weakens the brain’s ability to sustain attention, even for the most capable and goal-oriented people. (Shanmugasundaram, 2023). The constant task switching chips away at your ability to concentrate by literally reshaping your brain. If determination, grit and motivation were the most important drivers of performance, highly driven people, just like you, would be protected from this effect. But no one’s immune. This simplistic myth prevents high achievers from identifying the real issue that’s holding them back – and from dealing with it like an expert. Focus under pressure There’s another major factor eroding your focus – and it’s one you’re likely far too familiar with. Pressure. Most high achievers are adept at performing under pressure. You may feel it sharpens your thinking and boosts your motivation – and to a degree, you’d be right. A little stress is like a kick up the bum for your brain. (I’ll admit, I totally need a tight deadline to deliver good work.) But pressure is a double-edged