Focus－The Hidden Driver of Excellence

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, he delves into the science of attention in all its varieties, presenting a long overdue discussion of this little-noticed and under-rated 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' 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.

“Goleman appears to have the measure of his readers. In Focus, he cleverly employs short chapters littered with case studies to engage professionals swimming against a tide of electronic correspondence ... A highly readable manifesto for turning our smartphones off once in a while” – Financial Times

“From the best-selling author of Emotional Intelligence is this collection on attention, about our age of rampant distraction. Goleman says both focused attention and mind-wandering are necessary for well-balanced, insightful brains ... This is a riveting read” – Irish Examiner

“Focus certainly recounts some diverting anecdotes” – Ed Smith, The Times

“Sure to provoke oodles of debate about declining attention spans in the young” – Bookseller