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The Magic of Focus: How Single-Mindedness Leads to Success
Lessons from a childhood trick, history, and nature on the power of concentrated energy.
I was just a boy then, an elementary school student. It was a holiday, and I was playing in the street. By noon, the sun was blazing, and the awning above us crackled under the heat. My friend Ramu came running toward me, excitement gleaming in his eyes.
“I’m going to show you a trick!” he exclaimed, grabbing my hand. “Come with me!”
Curious, I followed him. “What trick? Is it really that amazing?” I asked, my eagerness growing.
Ramu dashed into his house like lightning and emerged with something hidden in his hands. He sat on the awning, and I watched intently, wondering what he was up to. In one hand, he held a thick glass bowl — the base of a glass putty — and in the other, a piece of cotton. He placed the bowl directly under the sunlight streaming through the awning and focused the light on the cotton.
“What’s this trick?” I asked impatiently.
