This week’s conversation is with bestselling author, Dr. John Ratey, an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an internationally recognized expert in Neuropsychiatry.

He has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles, and 11 books published in 17 languages, including the groundbreaking ADD-ADHD “Driven to Distraction” series with Ned Hallowell.

With the publication of "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain," Dr. Ratey has established himself as one of the world's foremost authorities on the brain-fitness connection.

His most recent book, “Go Wild” explores how we can achieve optimal physical and mental health by getting in touch with our caveman roots, and how we can “re-wild” our lives.

Recognized by his peers as one of the Best Doctors in America since 1997, Dr. Ratey was recently honored by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society as "Outstanding Psychiatrist of the Year" for advancing the field.

John is an expert in human focus and especially in this day and age, it’s one of the most valuable skills we can train.

For those of you who are longtime Finding Mastery listeners, you may have noticed a question I like to ask is: “Where do you feel it in your body?”

That’s one of John’s favorite questions and it highlights what this conversation is really about: attention.

It starts with paying attention to your internal states of arousal.

We discuss how arousal states, motivations, and the prefrontal cortex all play a role in making someone an expert at focusing.

Being skilled at focusing goes hand-in-hand with being present and John shares some of his strategies for being present more often.

This conversation is rich with insight and I hope it makes you more aware of your triggers for focusing deeply.

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