Concentration Cycles: A President’s Example

“Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.”

—No. 110 from Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation

The Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior are ascribed to George Washington, but not because he originated the list, which was already over 130 years old when his tutor assigned it to him as a penmanship assignment. Presumably, during those intervening 130 years, he was not the only school boy set to copying it by his tutor; surely others had longhanded the little statements as well.

What he did do was keep the list handy, making it part of his real life, rather than treating it like a school assignment. He did not pack it away in a bundle of forgotten school papers or throw it out once he received his mark. He reviewed it regularly, and made it part of his continued improvement as an adult.

When I first heard about his list, too long ago to remember how or where, it was in the context of his reviewing one of the little maxims each day in a cyclical fashion. I can only hope he truly did so, because the concept of attending daily to a different facet of life that would otherwise be so easy to neglect was the impetus for building cycles of concentration for myself. I certainly like to think that the gracious, unoccupied-with-self Washington, who so wisely set precedents for the following presidents, contributed to my better thinking about time!

“Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for ‘is better to be alone than in bad Company.” No. 56

Setting Up a Helpful Concentration Cycle

His list certainly met all the criteria for a good cycle of concentration:

• The list was easy to refer to once collated, and could receive attention quickly regardless of other happenings.
• It was maintained in a simple to keep handy written form.
• It was kept useful by a decision to review it systematically on a schedule determined by the list-maker.
• It was a list of items that could easily be forgotten in busy times, but were kept present  in the mind by being on the list.

Personal Accountability Grows Us All

In fact, you might say that the ease with which they could be set aside, overlooked, neglected, or set on the shelf by a busy, important person could be completely understood and excused by anyone. His regular attention to what he could easily ignore became part of his latent store of quality that made him exceptional in character and conduct.

“In the Presence of Others Sing not to yourself with a humming Noise, nor Drum with your Fingers or Feet.”  No. 4

So it’s early in a new year. Resolutions are fresh. How about tackling one of your resolutions in a cycle way? Is it possible that a resolution might not become forgotten in a few days or weeks if it becomes part of a cycle for attention?

(P.S. A simple Google search  of George Washington’s Rules of Civility will net you several complete lists of the rules and any of a number of books containing the list, if you’d like to own a copy, or give one to a young man to copy, or at least try to read. While you are thinking today about what could receive cycles of attention in your life, you can enrich yourself with  a peek at the mundane building blocks our first president used to deepen his character.)