Attention is the new currency. If you’re not focused, you’re broke.

Look around — kids today can’t sit through a book, their focus shattered into a million TikTok fragments. They’re distracted, and let’s face it, adults are no better.

We’re swiping, scrolling, and chasing distractions, unable to live life fully because we’re never truly present.

Here’s my pitch: let’s rewire that brain of yours. Meditation? Yeah, I know it’s not your thing. You need something active, something engaging. So, why not pick up an instrument? Your brain will tune to a higher level of focus and presence.

Trust me, but also verify. Here’s why picking up a musical instrument is the best investment you can make.

Turning you into a focused powerhouse

Researchers from my home country Chile wanted to see how musical training can supercharge your brain’s attentional networks.

Could years spent tickling piano keys or blowing into a saxophone make you better at focusing, shifting your attention, and keeping your cool under pressure?

Scientists gathered 38 adults, 19 professional pianists (the maestros), and 19 non-musicians (the normies). Everyone took the Attention Network Test (ANT), a game in which you have to quickly spot and react to arrows on a screen.

You see a sequence of arrows on a screen and have to quickly indicate the direction of the central arrow by pressing a key. The trick is that the central arrow is flanked by other arrows pointing in either the same or opposite direction.

It measures how fast you can react (alert), how well you can shift your attention (orientation), and how good you are at ignoring distractions to stay focused (executive control).

So, who did better?

Musicians.

They were quicker on the draw, with an average reaction time of 475.86 milliseconds, compared to 513.15 milliseconds for the non-musicians. That’s 7.27% faster.

They also crushed it in the ability to filter out distractions (executive control) with a 38% improvement over non-musicians. They clocked in at 53.83 milliseconds versus the non-musicians at 87.19 milliseconds.

Scientists found a strong correlation between the number of years of musical training and the sharper the executive control. In other words, more practice equals better focus.

So, apart from showing off your piano skills at a party, learning music can spill over into other areas of life, making you quicker and more focused.

Takeaway

Music isn’t just something you listen to while you go to work or at a party — it’s all around us, ready to be embraced.

Grab it and dance with it through an instrument.

You put in the work, and music rewards you with a sharper, more focused brain.

What’s better than being the life of the party, the sexy entertainer who turns heads, and living a life that’s truly present?

Pick up that guitar, sit at that piano, and give yourself the best gift ever — the gift of music.

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