If you are unable to be fully involved in your task

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Question (Q): Sir, you always emphasize on total involvement in any task one takes up, but in our lives, we experience a constant state of flux. So my question is, how to remain centered amid all ups and downs and remain involved in my tasks?

Acharya Prashanth (AP): The task has to be overwhelming enough. You cannot say that you want to remain fully immersed in any task amidst the ups and downs of life and all the changes, all the flux. That won’t happen. You must have something utterly important at your hand. It must be something that is so overpowering that it demands your entire energy, the weight of your total self. Only then will you be able to remain dedicated irrespective of all the distractions and all the movements around you.

So the question has to be reworded. You have to be very clear about what your task should be. It is a very common fallacy you see, people often say, “I want to remain committed to my work, my task, my profession, or my studies or whatever, my resolutions. I want to stick to all these things, but I lose track. I start feeling distracted.” And then their entire curiosity is about how not to get distracted.