Kuala Lampur, Aug. 31 -- AUG 31 - Malaysia is free. That part is history. But personal freedom is a different matter.

If a notification can break your concentration, a comment can ruin your day, anger can make your decisions and entertainment can keep you from doing what you already know must be done, then your mind is not free. It belongs to whatever reaches it first.

The Prime Minister spoke about it this Merdeka about jiwa merdeka. I agree. But a free spirit still needs a trained mind. Otherwise, it remains something we celebrate every August without applying it to how we live, work and lead.

In high performance, we call it cognitive control. It involves executive functions such as working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive fl...