“With our thoughts we make the world.” – Buddha
I got an email this morning from a marketer who said (something along the lines of)…
“Your attention is being stolen from you.”
Obviously, he’s talking about the way modern media is designed to capture and hold our attention.
But also obviously, he’s wrong.
Your attention isn’t being “stolen” from you, you’re giving it away.
You can take it back any time you want to — and you might want to, since what you put your attention on directly determines the quality of your life.
Here’s the golden rule:
Whatever you put your attention on grows.
Focusing on negative perspectives generates more negative perspectives.
Focusing on the negative aspects of yourself or another a person amplifies those negative aspects.
Focusing on pain and darkness makes your world more dark and painful.
In the same way:
Focusing on positive perspectives generates more positive perspectives.
Focusing on the positive aspects of yourself or another person amplifies those positive aspects.
Focusing on what inspires you makes your world more inspiring.
(side note; this is the basis for tai chi and qigong — energy follows attention, so placing your attention on specific areas of your internal system feeds fresh energy into that area)
And, to make this more practical:
Focusing on your business / relationships / development grows your business, relationships, and you.
Bottom line:
Treat your attention like the most precious resource you have.
It is.
– T
