What do you ‘pay’ attention to?
Your attention is your most precious and limited resource. When you “pay” attention to something, you effectively buy that experience in exchange for your time and energy. When we’re selective with our focus, and we spend time giving our energy to what we want more of in our life, we see that experience begin to materialize.
Often, we realize that time spent on our devices is distracting, but we don’t understand the full extent to which it’s holding us back. We get in the habit of filling our days tending to what feels most urgent, and/or what’s right in front of us often at the expense of contemplating and prioritizing mid to long term goals. It’s not necessarily about using your phone less, it’s about creating space for more of what moves us toward a meaningful and fulfilled life.
There’s good news and bad news.
The good news: Studies show that cognitive control (the ability to place your attention where you want it, and keep it there until you decide to move it) is the most significant predictor of success - more impactful than your IQ or your family’s wealth. The ability to learn, work and think deeply/problem solve all depend on strong cognitive control. If you can strengthen your ability to focus in a world where everyone is distracted, you have a tremendous advantage.
“You never know what you can do until you try, and very few try unless they have to” - C.S. Lewis
The bad news: It’s been estimated that we’re currently living in a $7T attention (more accurately “distraction”) economy. Smart people with sophisticated technology are designing tech to be as intrusive and addictive as possible - by design. But the reality is, it’s not just advertisers who desire our attention. Even our employers, friends and family can begin to feel entitled to our attention. It’s the expectation for prompt responses to texts and emails, or responding on gChat regardless of what you’re in the middle of at work. It’s the glorification of multitasking and our addiction to “on demand”. You’ve got a worthy opponent.
If you don’t choose where you want to place your attention, someone else will choose for you. The question becomes, what is your attention worth to you? What might you be capable of if you reclaimed some of it?
Coaching creates intentional space for guided discovery of what you value, what holds you back, what energizes you and what you desire. It’s space to connect with who you are at your best, and to chart a path forward to embodying that version of yourself.