Inane thoughts and insane ramblings

I have to agree with Cohen on this one. When you see someone achieve in a given field, such as sports or science, it isn't just talent. A lot of it had to do with their focus, drive, and motivation, all of which are fruits of attention.

Unfortunately, I don't always pay attention to where I'm "spending" my attention. At least, not in all areas of my life. So I wanted to think about why is that and what are some ways I can get around it.

One of the biggest culprits would be that pesky volitional consciousness, the ability unique to humans that allows us the ability to choose whether or not to think about something. We all go through phases of just going through the motions, putting our mind and lives on autopilot for a while. But when I do that, my attention is being spent randomly at whatever comes along and amuses me. Or a better analogy to stick with Cohen's money reference - When I do that, it's like leaving my wallet on a park bench, allowing whoever to take how much money they feel like.

Another reason that I and many others don't track our attention like we do our money is the perception that it is an endless resource. We track our money because in most of our situations, it is certainly a limited resource. But attention is limited too. I only have 18 waking hours of attention to "pay" each day. I only have so many days left in my lifetime. I only have so much time before windows of opportunity close and become portraits of opportunity lost or memorabilia of regret.

So what are some ways I can refocus those energies spent through attention?

First is the realization that it IS a precious limited resource. That way I will budget my time like I do my money. And an important element of that is being willing to say, "NO! I can't afford that." I need to say no to activities that waste my attention. No to people that drain my time and energy without giving back.

A second way is keeping a journal that I write in everyday. I noticed that Judy over at Talking To Myself was recently doing an exercise "Ten Things I did Today" in her blog. I think that would be a great exercise for me to do in my journal. It is like a checkbook register for tracking how I spend my attention. What I write about is what is on my mind, so obviously it is that to which I have been paying attention. I'm going to try that for the next two weeks just to see how it goes. What will be interesting is whether or not the things I am paying attention to matches the things that I profess are important to me.

In conclusion, I personally need to pay more attention to what I pay attention to. That's not a resolution for the new year....just an observation.

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• #4 Comment from brandilynneliz 
  2/8/08 2:42 PM | Permalink

  hmmm haven't updated over here in a while. : p
• #3 Comment from tschamberland 
  1/14/08 11:34 AM | Permalink

  Lots to chew on here...as usual! :P  
  
  Tammy
  http://journals.aol.com/tschamberland/beliefinfreedom/
• #2 Comment from nhd106 
  1/2/08 7:56 PM | Permalink

  Chris!
  I never knew you had an aol journal.   I find this easier sometimes...so I signed up for alerts.   Is it the same stuff exactly?
  
  Nancy
• #1 Comment from chevyz71gurl74 
  12/30/07 3:45 PM | Permalink

  So true...I think we all could learn from that
  
  Happy New Year Chris
  
  Hugs
  Terri