Our attention is the currency with which we buy the life we desire. Our intentions set the direction. Attention carries it out. Every hour of attention is a purchase. If we spend it decisively on things that move us forward, our lives begin to reflect what we want. Over time, what we give our attention to becomes who we are. But if we waste it passively, we’ll get to the end of our lives having spent it—on what, we won’t be able to say. We’ll feel it slipping away, wasted on nonsense.
Left unchecked, our attention scatters. Directed, it becomes a force. There is more information than ever before. More in five minutes of scrolling than people once encountered in a day. Most of it is designed to capture and hold us. We use our attention to determine its value. When we focus on things that inflame our emotions, we drain ourselves. And when we stare at the past, we don’t change it—we stay there.
We have to be selective about what we allow into our consciousness if we want to construct our lives, rather than suffer them. If what we allow in doesn’t lead to understanding or inspiration, if it doesn’t create a feedback loop that strengthens us, or moves us toward what we’ve chosen to pursue, it’s useless.
When we engage deeply with what produces meaning, it reinforces itself, giving us more to direct toward our aims. Our attention becomes a form of energy we can build or waste. When we build our lives around a generative loop, the quality of our experience changes. We’re directing it, not being carried by it.
Without intent, anything that crosses our path—especially the negative—pulls us in. Destructive emotions deplete our resources and create the lives we don’t want. When pain, fear, rage, and anxiety control our attention, we lose choice. Our attention slips out of our control and turns against us. We become passive, pulled by whatever dominates in the moment.
When we use mind-altering drugs or numbing activities to escape ourselves, we give up our thinking in favor of unconsciousness. We hand our agency over to chaos. It can feel like rebellion, but in reality, it’s surrender. At best, it’s empty; at worst, it’s deadly.
When we’re fully engaged, we are free to direct our attention toward what we want to make of our lives. There’s no internal conflict pulling it elsewhere. What we pay attention to is life-giving. We have more to invest. We don’t feel broke or desperate. We’re not confused. We move where we intend. We’re more confident and curious.
It has never been harder to train our attention to move toward what supports us. There have never been more forces competing for it. But it remains within our control. The more disciplined we are, the less we squander and the easier our lives become. We either exercise our freedom or give it away. What do we intend to spend today’s attention on? That’s what we become.
Quote: I felt good about myself when I was making a film, and when I wasn’t, those scary whispers would start up. It was not fun to be me in between ideas and projects. Steven Spielberg
Song Accompaniment: Double Life, Conor Oberst