Do It With All Your Attention

Do it if you decide to — just do it with all your attention.

Following the Packers improbable win against the Cardinals, I was excited to watch Aaron Rodgers’s post-game press conference. Typically I watch this while doing other things, meaning I’m distracting myself from something else and not receiving the full pleasure of watching something I enjoy.

I came to the conclusion that either something is important enough to give it my full attention or it’s not. We all have to decide for ourselves what and who deserves our attention and then determine what we can do to direct our full attention on what or whoever that is.

A client has inspired me to increase the consistency and intensity of my meditation. In doing so, I’m seeing with increasing frequency just how distracted I am. We think we can do so many things at once. We can’t.

At any one time we can only place our attention on one thing. During meditation it’s about keeping focus on one’s breath as opposed to drifting off into rumination or endless thoughts. While it’s with people we love it’s choosing to be present and engaged over what’s available on our phone.

I have a long journey ahead. The more I meditate, the more I notice these choice points. I miss countless opportunities per day, but I celebrate the times where I could’ve let myself get distracted from the people I love and things I care about, but instead placed my attention with intention.

Especially now, if we can cultivate our attention, we’ll have a superpower that few others can harness.

In the grand scheme of things, post-game press conferences are, of course, not important. What is important is deciding what and who matters to you while cultivating the focus required to direct your attention towards what and who is important to you for the amount of time you deem appropriate.

Deciding what’s important to me and more consistently bringing my attention to those things that matter to me is the challenge I’ve given myself. And, if you’re excited by this challenge too, I invite you to join me.