Pay Attention To What Matters Most

When we pay attention to what matters most we are living consciously. Think about this statement for a moment. We live in an age where our attention is being constantly being diverted on a daily basis. I was asked the question one day: what is deserving of your attention? Needless to say, I was momentarily stumped. Is this a trick question, or a question that’s just tricky? In the true entrepreneurial spirit I wanted make my business flourish so here’s the list of what matters most.
Okay, so just how did I decide what’s worthy of my attention? Here’s my most valuable list to date, and it is definitely something worth sharing.
Wealth
• Goal setting is an important part of building wealth. When my goals are focused I have a greater chance of turning them into reality. I keep them posted in plain sight, this means where I can see them.
• Manage my debt. When I sink into debt I am doing the opposite of what I should do to achieve real wealth. Best to get it under control.
• Living within my means. Many wealthy people recount sacrifices that were made so they could attain the level of success and financial freedom they now enjoy.
Health
• Buy every product out there, even if you don’t need it. I’m just kidding on this one, but you get the picture, I’m sure. I’m guilty of buying new foods or new exercise equipment especially if pitched by someone’s whose ultra fit. They must be great I think… I saw the ad on TV! I’ll state this now with total conviction, the opposite of impulse buying is taking the time to properly evaluate your purchases. If it’s not nutritious or seems like a fad, I don’t even think about it, anymore.

Wisdom
• Take calculated risks. The flip side of every risk you take in business can be either beneficial or not. If the calculated risk produces an attractive return then by all means I’ll take it.
• Make making ecologically sound choices is both wise and financially sound. You can read about it in David Bach’s book Go Green, Live Rich. Consumer habits determine “the quality if your life.” Environmental awareness is the name of the game these days.
Just thinking about this question in great detail helped me discover what matters most to me and why. This led me to the conclusion that my attention is precious. I noticed that if I want to I can choose to give my attention to just about anything I thought was relevant in my life. I knew I really wanted to focus on my income, and I did that. Additionally, I wanted to give some attention to diet and exercise, going green, and to donating my time to a worthy cause. And you know what? It feels great!
The opposite side of the coin side is that if you don’t make proper choices, your attention will be pulled towards something by default. There will be someone else out there that will make the decision for you. Could be your boss, a family member, an advertiser, the myriad of social influences that exist in today’s society, it won’t be something that you deliberately chose.
When you don’t make these choices yourself, you fall back into unconscious living, and your results will suffer. Living in an unconscious way tends to result in a poor way compared to the results you can get from living consciously.
My attention is a very limited resource, and I don’t have an infinite attention capacity either. I can only give my attention to one item — or at most, a few items — at one time. Attention is a precious resource, and something that I invest in carefully and thoughtfully. When I paid attention to the things that
mattered the most my business started to flourish. So I’ll leave you with the question What is deserving of your attention? It will be interesting to see what comes back!