I love this. For better or worse, attention is a zero-sum game and its checkbook must always be balanced.
Paying attention to crap not only takes away from your ability to tune into things that bring wonder and delight, but also actually erodes your working memory.
As I wrote: “I find myself doing this increasingly often—I pick up my phones to check the time or weather, see a notification, tap it, and suddenly I’m entirely derailed.
The thought dissolves.
The intention vanishes.
The thread is gone.
My internal monologue goes something like this: Wait…what was I doing again?
Answer:
Nothing.
Everything.
Whatever the machine told me to.
“Distracted from distraction by distraction,” as T.S. Eliot would say.”
I've been pretty successful at tuning things out as I've gotten older, with the exception of the people closest to me, the ones I care about most. What they think matters to me, and it's challenging to stay neutral or unaffected. I understand that this is quite normal, so I give myself some grace about it. But I do get frustrated with myself when I find myself slipping into codependent behavior instead of detaching. The other problem is people who get in my face, my space. I have a neighbor who has no concept of boundaries, and my unease lingers far too long after an encounter. Otherwise I do pretty good... probably because I keep to myself as much as possible 😆
"Hold yourself to the standards you expect of the person you’re becoming". This is the ultimate growth hack. Not only are you raising your ceiling of expectation, but also uncovering the person you are meant to be along the way, and that ceiling keeps getting higher. It's a win-win.
I love this. For better or worse, attention is a zero-sum game and its checkbook must always be balanced.
Paying attention to crap not only takes away from your ability to tune into things that bring wonder and delight, but also actually erodes your working memory.
As I wrote: “I find myself doing this increasingly often—I pick up my phones to check the time or weather, see a notification, tap it, and suddenly I’m entirely derailed.
The thought dissolves.
The intention vanishes.
The thread is gone.
My internal monologue goes something like this: Wait…what was I doing again?
Answer:
Nothing.
Everything.
Whatever the machine told me to.
“Distracted from distraction by distraction,” as T.S. Eliot would say.”
More: https://www.whitenoise.email/p/we-built-the-neuralyzer-from-men
I've been pretty successful at tuning things out as I've gotten older, with the exception of the people closest to me, the ones I care about most. What they think matters to me, and it's challenging to stay neutral or unaffected. I understand that this is quite normal, so I give myself some grace about it. But I do get frustrated with myself when I find myself slipping into codependent behavior instead of detaching. The other problem is people who get in my face, my space. I have a neighbor who has no concept of boundaries, and my unease lingers far too long after an encounter. Otherwise I do pretty good... probably because I keep to myself as much as possible 😆
this made me feel better. thank you
"Hold yourself to the standards you expect of the person you’re becoming". This is the ultimate growth hack. Not only are you raising your ceiling of expectation, but also uncovering the person you are meant to be along the way, and that ceiling keeps getting higher. It's a win-win.
This has healed a part of me. I really needed it.
Thank you. I needed this a great deal. 👌🏻✨