In It for Life: Maximizing Longevity
By Tim Lybarger
ATTENTION!
There are only three things in life to manage: Time, energy and attention.
Attention is the most important of the three. It is the key to a fulfilling and satisfying life – at any age.
Let’s take a look at why.
Time
Time may be defined as, “a unit of possibility.” That is, with in any period of time, we are granted the possibility to influence and be influenced by what happens; what we experience, how we respond, and what we create with the opportunities granted us. When my feet hit the floor in the morning, I have day ahead of me filled with new possibility. To gain more influence over a day of possibility, many of us have the practice of breaking it down into smaller, more manageable chunks – like one hour at a time.
But it’s not really time we manage. It’s the allocation of our energy.
Energy
Think of yourself as a battery with only so much energy to expend throughout the day. My Garmin smartwatch actually has an instrument that measures my “Body Battery.” It analyzes signals from my heart to calculate how much of my energy is drained by stress and physical effort throughout the day as well as how much is charged through rest and renewal activities. Fully charged, I’m at 100%. Fall below 25% and I’m in the red zone. Time to unplug from life for a while!
That brings us to the single most important asset at our disposal – the key to the quality of our lives.
Attention
It is through our attention that we direct the energy available to us within the precious units of possibility (time), to create the realities of our lives. Attention is in effect, life itself.
The goal for maximizing the quality of our lives is to gain deliberate control over our attention so that we do not squander our limited energy on things that are distractions rather than what we really care most about.
Simple enough, but not so easy in practice.
Focus
Here’s the thing. Our attention is so valuable that others wish to attract as much of it as they can, most often to their own benefit instead of ours. To them, our attention is called “mindshare.” It is the foundation of their business models – how they make money. The more of our mindshare they can capture, the more valuable a product they have for their true customers — the advertisers — and, the more revenue they can generate.
Some of the best minds in the world are hard at work designing distractions that are intended to engage, capture, and addict us to their voices, so that they can make money from it. The biggest offenders are digital devices and platforms, social media, 24-hour news media, radio and television. Their most effective strategy is to generate an emotional state of outrage, which keeps us coming back — and increases our stress, which draws down our Body Batteries.
Choice
Responsibility (or the ability to respond rather than react to life) is the source of all freedom. Our ability to deliberately choose where to invest our attention will, in great measure, determine how we experience the world and hence, the quality of our lives.
What kind of life would you choose to have for the rest of your days? Where would you choose to invest your most precious asset — your attention?
It’s your choice.
Image courtesy pexels.com
