In today's post I'd to share an observation that I made when it comes to attention.
You may already know that we are living in an attention economy and that our attention is the real currency.
And
also that every big company out there is spending Billions of Dollars on R&D to find ways to maximize the time they can retain their audience's attention.
So you get it.
Your attention IS the currency, and paper dollars are just the material representation of it.
So here's the thing about attention that I noticed:
When other people's attention is constantly fixated on you, your EXTERNAL world grows.
When your attention is constantly fixated on you, your INTERNAL world grows.
Here's what I mean by that:
Take for example an actor- let's say Jim Carry. We know that he came from a very humble beginnings. His father had lost his job and they were living out of a camper van for a time.
But then he got into acting career.
When he started acting, he started getting other people's attention. People liked his acting and so he constantly had their attention fixated on him.
That's when his external world i.e. his material reality started to grow- he got all the wealth, fame and riches he ever desired and more.
His external world grew. Same goes for all the sportpersons, actors and brands as well eg. Apple.
Now let's take another example. This time of a Buddhist monks.
They don't have the world's attention on them. But they have their own attention completely fixated on themselves.
Do you notice them being extremely wealthy or driving sports cars? Not at all.
All that they own is an orange piece of garb.
But by talking to them you will know that they have gained complete mastery over themselves.
Their inner world has grown so much that they have even achieved the ability to stop their heartbeat at will- not something that even the richest celebrity can boast about being able to do.
Not just that, they would have achieved a lot of other capabilities that you and ai wouldn't even imagine.
So, do you see the difference?
In one case they have external attention which grows their external world.
In the other case they have their own attention which grows their inner world.
You can choose what kind of attention you prefer and act accordingly in the world.
You will also reap the fruits accordingly.
Which reminds me of an interesting video I came across on YouTube recently. Seems to be thoroughly researched.
You must watch this:
