The price of your attention

They call it “paying attention” for a reason.

As a woman business owner, there is a value attached to your attention in terms of:

1. Your time;

2. The information you take in; and

3. By default, the activities you are then choosing not to do and information you’re not letting in.

Your attention is one of your most valuable resources.

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Which leads me to…

Threads.

When Instagram exec Adam Mosseri first announced it, I was curious and signed up to be notified.

Then, they did what any smart business would do… they made it insanely easy to create a Threads account by leveraging their built-in Instagram audience.

And I was one of the 50 million that signed up in the first few days.

I started to scroll through to see what others were sharing and to think about what I might want to post.

And I kept scrolling. And after 15 minutes it all felt like too much. Like I might never come out of this wormhole I’d opted to go down.

So, I stopped.

I came to the realization that Threads is yet another platform designed to grab our most precious commodity — our attention.

And I had a choice:

Where do I want to spend this not-to-be-reclaimed commodity?

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This is not a rant against Threads.

I’ve not spent time on Twitter in forever. And I’ve been back on Threads only a couple of times since that first day.

Not out of lack of interesting content, but because there are so many short posts to consume.

Rather, there are other ways I want to spend my time (currency, again).

Everyone (including me) has been saying how fast this year is going by. The days are flying by (it’s already August!).

And as the writer Annie Dillard reminds us:

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.”

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What does your life (and business) say about what you’re doing?

Actively choosing where to put your attention has a significant impact on your business. On your creativity and decision-making, and your results.

With that in mind:

❓ Who are you reading?

❓ What are you listening to?

❓ Who are you talking to?

❓ What are you consciously saying yes to? And no to?

❓ Where are you unconsciously giving away that choice?

I call the last group “attention leaks.”

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Opt for “selective ignorance”.

Here is a way to think about it that helps you reclaim your power.

Author Ozan Varol recently shared a blog post titled, “The art of selective ignorance.” Needless to say, the article resonated, as I’d been thinking about the topic.

In it, he shared:

“Remember: Your mind belongs to you. You get to decide what comes in and who stays. If you’re not intentionally making that decision, someone else is. And that someone else is going to decide based on their best interest—not yours.”

Here’s the link if you’re interested in reading the full post.

I need to remind myself of this daily. And to consciously choose where to put my attention.

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Thank you.

We all try to read (in my case too) many blogs. I appreciate that you’ve spent some of your most precious commodity reading this one.

My goal is to share stories that inform and inspire you on your business journey.

And share offers that meet you where you’re at when the time is right.✨

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