This week's book: "Hyperfocus" by Chris Bailey.
"Attention without intention is wasted energy."
Chris Bailey
I was unfocused, and I was getting nowhere.
I've never believed in multitasking. Some people proudly call themselves great multitaskers. I've always been skeptical. Sure, you can walk and talk at once. But when something really matters, it deserves your full attention. You can do a lot of things in a day. You just can't give your best to all of them at the same time.
Funny thing is, a few years ago I caught myself doing my own version of multitasking.
After I finished running a nonprofit golf charity, I spent a few years trying to figure out what came next. Invest in real estate. Start a business services company. Get a regular job. Buy a small contracting business. Maybe head back to the Chicago Board of Trade.
I wasn't doing all of those things. But I was thinking about all of them, and researching all of them. A lot. They were all good ideas. That was part of the problem, they were good enough to keep me circling, and not one of them ever got my whole attention.
All the while, All Star Mentors sat there in the background. I'd already written the first version of the All Star Mentors Playbook, printed up dozens of copies, and handed them out to family. The idea was good. I just hadn't committed to it, because I was still keeping four other doors propped open.
Eventually I had to ask myself one honest question. What actually deserves my attention?
The answer, when I finally sat still long enough to hear it, was simple. I wanted to build something that helped people become better versions of themselves.
So I stopped chasing five different futures and chose one.
That's when I became hyperfocused on All Star Mentors.
Chris Bailey's point in this week's book is exactly this. Our attention is limited. Spread it across too many things, even good things, and you can't give your best to any of them. And notice the word he used: intention. I had plenty of attention those few years. What I lacked was intention, a single direction to focus on. Attention without intention, as Bailey says, is just wasted energy. That was me, spinning like a top.
Choosing All Star Mentors didn't guarantee it would work. It still doesn't. But it gave my attention somewhere to go, and I'll never find out where this leads if I'm looking in five other directions.
One thing to try today
Make a list of the things pulling at your attention right now, the projects, the maybes, the someday ideas. Then ask the honest question: which one of these deserves my attention right now? You don't have to abandon the rest forever. You just have to choose what to focus on first. Attention is finite. Intention is how you spend it.
So here's the question I had to answer, and I'll leave it with you: what's the one thing you'd focus on if you weren't looking in a bunch of other directions? What is it that deserves your attention?
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Mike
Practical wisdom for the life you're building