Hi Friend
Another week where I was gone for most of it. La Jolla and Vegas split my four days. I was attending another one-day Masterclass for professional speakers. I’ve cultivated a few great relationships, both new and old. I like being around other people who do what I do, but in entirely different ways. It’s fascinating to see the variety of approaches to this business.
I was in Vegas with a client I’ve done work with the last two years. I did an activity within the message I haven’t done for a long time (Except in December when I was in Montana for the other half of their employees). It’s always fun to incorporate an activity within my Keynote conversations. I like a good disruption.
Probably the most humorous thing was when my good friend Jess and I walked to the Pacific Ocean. We had to venture down a treacherous trail while lots of people hang-glided overhead. There were a few random people on the beach AND ONE NAKED GUY sunning himself. The valet told us before we left it was a naked beach, but I thought he was joking. He.Was.Not.
It’s curious how one lingering thought can dominate everything else. I waded into the ocean. I gazed in amazement at the gliders. I soaked in the breeze and sun… and yet there was this continual awareness, despite the majesty surrounding me, that a dude’s private body parts were visibly exposed in my vicinity.
ATTENTION MAGNETS
Granted Jess and I didn’t walk close to him or look in his direction. The power of the distraction was simply knowing he was there. We live in a world that promotes an Attention Economy. Everyone is vying for people to look at them. Businesses have been advertising for decades (maybe centuries) to get buyer’s attention. Social media turned individuals into entities.
What captured my attention though, wasn’t him walking in front of me (thank the lord). It was simply the awareness he existed in my space. I suspect there are people, situations, scenarios, thoughts and decisions that aren’t immediately in our view, but their presence is like a magnet that keeps drawing us to it, disabling our focus.
THE MATERIAL INVISIBLE
It’s frustrating when our prioritized intentions are diverted by an invisible being living in our mind. I heard one of the speakers this week say that thoughts aren’t intangible. When we have them, something like protons gather and the neural pathway that forms is tangible. It exists in the material world, in our brain. (that’s my interpretation of what they said, don’t quote me).
Often that distraction is only visible to you. Consider, when we find ourselves disappointed with others because of their procrastination or inexplicable lack of execution, it’s quite likely there is a naked man on the beach of their mind! As with all thoughts that hide in the ether of the grey matter, the way to expunge them is to articulate them out loud.
Instigating Ideas…
1. Spend time with people who do what you do.
2. Identify a naked-man-thought lingering that you haven’t dealt with.
3. Track where your mind wanders this week.
4. Praise someone who stays focused and executes.
Because I am in business, I’m curious about how to intentionally achieve this subtle subduing of attention. I regularly feel like I have many things to contribute to humanity from a singular perspective that is uncommon. However, it feels like every other human is trying to offer their perspective too; blatantly, directly and constantly. I’m not terribly interested in that style.
INTENTIONALLY SUBTLE
How can I fashion an approach to delivering meaningful messages that lodge in the hearts and minds of people? I don’t want to be a distraction, but a layer of confidence someone accesses because it’s stealthily inserted into the periphery of their cognitive consciousness. #Goals
I don’t have a solution. Maybe you do? How can you fashion influence indirectly that captures someone’s imagination in the most positive ways… without it being a naked man on the beach?
I hope this week you are hyper-aware of the hidden thoughts that distract your focus, drain your energy and delay your execution. When discovered, share it with someone to eliminate its daunting effectiveness.