So much of our attention gets tangled up in what other people are doing.
We track breaking news, wonder what so-and-so meant by that text, scroll through endless feeds, or monitor stock prices like we’re mission control.
When you’re always looking outward, you become a spectator in your own life—stuck on the sidelines, watching others play the game, and reacting to their moves instead of making your own.
Now, imagine taking all that energy back.
What would happen if you gave yourself the attention you’ve been giving away to others so freely?
People often say your most valuable resource is your time or your money.
But I disagree.
Your most valuable resource is your attention. Moment by moment, your reality is shaped by what you choose to focus on. Wherever you direct your focus, that’s where your energy flows—like a magnifying glass concentrating sunlight until it catches fire.
The more you scatter your attention outward, the dimmer your inner fire becomes. But when you gather it internally, you ignite something really powerful within yourself.
Instead of starting each day by asking, What’s happening out there?, ask yourself:
- What new thing will I learn about myself today?
- What part of me needs my attention?
- What stories am I running on autopilot that need rewriting?
When you do this, you’ll start noticing what you’ve been too distracted to see. A whisper of a breakthrough idea. A desire you forgot you had. A piece of wisdom that only you could discover.
Here’s the thing: No one can compete with you at being you. You’re the first and the last time that you’ll ever happen. If your thinking is an extension of you—if what you’re building is a product of your own genius—you’ll be in a league of your own.
To awaken your genius, start by reclaiming your attention. Here’s a quick exercise I learned from my friend Zoe Graman. Close your eyes and imagine every bit of your attention as a laser beam shooting in a hundred directions—toward social media, emails, news updates, or future worries. Now, one by one, start pulling those beams back in, as if reeling in fishing lines. Feel each one returning to its source, until all your focus is gathered and centered on you.
Feel that? That’s your power. That’s the fuel you’ve been scattering everywhere else, now coming home where it belongs.
This isn’t about shutting the world out. It’s about meeting it differently—grounded, intentional, curious about your own experience first.
Your life will change when you make this shift. When you own your attention, you stop operating on autopilot. Your actions stop being reactions—they become choices. The outside world no longer controls your next move. You do.
Because the life you want? The things you dream of building?
They won’t come from watching someone else’s story unfold. They start the moment you decide to pay attention to yourself.
The world will still be there when you look up again.
But for now, it can wait.
Because you’ve got something far more interesting to explore: you.
P.S. If this post resonated with you, there’s so much more waiting for you in my Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Awaken Your Genius.
It’s filled with practical insights to help you reclaim your attention, reconnect with yourself, and unlock the unique brilliance only you can offer.
Every week, I receive life-changing stories from readers who were transformed by the book. Here’s a flavor:
✨ “After reading this book, I immediately sent a text to five of my closest friends and said, ‘You must stop what you are doing and get this book!’”
🌟 “I’m reading Awaken Your Genius just now and can’t put it down. Most self-help and business books can be summarized in less than 5 pages. This is not one of them.”
💫 “I was inspired to start my Instagram page after reading Awaken Your Genius. A year later I now have almost 30k followers and have really taken my birdwatching hobby places that I never thought it would take me. I often read pages from the book to keep your words from vanishing from my mind!”
🌈 “Incredible. I already can’t wait to re-read it! I felt like I had to give up on my Kindle highlights since at times I was marking up yellow every other paragraph. So much of it spoke to my soul.”
Related
Bold
