There’s a fellow named Keith Code who teaches motorcycle racing who likes to talk about the concept of “$10 worth of attention.” It goes something like this.
You’re on a motorcycle heading into a corner at about Warp 9. You need to get hard on the brakes, set your body, and get yourself through the corner as fast as possible. As the corner continues rushing at you, a thought pops into your head. “I wonder when I should hit the brakes?” Bam. You’ve just spent $1 worth of attention.
Hard on the heals of that thought comes another. “I wonder who’s behind me?” Bam. You just spent another $1 worth of attention.
As you hit the brakes and start to shift your weight, you think to yourself, “Gee, this saddle is kind of slippery.” Bam. Another $1 worth or attention. Maybe $2.
Four dollars worth of attention out of an available $10—the idea being that attention is finite and how we spend our $10 worth of it matters—and you’ve gone no faster. In fact, you’re probably just put yourself at a competitive disadvantage to the bloke—who was behind you and now probably isn’t—who’s focused on one thing and one thing only: getting through that turn and getting back on the gas as soon and as hard as possible. The person spending all his or her attention on the right things is going to win every time.
Attention and decisions are linked concepts. Declaring a decision consciously creates space for choice. It’s like driving a wedge between stimulus and response. Without attention, there is no decision. Deciding to decide requires attention. Working a decision to a quality conclusion requires attention. Committing to action and carrying through to some sort of result requires attention.
The choices we make, where and how we decide to apply our attention and energy, fill in the outlines of our personal, social, and business life. Making good decisions is the foundation for pro-activity, and the mechanism for better business and better living.
