Good Shift - The Currency of Attention - E212

0:00Hey, Sense Makers. This is part of our new Good Shift series, where we take actual content from our Mixand substack and bring it to you live right here on Wednesdays. We hope that you'll love it, because this is some good shift. Have you noticed that the world that we live in has been doing most of the thinking for you that your beliefs, perceptions, reactions, fears and doubts have been shaped by unsolicited outside noise? How easy it's been for you to slip into that default sleepwalking mode and label it as life and reality. Yeah, that ends here. Welcome to the Make Sense with Dr. JC Podcast. This is your opportunity to start thinking for yourself, reclaim control and step back into that role as the shot caller and dominant force of your own reality. It's when you change the way that you look at things, that the things that you look at begin to change. So let's wake up, let's rise up, and let's make sense of why and how shift happens.

1:07This is some good shift. Maybe consciousness is partly a function of perception. The brain is constantly deciding what reaches the front of our awareness and what remains in the background. It amplifies certain signals, filters out others, and then hands us a story about what actually matters. Over time, the world around us helps program that filter. We are taught what to notice, what to pursue, what to fear and what to care about. Then the operating system brings those selected things forward, so consistently that they begin to feel unquestionably important. This is where the idea of currency becomes useful. Remember, currency is the limited supply of time, energy, attention, and focus that we have available to distribute across each day. We often believe as if this supply is unlimited or as Jim Cook would say limitless. Until the day has demanded more than we believe

2:08that we can give. Then we reach that end of ourselves and say things like, after the day that I just had, I could care less about that. Or do you have any idea what kind of day I just had? Of course, we may have had a genuinely difficult day. The fatigue is real, the pressure is real, and the need for rest is real. This is not about pretending that we have no limits or shaming ourselves for being depleted. It's about noticing what depletion can hide. When the brain has spent the day amplifying deadlines, problems, conflicts, money, performance, and threat, it has the tendency to filter out the quieter signals that are waiting right behind us. Maybe it's your partner that maybe needs to be seen and heard. A child may simply want her attention because they love idolizing at myrice. Maybe it's a small moment of connection that might be asking you for only a few undivided seconds. Those moments rarely announce themselves as emergencies. They don't compete well with the

3:11loudest items in our operating system. However, they may actually be the moments that become the real architecture of our life. The tragedy is actually forgetting that we're spending it, and forgetting that our attention is also a form of love. The interface response system gives us a way to interrupt that automatic pattern. First, we perceive. Notice what has captured your attention and what has disappeared from view as a result. Before declaring that you have nothing left and handing the keys of trust over to those distractions, just say, hmm, pause and just take one breath. Let the day stop pushing you around for just a moment and then step into that awesome space where we can actually process things. Ask, what is actually important right now? What is this person really asking for? What will I remember about this moment tomorrow? Or 10 years from now? Anything? Then we're ready to move from reaction to response and we can proceed. Make a deliberate choice.

4:12Rest if rest is needed. Set a boundary if a boundary is needed or turn towards the person in front of you and offer the attention that you still have. We don't need an unlimited supply of care and see to live well. We need awareness of where it is going and the courage to redirect some of it towards what matters most. The future will always present another demand. Our inbox will always refill. The problem list will always regenerate. There will always be one more reason to postpone the conversation, the hug, the listening, or that precious moment of presence. But life does not pass us by in one dramatic event. It passes through hundreds of ordinary moments that we were too distracted, too justified, too depleted to notice. Maybe the good shift for today is not caring about everything equally. Maybe it's about learning to care selectively and making sure that the things and people that we love are not repeatedly placed below the noise. Make sense? That's it for today.

5:17To support the Make Sense with Dr. JC Podcast, be sure to subscribe, like, and share, as well as follow the Make Sense sub-stack for free daily quotes, live streams, and blogs. And remember, learning without action is just another form of distraction. If something hit home and you learn something today, give it away. That's the only way it's going to stay. See you next time. If you liked the show, please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe. It really does help the show to grow. Thank you for listening.