Are You Paying Attention?

A little over a month ago I got caught up in my leadership efforts. The Learning Forte team was recording our podcast, where we were discussing the importance of intentions. I heard myself say out loud “Intentions are the raw material of our objectives and goals and our intentions provide the energy and fuel to achieve those objectives and goals.” Yet, that very week, I realized that I was not being intentional where I was investing my attention.

The hardest part of this realization was that I could not identify the specific things that were taking up my attention. I could identify tasks I was doing, but I couldn’t name all the other things that I was doing all day, and how they were helping me or not.

It is not easy as a leader when you realize that you’re not following your own advice! I knew that something had to change. Because I’m the CEO of a company in the middle of a major project redevelopment happening during conference season, I knew that I wouldn’t have significant time to revise my daily work pattern. However, I knew that I had to do something… something small that wouldn’t just become another task on my long to-do list.

I began to ask myself this question at the end of each day: “What is one thing I paid attention to that was an investment in the future?” After a month of asking myself this question, I realized this small action has allowed me to realign my attention as I go, and has helped me be more intentional.

Asking ourselves what we are paying attention to or how we are investing our attention is essential. It helps us know about our own objectives for work and life and can help us determine what amount of realignment we need to do in the short term. By investing our attention daily, we can fuel our future objectives and goals.

written by Stacy Williams-Duncan
April 2024