Intentional Attention

Have you ever gotten in the car and driven to the office before you realized that you were intending to go to the grocery store, not to work? And you didn’t realize it until you pulled in the parking lot and there were no cars there because it was Saturday?Have you ever put coffee in your cereal instead of milk? Or found the remote control in the refrigerator? Or gotten halfway to work and drove home to make sure you had turned the iron off?

Any of these types of situations ring a bell?

I believe these things happen because we have not placed our attention in the right spot. We can often go through life not paying attention to the choices we are making or the actions we are doing. We end up in a place of repetition, of always doing it the same old way. Of doing the same thing over and over and expecting the result to be different.

The key is to place your attention on your intention. First, you need to decide what your intentions are. When you get in the car, where are you intending to go? When you were making breakfast, what are you intending to eat? When you had the remote in your hand and opening the fridge , what are you looking to get? When you were done ironing, what are you intending to do with the iron?

Now that you have decided that you were intending to drive to the grocery store, intending to have cereal with milk, intending to grab a drink before sitting down to watch your show and intending to unplug the iron and put it up high away from where the dog or kids are, it is time to focus your attention. You focus the attention on the driving route to the store, the milk in the back of the fridge, the Kombucha and Netflix show you are pairing together and the off switch and cord retract on the iron.

When you place your attention on your intention, you are being more focused on what you want and you are more likely to get it. You are more likely to make decisions and choices that line up with your intentions when you focus your attention on what you want.

Think about the areas of your life that you haven’t been focused on and think about where you can refocus your attention. Remember that you are in choice of where you place your attention. Start with small choices and see what may change in your life.