# Chapter 320

Our mental lives are regulated by the instrument of attention. And a finely tuned instrument it is! When you are using it properly it is a highly discriminate, very robust filter on the all the nonsense in the world. It will shape your life and your personality because it will be the definer of what you are allowed to see and focus upon, if used properly, which few do or choose to do. Most are floating in a temporal void of social media and straightforward entertainment to keep their attention from focusing on anything, much less something important or world-changing. In fact I would argue that most people expend far more effort in not thinking about anything, and not paying attention to anything important, than they expend in making this world a better place for everyone. All their energy goes into not using this instrument at all.

My shifting attention span needs all the energy I can muster everyday all day in order to use this world-shaping instrument in the manner it needs to be implemented. I face all the same distractions and pulls that all of you face each day in the fight to remain significant and impactful. And sometimes the more important the work you are doing and the lives you are impacting grow, the higher the pressure to vegetate - which is another way of saying, turn your brain off. Yes yes I have read all the articles about how you need to practice doing nothing in order to get those creative juices flowing, and again I would argue that if you don’t stay heavily involved in where your attention flows, then your creativity won’t matter because what you are doing won’t matter.