Attention Management and Energy Leaks

One of the themes that has seemed to be constant with, those individuals that I'm working with in the therapeutic setting is this feeling of exhaustion, being overwhelmed, having too many seems vying for their attention. It's like sources are are striving to grab attention. For attention is is the commodity that the people are after, if you really think about it. All advertising, all marketing, every every book that's written, every movie that is produced, all has one main goal behind it, to grab attention so that people will pay attention to it. Therefore, and if you think about it, our attention is our power.

So if something grabs our attention, it grabs our power, and then that, whatever our attention on uses that power. And that's how they increase financially, a sense of their own importance, power, and so forth. So I want you to think about this, this simple sentence, life is a matter of attention. Or reflecting on something that William James, the father of American psychology said, my experience is what I agree to attend to. So, therefore, it what the question then, can come about, what is it that is grabbing our attention.

Where is our energy going? And back to this concept that I'm I I see in so many, and I felt it in myself too at times, just this feeling of exhaustion. Too much to do, not enough energy to do it. And and it really has to do with this concept, perhaps of energy leaks. So think about that.

Where is your energy going? If I were to ask you the question, what is draining your energy the most? Who is draining your energy? There are things in social media that can drain our energy. There are people that are energy vampires that will take and take and take.

And so this Concept of taking a look at your energy leaks and learning to plug certain holes in your life so that you will have the energy to do what you, based on your own personal values and goals, will have the power to actually accomplish things. I'll give you an example. I was talking to a young man in a therapy session who struggles with online addiction. You know what I'm talking about, all the things online, whether it's gaming inappropriate images. And and he is spending hours in useless activity.

And so and I hadn't seen him in a in a while. I mean, he got busy, and so He didn't didn't reach out for his therapy sessions, and then he just reached out to me after 2 months. And I I hadn't seen him in 2 months. And he says, I need to see you again. So got on the session.

He looks completely exhausted, which is normal for him. And he says, I just don't have any motivation to do anything. I've completely given up on trying to resist the pull of certain things on social media. I'm just bingeing on all that stuff, and I just don't care anymore. I just don't have any, any motivation to do anything.

And then I I I suggested this concept to him. I said, well, of course not. Look what you're doing. All of your energy, your life force is being drained in useless activity. So when you are spending time and energy on useless activities, it's taking your energy.

And there are certain things there are certain things online that tend to drain us much more quickly than other things. And when a one of those that I have seen in my clinical practice has to do with moral issues. Watching certain things online is so destructive. I've never, in all my years of doing therapy, had an individual come to me and say, yeah. I slipped this past week on bingeing and on on online things that are inappropriate, and say, I feel good about it, and I feel energy energized about it, and it's a healthy positive thing.

It's it's a black hole. And so I again, back to this 1 individual. I said, of course, you don't have a you don't have anything left in the tank to even sign up for school. You know? Like, yeah.

I need to get in school. I I wanna finish school. There's this Oh, thought, but I have no energy to do it. And I go, because your energy is all being drained. So encouraged him, and this is what we're working on right now, to focus on this one concept, life is a matter of attention, plugging the energy leaks, And then understanding, and this is where therapy is so important to help those who don't understand how the human brain works.

In particular, the two part brain, limbic system is is the more of the subconscious part of the brain, and then prefrontal cortex, the rational, logical part of the brain, if we are not intentional and consciously choose What it is we are gonna do by small and simple daily activities, we we do not rise to the level of our Goals, we fall to the level of the systems we have in place to accomplish things. I call them dailies. There's certain small and simple things just do every day in order to keep ourselves on track. But it but it comes from the prefrontal, our conscious choice that we are planning beforehand what we are gonna do. If we do not proactively do that, We are we place ourself in a very vulnerable situation if you just get online and start scrolling.

Because of the way the limbic system works, it is highly attracted to things that have to do with anger, Negative news, immorality, moral issues, We're hardwired that way. And so unless you intentionally, consciously choose to avoid certain things, it will grab the best of individuals, and all of a sudden, they're drawn down into These paths that are extremely destructive. I mean, the annals of history are full of stories of the best individuals, the most productive people in the world who lost control of themselves, and it's so destructive. From political leaders, sports icons, the stories just go on and on. And so as you begin this new year, I would encourage you, as a template, from this moment on to constantly ask yourself the question, what am I attending to?

Life, and then the statement, life is a matter of attention, and Where is my energy being spent? And also, pay attention to the environment in which you're around. If you clean up your environment, it has an impact on you. Go into a messy room or a messy house, or a messy kitchen, and see how you feel. Slow down, pay attention.

Clean your closet, clean your room, Make it spotless, walk in, and see how you feel. Also, pay attention to how you feel after interacting with Certain individuals, if there are energy vampires in your life, learn to set focus this year on being jealous about your power, setting boundaries. It is a positive, healthy, Crucial thing for you to do as you continue to move forward in life and make your life worthwhile. And if you're constantly more worried about what other people think of you, they are taking your energy. Your job is to keep your cup full so that you can help other people.

It's also common for me to see So many people that are going around, they're yes people. They say yes to everything that people ask them. No is a complete sentence, and it's okay for you to Say no sometime to take care of yourself and be jealous about your energy and your power so that you can focus on the things that you want to do and accomplish in life. So, again, Wrapping up this podcast template for this coming year. What am I focusing on?

What am I attending to? Am I choosing to do that, or am I have I been manipulated and grabbed down this line. Life is a matter of attention. Look at your life and start to plug those energy leaks that are draining you.