Your Most Valuable Asset Is Your Attention.
CHARLOTTE MASON VOLUME 5 : Formation Of Character: CHAPTER 1, PART 7 - Ability
“A man may be born with some faculty or talent for figures, or drawing, or music, but attention is a different matter; it is simply the power of bending such powers as one has to the work in hand; it is a key to success within the reach of every one, but the skill to turn it comes of training. Circumstances may compel a man to train himself, but he does so at the cost of great effort, and the chances are ten to one against his making the effort. For the child, on the other hand, who has been trained by his parents to fix his thoughts, all is plain sailing. He will succeed, not a doubt of it."
Charlotte Mason
Today’s world is extremely distracting. From TV to social media to video games, there is no end to the things that train us to have a short attention span. The ability to pause and to be truly present is not common. We rush from one thing to the other, seeking excitement to hold our attention.
I'm guilty! If what I'm watching on TV doesn't contribute to the plot, I'll fast-forward through it. There were times I watched a TV series starting from the last episode, and I was known to zone out during classes. Admittedly, I didn't find many classes interesting, but I developed the habit of inattention until it became a monster.
Parenting and homeschooling have forced me to start paying attention. I'm paying even greater attention now because I realize I need to help my children develop the habit of attention. As you already know, bad habits need to be replaced with good habits. I must encourage my children to pay attention to a flower for one more minute or study Les Meninas for a few more minutes until the picture is captured in their minds' eye. I need to help them understand the reasons we need to work together and learn to pay attention, a decision they must make for themselves.
Paying attention is easy when one is interested in something. One true test of discipline is paying attention when the book is challenging to read while ensuring a deep understanding of the text. Some of the most important things in life are boring, and we must learn to pay attention to the mundane tasks too.
This is a fight, and we must win this fight.
Boring work leads to extraordinary outcomes.
Alex Hormozi
Best Regards,
Olufunmike