Throwback: The Art of Paying Attention

Hello winners, 

Sharing back an article from 2016 and adding a few comments here and there. This article was on paying attention and how important it is for anyone who is determined to be successful and even those who are already successful. Attention is key as it keeps you focused on the things that most people would miss.

The reason why there are fewer winners than losers is simply because most people do not pay close attention to what is happening around them and are not detailed enough to see the reoccuring patterns that show them clues every single day.

Paying attention is critical, you have to be very observant and keep your ears close to the ground regardless what area of life it is: whether in your career, relationships or whatever. You must pay attention to what you are doing and what is happening around you if you want to keep winning.

My work has to do with predictive intelligence and in this art, I have to teach the computer to learn from the past through data sets and discover patterns which are difficult to see and then the computer is able to make accurate future predictions of what will happen in future. That's part of the engine used in weather forecast systems.

So we can say that through predictive intelligence, we teach the computer how to pay attention, connect the patterns in the past and then the computer can give us very useful information we could never have seen. This is just what paying attention in your daily life does. Once again I urge you to make notes of your day and events that happen. It is so easy for us to forget these days because there are lots of distractions in this internet and AI age. Some of you have heard of chatGPT and the wonders of it. 

We have movies on the go and so much news and entertainment channels, so we are so distracted that we forget to pay attention. And you know the price you pay for forgetting or not seeing things? You become vulnerable to mistakes or repeating mistakes. If you were walking on the road, pressing your phone and you fail to see a ditch ahead, well you are most likely to fall inside. :) 

So the point of that article was to stay sharp with attention. Listen more than you speak and be very observant and knowledgeable of what goes on around you. It gives you great advantages. They say people who do not learn from history (patterns) are bound to repeat it. And to be able to even learn from history, you would have paid attention! 

Here is the article:

One of the major skills that separates the winners from the losers is the art of paying attention. Losers are too impatient and rigid to pay it, whereas winners understand that their ultimate success depends on it.

There is a story about a guy who landed a great job with a top multinational company, simply by this art. Prior to his employment, he was invited alongside nine other applicants for the final interview test.

They had 2 minutes to solve 10 very simple questions written on a question paper. Once they were handed the paper, most of the applicants were smiling and wondering why the test questions looked so easy. Some of the fastest ones finished solving the questions in one minute and submitted their answer booklets quickly while beaming with smiles.

Other ones had already finished and we're cross checking to make sure they failed none of these easy questions. At the end of the test, the guy(who later got the job) submitted a blank sheet. It was later outside the exam hall that he pointed out to the other applicants that the very last instruction written on the exam paper was "Do NOT answer any question."

Funny, isn't it? Like the other nine applicants, some of us are too eager to succeed that we don't pay close attention to the things we do. We tend to run into problems, fail, fight and argue unnecessarily simply because of this.

I have to agree with the philosopher Heraclitus who proposed that "Change is the only constant thing." Life is in a constant state of flux and nothing is set on stone. For you to notice this change and be prepared for it, you must be very observant, otherwise it takes you by surprise.

When you pay attention, the attention pays you back! It lets you gather better knowledge and understanding of reality which keeps you one step ahead of your game.

The reason most people don't pay attention and consequently miss out on golden opportunities is simply that they think they have figured it all out. They think they know the pattern, therefore they are taken by surprise when the common pattern suddenly changes. They suffer because they are unprepared for it.

If you pay attention in anything you do, you will never be taken by surprise. You will flow with life during its lows and highs. You will enjoy the ride because you're not swimming against the tide by holding onto old things that pass away.

Things will continue to change to better or to worse. Don't expect anything to stay the same. Life is a movement and anything that stays the same is dead.

It is only by paying close attention that you will notice the changes and adjust your perceptions, beliefs, habits, patterns and actions in order to sail safely through the change, otherwise you're left behind.

Life is beautiful and we mustn't oppose the growth process of life. We must pay attention and be very observant, so that we can discern fresh knowledge which may not be found anywhere else.

Until next time,

Pay attention and win big!

Ike