You Become What You Focus On

Photo by Kyran Aldworth on Unsplash

The following quote is 2000 years old, but it seems to be relevant to today’s world:

“Most of what passes for legitimate entertainment is inferior or foolish and only caters to or exploits people’s weaknesses.”

That’s from the Stoic philosopher Epictetus. It couldn’t be more telling about our attention and the things we focus on.

We allow other people to control us because we’re pretty much defenceless when the media exploits our weaknesses.

Now, I’m not against all media.

But I do think there’s a lot of manipulation going on. Just look at every single social media platform, news website, streaming site, and smartphone app, and you’ll notice that you and I are being exploited.

You just have to look at the signs.

What do you think I will do when I see a notification from Netflix saying there’s a new season available for my favorite show?

I’m going to pause everything else in my life and watch the WHOLE season in a few days.

When I’m done, I’ll probably move on to the next thing on Prime Video or maybe watch some clips on YouTube. But I don’t do that because I shut myself off from those things.

I want to control my attention as much as I can. If I don’t, millions of people and organisations are eager to do so for me.

And what happens when others control your attention?

You become a mindless drone.

Here are a few tips to gain more control over what you focus on

First, you need to become aware of how important it is to be mindful of what you focus on. So, let’s get back to Epictetus. He explained his point further in A Manual For Living:

“If you yourself don’t choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest.”

When I read this for the first time, I started taking it more seriously. I realised that I need to be the one…