Rarely can a three-hour podcast hold my attention. But Chris Williamson鈥檚 conversation with Naval Ravikant did, in part because of the mic-dropping moment nestled near the end:
鈥淭he currency of life isn鈥檛 money. It鈥檚 not even time. It鈥檚 attention.鈥
AngelList Co-Founder and CEO Naval Ravikant
I鈥檓 not sure there is a modern wisdom saying that better encapsulates the battle we all face in the frenetic information age in which we find ourselves.
Why 鈥淐urrency of Life鈥 Isn鈥檛 Money or Time
鈥淢oney is important,鈥 Naval explains, 鈥渁nd let鈥檚 you trade certain things for time, but it doesn鈥檛 really buy you time.鈥
He invites us to ask Warren Buffett or Michael Bloomberg if they can buy more time. (I鈥檒l be sure to send them a note.) And while access to good medical care is certainly a financial hurdle for many, the point is well taken: Even the richest person on their deathbed can鈥檛 buy themselves another day of life.
鈥淭ime itself doesn鈥檛 even mean that much,鈥 Ravikant continues, 鈥渂ecause the time can be wasted because you鈥檙e not really present for it. You鈥檙e not really paying attention.鈥
And that鈥檚 where the killer question hits us right in the gut:
How are we spending our attention? How are you?
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A Real-Time Reminder
I need look no further than yesterday to recall a moment where I found myself checking X and LinkedIn鈥攚hile in the presence of my 19-month-old daughter, who resorted to irresistible adorableness to reclaim my attention. 鈥淗ug?鈥 she asked, reaching her little arms in my direction. 鈥淜iff?鈥 (Her vernacular for kiss.)
She offered instantaneous forgiveness, while I lamented the fact that I鈥檇 have to make this confession public, because the example is all too perfect for the point I鈥檓 making now:
Unlike money, our time is a true zero-sum game. We can make more money in a myriad of ways, but each minute expires at the end of 60 seconds, regardless of the health of our cash flow or net worth statements.
Time vs. Money vs. Attention
Busyness as a Badge: An Attention Trap
How much of this most precious of currencies do we fritter away every day? Even those among us who may be inclined to wear our busyness as a badge of business honor. Perhaps especially us? Do the accolades, likes, and shares compensate for the misallocation of our attention?
If you鈥檙e interested to see how 12 legit thought leaders identified how they know when they鈥檙e too busy–and how they unbusy themselves–click HERE.
Don鈥檛 get me wrong鈥擨鈥檓 not telling you how to spend your attention. Sure, things like social media and video games might be easy targets for examples of misallocated musing, but the potentially life-changing insight illuminated here was first shared on social media, for goodness鈥 sake. Furthermore, for more than a decade, my 19-year-old son has been able to spend quality hours of kinship with his cousin鈥700 miles away鈥攅very week, thanks to the advent of collaborative video games.
The lesson isn鈥檛 to eliminate, but to direct: choose the apps, the times, even the posts that reinforce your attention, not fracture it.
Ravikant addresses another low-hanging fruit for judgementalism, the negative news. We can spend our attention on the news, Ravikant concedes. 鈥淎nd if you want to, that鈥檚 fine. There鈥檚 no right or wrong here.鈥
It鈥檚 more about what you do with the attention we dedicate that makes the difference. 鈥淢aybe you need to pick something in the news, learn about that problem, adopt that problem, and solve it,鈥 for example. 鈥淏ut be careful,鈥 he concludes, 鈥渂ecause your attention is the only thing you have.鈥
This Is Not a Hustle Manifesto
Lastly, I want to conclude with what this attention acknowledgment is not: It鈥檚 not a rallying cry for glorifying the grind or a time-driven demand to maximize every moment with (apparent) productivity. Ravikant bursts a lot of hustle-culture bubbles when he says, 鈥淗ard work is really overrated. How hard you work matters a lot less in the modern economy.鈥 (Heresy!?)
Elsewhere, he concludes that discipline is a poor substitute for genuine passion: 鈥淒iscipline is just you fighting with yourself to do something you don鈥檛 want to do. So, I would say it鈥檚 more important to find something that you want to do.鈥
3 Questions to Reclaim Your Attention (and Your Life)
So, perhaps this is the conclusion, in the form of three questions:
How鈥攁nd on what鈥攁re you spending your attention?
Is that how you truly want to spend it?
If not, what鈥檚 one shift that could better align your attention with your aspirations?
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