A student said to Master Ichu, “Please write for me something of great wisdom.” Master Ichu picked up his brush and wrote one word: “Attention.”
The student said, “Is that all?” The master wrote, “Attention. Attention.” The student became irritable. “That doesn’t seem profound or subtle to me.”
In response, Master Ichu wrote simply, “Attention. Attention. Attention.” In frustration, the student demanded, “What does this word ‘attention’ mean?” Master Ichu replied, “Attention means attention.”
We live in a world where many people seek attention without minding how they spend their own. But is attention-seeking even the behavior which most deserves your attention? Many would-be influencers never ask the question, and by the time they succeed, they realize the answer was “No,” now having to sacrifice even more attention in managing all the attention they fought so hard to attain.
But even those of us who choose not to play the public fame game can learn plenty from Master Ichu. I wake up at 7 AM every weekday morning. I start work at nine. The time in-between is earmarked for writing this blog and my next book—but that doesn’t mean a lot of writing always happens. I might read the news, get pulled into a chat on my phone, or obsess over some Pokémon card deal. The time is there, but if the attention isn’t, what does it matter?
That’s why attention management is more important than time management. Attention is where the buck stops—the most finite resource you have. “It has to be intentional, not accidental,” our attention, “and therein lies a kind of effort,” Karin Ryuku Kempe comments on the above Zen story. “It needs to be complete, not split by competing mental activity, daydreams or planning.”
Attention, real attention, is how we close the gap, Kempe says: “In awareness, we are our life. Our life is us.” There is nothing in-between.
Don’t hold back. Life is a full-contact sport. Make the time, but, more importantly, show up. Attention, attention, attention.