"Where Attention Goes, Energy Flows"
It's a phrase you may have heard in one form or another. What's the utility of the phrase? How can we use it to build our agency, our personal power? That is what we'll explore together in today's episode.
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"Where Attention Goes, Energy Flows"
The phrase “Where attention goes, energy flows” is commonly attributed to influencers like Tony Robbins, T. Harv Eker, James Redfield, and others. The concept predates any modern thought leaders who have applied it to enhance their message. Like most axioms of wisdom, it's as old as can be as it's been a tenet of the yogic tradition in the regions of the world we think of today as India for millennia and takes other forms in other wisdom traditions.
Our path to wisdom and personal power is paved with such nuggets. We’re well-advised to look at how they apply to our lives and consider what we might do as a result. Here in the Eye of Power community, we would logically ask, in this case, “How do I use my attention to focus energy to increase my agency and my personal power?” That's the question we'll explore in this episode. The phrase pops up so much because it's useful. It's useful at all times in all places. I heard it used in the context of yoga practice when I heard Adriene Mishler of Yoga with Adriene on YouTube say it regarding breath control and learning to relax the places in our bodies where we might be holding tension. That points to too much of the utility in the phrase awareness and discovery.
There is so much about ourselves that is hidden in our conscious minds. Any discipline that helps us utilize our attention like a searchlight to become more aware of what's going on either physiologically or psychologically within us potentially increases our power. Remember, all positive change begins with awareness. We are powerless to do anything intentional in the areas in which we're unaware.
All positive change begins with awareness. We are powerless to do anything intentional in the areas in which we're unaware.
Let's dissect the phrase to see what we might do with it. “Where attention goes, energy flows.” It's a call to be prudent with our attention, isn't it? What is attention? It's the process of considering something, is it not? We examine and observe, then we evaluate with the purpose of making some manner of decision. Much of the time, the decision is to do nothing. When that which we consider reaches sufficient significance, we may decide to alter our perception or even react.
The process requires energy. Energy automatically begins to flow the moment we direct our attention to something. Therefore, it's a tautology. “Where attention goes, energy flows” is true on the very face of it. How much control do we have over our attention? Consider the question on a scale of 0 to 100. It's probably safe to say unless the circumstances are unusual, we're not sitting at one extreme or the other. It's not 100. If we're listening to someone speak, for instance, and a disturbance distracts us, our attention shifts away, and our will has very little to do with it.
It's not zero because there are always minor distractions. We can focus when we want to, though perhaps some longer and more intently than others. There are big behavioral and experiential differences between let's say a score of 10 and a score of 90 as well. First, we need to consider situational appropriateness. In the case of listening to somebody, are we free to remain engaged, which would correspond to a high score, or does our attention automatically go in the direction of a disturbance, any disturbance that would correspond to a low score? Which of those two is more powerful? That depends, doesn't it?
In some situations, let's say you're in a public place where their disturbance represents some threat or danger. You're going to react. You probably couldn't stop it and you probably shouldn't stop it even if you wanted to. If the disturbance has nothing to do with you and poses no real threat, there's more power in the ability to remain engaged with the person speaking with you than there is when they are unable to resist spurious knee-jerk shifts. Where we happen to be at any point also depends on the circumstances.
When we are in deep conversation, talking about things that profoundly matter to us, it is more difficult to redirect attention or state it the other way. When we're super engaged, perhaps even in a state of flow, it's much easier to maintain our focus. If we're barely engaged, feeling bored, or maybe the person we're listening to is belaboring a point, our attention seems to beg to find somewhere or anywhere else to go and will do so quite easily.
We can see through these examples that where we happen to be at any given time along this hypothetical 0 to 100 scale is at least in part external. Sudden threats are external. A person going on and on ad nauseam may be external, although not entirely because our thoughts and perceptions are the final arbiter of how we perceive things, including threats or spending time with cotton-headed ninny muggins.
What is boring or threatening to one person may not be to someone else. Nevertheless, in extreme conditions, let's say a belligerent gunman bursts into the cafe, that would most certainly be an external threat. That kind of thing fortunately doesn't happen that much. For most of our experience where we happen to be on that scale, it depends more upon internal factors than external ones.
These are quite varied too. Some of us can more easily focus than others. All of us focus better in some situations than we do in others. Some of the factors that comprise the difference may be neurochemical or they may be habitual. They may be combinations or result from other factors. There's always a part that results from our wills. We can choose to pay attention if we wish to most of the time.
As we established earlier, this requires energy, which leads us to another question in this line of thought. Is it worth the energy to work on building the discipline to gain greater discretion and control with our attention? If we accept the proposition that the ability to direct and maintain our attention is a major component of our power to focus, the practical value is immense. It's the difference between an incandescent bulb which scatters its light everywhere and a laser beam which directs its light in a singular direction and thus multiplies its power, so much so that lasers are used to cut diamonds.
The analogy holds in human endeavors. The ability to focus is what separates champions from the merely talented in sporting events. It's what allows chess masters to reach such high levels of mental achievement. It's one of the big potential advantages artificial intelligence has over human brains, freedom from distraction.
Awareness: The ability to focus is what separates champions from the merely talented.
To further illustrate, let's consider things when the opposite is the case. What happens when someone has no control over where their attention goes? You speak to them and their attention flits around like a butterfly seemingly at random. They try to complete a task, any task, and constantly start, stop, and make little progress. It's difficult for them to learn because most things in this inconveniently complicated world require more than a few steps to piece together. If it's an extreme case, such people are treated with drugs to help them. Without such help, they will certainly be unable to fulfill much of their potential. That's the attention piece.
Let's look at the other component mentioned in this phrase, which is energy. Attention takes energy. Once we direct our attention, a path opens akin to an electrical connection. We become able to respond. The word for that is responsible. We place ourselves in a position where we can make adjustments. We can utilize resources. We can shift our thinking which may improve our model of reality and thus increase our power.
Where we direct our energy feeds the causes we care about. If the cause is something like, “I want to be distracted and entertained,” we'll direct our attention and energy into consuming entertainment products. If we want to express our gifts and service to others, we’ll do that, perhaps improving the lives of others in ways we’ll truly never know.
When we do this, we often experience other goodies. We discover meaning and purpose. We discover the deep satisfaction that is the actual business of our lives here on earth. In these circumstances, energy builds. We don't seem to tire as easily. Obstacles seem less challenging. Our willpower becomes an unstoppable force. This is the state of our full agency where our personal power is near a peak.
I'll leave you with a couple of thoughts about how we might build the ability to direct our attention and thus our energy. First, we can identify what blocks us. We naturally want to follow our interests. If we find we're not doing so, it's because we're blocked. You can recognize and examine such blocks. They're always demarcated. Their markers take the form of pain. Where is your pain? What's the nature of the pain? If it's physical, how did it get there? How can it be alleviated? If it’s emotional, they’re the same questions.
We naturally want to follow our interests. If we find we're not doing so, it's because we're blocked.
Often, the answer to alleviating the pain of energy blockages is to lean into them. Place your attention there with the intention to heal, grow, persist, and push through it. Once you do, you find healing and newfound strength. A way to supercharge this process is through meditation. Much of our days and our technocentric existence is characterized by sensory stimulation. This distracts our attention, thus our energy, away from self-reflection and self-knowledge.
The practice and discipline of meditation is a way to open that spigot and build our power through greater self-knowledge. There are many forms of meditation but they all share a quieting of our minds and bodies. We build the ability to observe. We become more adept with our attention and thus the nature and direction of how our energy flows. This is not to suggest that any of that is easy. It’s far from it. That’s why it’s good to have help. That’s one of the reasons the Eye of Power exists. We can help each other in these ways. We just need to judiciously direct our attention, let the energy flow, and watch our power grow. It's inconvenient and tough but it's also worth it. Let's go.