Capitalogix

Alone Together - Instant Gratification & Shortening Attention Spans

Instant Gratification & Shortening Attention Spans.

I was showing my son a web video -- and in less than a minute he was texting someone. 

Let me make that more clear ... it was Less-Than-A-Minute! ... while he was standing with me ... and he did it without hesitation, apology, or sense that shifting his attention to the phone was in any way a bad thing.

I know "get over it".  He was probably texting before we spoke, anyway; right?

You're probably seeing similar behavior more often too.
  

 

It is scary to realize how easy it is to focus on a phone, iPad or e-mail rather than a person.

Upon reflection, we spend a lot of time alone together.

There is a difference between physical presence and being present.

 

 

Focus can be pretty fragile if it isn't a conscious choice.

To demonstrate this, here is a seemingly easy challenge ... simply listen to a favorite song.

The challenge is how you can truly do that without losing focus and having other thoughts intrude (for example, without thinking about your to-do list or other songs that you like, or who you're going to meet with later in the day, etc.)?  For me, the answer was not that long.

Sometimes it feels like modern life causes attention deficit disorder.

Attention Deficit Can Be Dangerous If You Aren't Aware of It.

Yet, losing focus while trading, in business, or even during a simple conversation - can have serious consequences.

When you are not aware of your focus, I bet it wanders.  Mine does; I get distracted easily. 

It didn't take long for me to realize that this happened to me while talking to my wife, while listening to a telephone call, even when ordering food at a restaurant. How can I lose focus on the waitress while I was ordering? Apparently, quite easily.

How about you?  When you're listening to someone talk to you, are you really listening to them - or are you checking e-mail, texting, browsing a website, watching TV, playing a game, or thinking about what you're going to say? 

Be honest with yourself; how often are you fully present?  For me, the answer was not nearly enough.

 

Related articles

• Harvard Business: The Discipline of Listening (blogs.hbr.org)
• The Need for Speed - How Impatient Are We Becoming? (capitalogix.typepad.com)
• The Twitter Generation: Teaching Deferred Gratification to College Students (hollymccracken.wordpress.com)
• What Captures Your Attention Controls Your Life (blogs.hbr.org)

Links for Your Weekend Reading

As we get older, life makes more sense.

 

 

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• The Simplicity Thesis. Delivering Low Complexity & Maximum Value. (FastCompany)
• Why People Remember Negative Events More Than Positive Ones. (NYTimes)
• Google Explains How It Searches the Internet In Under Half a Second. (Engadget)
• How Little Can We Do and Still Benefit? The 20-Minute Workout Video. (Well)
• The "Sitting Is Killing You" Infographic Shows Just How Bad Prolonged Sitting Is. (Lifehacker)

 

Trading Links:

• Does the Facebook IPO Flop Signal Bad News for Global Economy? (Time)
• David Einhorn: The Fed's Jelly Donut Policy. (HuffingtonPost)
• Nikkei Just Had Its Longest Weekly Losing Run in 20 Years. (CNBC)
• Anatole Kaletsky on A New Capitalism. (FiveBooks)
• The Six Billion Dollar Bet. PBS video about the disastrous gamble that brought down MF Global (PBS)

Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Interesting Thought: The new illiterate will be those who cannot learn, unlearn, and re-learn ....

 

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Cultivating Genius. (Wired)
• Thinking vs. Knowing: When Facts Get in the Way. (PS)
• How Old Are You, Really? New Test Determines Biological Age. (TheDaily)
• Can London Afford the $14.5B Summer Olympic Games’ Price Tag? (VanityFair)
• Data Harvesting at Google Not a Mistake or a Rogue Act, F.C.C. Report Reveals. (NYTimes)

 

Trading Links:

• Is High Frequency Trading Progress of Piracy? What do you think? (IMG)
• Whose Recovery? The Recession is Over … for the Wealthy. (Economonitor)
• At CME, an Uproar Over Trading Hours. Effects of Round-the-Clock Trading. (WSJ)
• The Kauffman Report on Venture Capital. Interesting. (FD)
• Nothing Ventured. U.S. entrepreneurship drops as many abandon self-employment for salaried jobs (TheDaily)

Great Visual Metaphor for a Bigger Future

"Interestingly, koi, when put in a fish bowl, will only grow up to three inches.

When this same fish is placed in a large tank, it will grow to about nine inches long.

 

 

In a pond koi can reach lengths of eighteen inches. Amazingly, when placed in a lake, koi can grow to three feet long.

 

 
The metaphor is obvious. You are limited by how you see the world."

--via Vince Poscente

A Little Monday Morning Motivation - The Power of Pause

I spent part of this week at the First Rate Performance Conference. It was held at the Four Seasons resort in Las Colinas, Texas (which is a pretty nice place for a retreat).

In addition to hearing industry experts and company representatives talking about equations, risk management, and regulatory compliance, the conference featured Terry Hershey, who wrote a book called The Power of Pause (Becoming More by Doing Less).

In the book, Terry counters the modern cultural decree of More-Bigger-Faster.  His message was simple (and perhaps even easy). 

One of the takeaways was that some things are tactical, some things are strategic, and some things are transformational. All of these things can be good ... but the quality of your life and the results results you get change as you spend less time with the tactical and move towards the transformational.

Hershey is a story-teller.  Here is one of them:

 

A teacher gave her class an assignment to name the seven wonders of the world.

Each student came up with a list and shared with the class. As you might guess, students called out entries like the Pyramids, the Amazon River, the Grand Canyon, or the Taj Mahal. The teacher cheered them on and told them what a great job they were doing.

But one girl stayed silent. The teacher asked her about her list, and the girl answered, "I don't think I understand the assignment."

"Why?"

"I don't have any of the right answers."

"Well, why don't you tell us which you wrote on your paper, and we'll help you."

"Okay," said the girl, "I think the seven wonders of the world are ... to see, to hear, to touch, to smell, to feel, to love, and to belong."

 

Somewhere along the way, we tend to forget what we used to know.

How much of our daily experience is defined by what we shoot for and what we measure?

Life can be so "daily". That's a problem, isn't it?  No wonder we're easily tempted by things that are urgent, rather than important. But it doesn't have to be that way ... and the first step is recognizing that it doesn't have to be that way. The second step is figuring out how you want it to be instead.

To see some of his messages in video format, click this link.

Related articles

• Harvard Business: The Power of Pause (blogs.hbr.org)

A Little Monday Morning Motivation

Wow, how time flies!

 

via someecards.com

 

The 1st Quarter of the year is almost in the books.  How are things going?

Spring is an excellent reminder that I was supposed to get in shape before spring.

At the End of Pain, You'll Often Find Success

Do you know why you find your keys in the last place you look?  It is because it doesn't make sense to keep looking for them after you find them.

 

Ultimately, the key is to focus on the goal (not how you got to where you are), and to keep moving forward.

 

 

   hat tip to Cliff Michaels

Here is a video from Eric Thomas, otherwise known as the HipHop Preacher ... It is called "Pain Is Temporary", and has a great message worth hearing.

 

 

 

For more of Eric Thomas, here is a link to his YouTube page & here is a link to his website.

Finally, here is a small reminder:

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last.  Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”  ~Zig Ziglar

Check-Out This Official Notice of Formal Apology

As a public service, I am sharing this Formal Apology from the Bureau of Communication.

 

 

 

 

Failure to use it has consequences.

For example, have you seen this video of what an angry father can do to his daughter's laptop?

 

 

 

Do you applaud the standard he is trying to teach her ... or are you tempted to call Child Protective Services?

If she had just used the apology form ...

 

Related articles

• Police visit Facebook dad who shot daughter's laptop (news.cnet.com)
• Dad Who Shot Daughter's Laptop, Gets Visit from Child Protective Services (blippitt.com)
• Dad draws raves, reprimands for answering daughter's Facebook rant with nine .45 rounds in her laptop (mercurynews.com)

Expect Extraordinary - Here's a Video of Something Not to Try at Home

Sometimes normal isn't enough.

Playing safe is often a good strategy ... But, sometimes you have to expect the extraordinary.

Did you see the strange guy doing a modified tight-rope circus routine during Madonna's Super Bowl half-time performance.

 

 

 

 
Well, it was more than that ... did you see the guy bounce up and down as though that little rope was a trampoline?

What in the world was going on?

Well, the short answer is: slacklining. Or, if you want to get technical and specific, tricklining. According to California's Adventure Sports Journal , slacklining was invented in the early 1980s by two rock climbers.

As you may have guessed, the Super Bowl halftime cameo was a big moment for the young sport of slacklining—and for the talented, curly-haired slackliner who got the spotlight: Andy Lewis, aka Sketchy Andy . You've got to watch what he can really do!

 

 

 

Imagine what went into developing this skill.  Was it thought ... or something you forgot you could exercise?

What are you committed to expecting extraordinary about ... starting now?

Related articles

• Acrobatic Urban Films - The 'Slackline Trickline Video and Project X' is Full of Stunts (TrendHunter.com) (trendhunter.com)
• About Slacklining (neatorama.com)

People Are Awesome [Video]

Start the New Year with a Wow! This will give you a different perspective on what's possible.

 

Worthy of full-screen mode viewing.

How committed do you believe these people were to to pursue and master such amazing ventures?

What could you do if you were willing to commit that fully?