“Attention is the commodity in the currency of time.” Tim Ferriss
I heard this on Tim’s podcast today and it sat heavy on me.
Where we pay attention, we spend our energy.
As our energy goes, so goes our music.
As our music plays, so our story is written.
It all begins with our attention. Protect it.
The Japanese have a word that means “leave it to me.” The word is omakase.
The beauty behind omakase is the theme of trust and creativity it offers when communicated. Mostly, you’ll find the word in sushi restaurants on the menu when the guest wants the chef to do his thing, his art, and his craft with freedom and fish in-lieu of ordering random selections a la carte.
Omakase is a two-way street. It’s an offer of ‘leave it to me’ and it’s a trusting acceptance of ‘I’ll leave it to you’.
However, you’re probably not going to be given a blank canvas until we’ve seen what you have painted before. Most omakase is earned.
Or put another way, you probably need to start dazzling before you’re asked to dazzle.
The late Jim Rohn once said, “Increase your capacity so that you may hold more of the next experience.” Few words have rattled me like these have.
This is why we read, why we listen, why we look, why we ponder, why we ask, why we observe, and why we touch, why we take notes, why we practice, and why we hone the instruments of our music. They connect the dots we’ve collected thus far to an endless world of ahas tomorrow.
Every moment holds a souvenir. We just need some space to store them.
The more we can hold in the more we can pour out.
…it’s probably easy to not do as well.
We’ve heard an apple a day for so long that it’s become, unfortunately, a humdrum old wives tale.
But what if you swapped out the apple for something else?
A thank you a day.
A no thank you a day.
A walk a day.
A journal entry a day.
A prayer a day.
And so forth.
Success sounds eerily familiar to failure…drip drip.
If you’ve never heard of Ellis Island, historically, it would be worth 5 minutes of Googling.
What if everyday in your mind you got on a boat, sailed to a place with freedom of choice, got off the boat, and went on a journey?
This happens every day.
This is entrepreneurship.
We all should write ‘Ellis Island’ on our hands a reminder of what we’re all trying to do here and who did it before us.
Ashton.Gustafson 