Attention is the ultimate currency
In a world of overwhelming information overload, choosing what to pay attention to will define your growth and success
I’ve been building a space of 1000s of lessons from some of the most successful people who ever lived, and I’m sharing things here as I discover them.
Today: attention. Information and AI may be going exponential, but your brain isn’t.
Nobel-prize-winning scientist Niels Bohr believed physical activity was essential for intellectual freshness and persistent attention. British publisher Felix Dennis used his awareness of death as a daily filter for how he spent his time and attention. Inventer of ‘flow’ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calculated that humans can process only 126 bits of information per second, making attention the fundamental constraint on experience.
Bohr maintained lifelong athletic habits—football in youth, skiing and sailing later—believing physical activity was essential for intellectual work. He observed that insights often came during or after physical recreation, when his conscious mind was occupied elsewhere. Bohr encouraged students to maintain physical practices as professional necessity.
Felix Dennis cultivated daily awareness of mortality as a decision-making tool. He would ask whether conflicts, meetings, and projects would matter with six months to live. This filter helped him walk away from meaningless fights, pursue genuine desires, and focus on what he actually valued rather than obligatory concerns.
Csikszentmihalyi calculated that humans process only 126 bits of information per second. This cognitive bottleneck means attention is the ultimate scarce resource. Every moment spent on anxiety or distraction is unavailable for meaning. A focused craftsman experiences more richness than a distracted billionaire. Quality of life equals quality of attention. Guard yours accordingly.
I’m looking for a handful of users to test advanced features of the tool and give me feedback — if that’s something you’re intereste in, drop me a reply or DM.
Stephen