Mind magnet

When I went to visit a company to observe their operations and machines, there was one in particular that fascinated me. Mostly, the idea that it weighed so many tons and could generate crazy amounts of horsepower running on diesel was somehow mind-blowing to me. This is generally the case for me with big machines.

I had seen tractors before, although not that many, but this one was massive. And it had many, many parts to it. It was a John Deere tractor, in fact, fitted with a turbocharger -- which I learned helps the engine take in more air, allowing it to combust fuel more efficiently.

The next day, when I was randomly scrolling through YouTube Shorts, I found a video about the very same tractor I had seen the previous day. I was surprised, because it felt like Google had somehow been reading my mind. I definitely didn't search anything about that tractor on Google or anywhere, so it baffled me to see that video pop up. But then it hit me...

I may have seen similar videos before but never cared much because I had zero interest in that tractor at that time. I only noticed it this time because it was in my attentional space. And it was a timely reminder why having strong ambitions, desires and goals for your dreams matters, and putting them down.

You see, before setting out to go about my daily business, as it has been a practice of mine for a while now, I pen down my intentions and goals for that day. They may just fit one or two lines, but it never matters how small because they put what's truly important to me within my peripheral vision. So I could easily catch myself when I am going off course. Even more, I better spot things that align with my goals.

Keeping my intentions and goals in focus, I could, for example, see a book that I consider good for my self-development and then begin arranging how I would actually get value from it. Or if it has to be delayed, I'd put it on a "to-read" list. Might be trivial to someone else, but it's helped me read way more books than I expected in the last few months. Reading has now become a habit—a healthy one in fact—to replace bad ones like doomscrolling.

Some of these insights have been inspired by some books, in fact, like Hyperfocus. Soon enough, I'll share more about the book in detail. But you get the point anyway. Just like I noticed that video because my mind was primed for it, we always notice more of what we focus on. So what's taking your attentional space today?