When you have excess time and capacity, your ability to discern actually suffers. I know that seems counterintuitive, but it’s true. Why? You are not forced to prioritize; your attention easily wanders. One of the most dangerous things about having time on your hands is that you have time on your hands. It sounds awesome to think, “Man, I have all the time in the world!” But when you do, there’s no pressure. We don’t have to discern and prioritize.
For example, as I’d shared before, one of our clients participated in SEALFit. He trained for that event for six months, and in those six months, he was always pressed for time—time to work out, time to meet with clients, etc. It forced him to discern. After it was over, he was suddenly left without a set of self-organizing principles around which to build his schedule and structure. His business actually did better while he was training than after the event.
It doesn’t matter what it is; it simply matters that it is. It adds purposefulness and helps your life make sense. It creates self-organizing principles for you and helps direct your attention. Take a look at Elon Musk. He’s really focused on getting to Mars, and that focus led him to create a car that runs on electric, since a combustion engine won’t work in that pursuit. On top of the creation of a fully electric car, he created a solar energy company, which is how you can power things on Mars. There’s also a boring company. Why? Most of what will happen on Mars will need to happen in tunnels. He builds robots, and he doesn’t build robots just to build robots. There’s a bigger purpose. And of course, SpaceX. Everything is woven into this huge purposeful concept of going to Mars. Musk doesn’t have off-shore oil drilling companies nor coal companies. Everything he’s built and created is in alignment with his focus. It makes sense. It’s where his attention is.
When things aren’t aligned, they don’t make sense and we end up wandering. You don’t simply shoot guns into the air. You have to have a target—purposefulness.
Scarcity is everywhere. No one will ever have enough time, money, energy, or resources. It’s basic economics. Knowing there’s scarcity, the question becomes: How do we build a probability stack in our favor? Think of it this way: All clients are equal but some are more equal than others; all places are equal but some are more equal than others. I’m always encouraging you to think of A people, A places, and A activities; however, not all of those are equal. Some A activities are better than others. The same is true for A people and A places.
We must continually apply the art of discernment with all things to build that probability stack in our favor. Applying the Champion Scoring System enables us to discern. One of our clients has a really incredible ecosystem. His target audience is pilots (A people) who enjoy flying (A activity), so they hang out at the airport (A place). He adds golf to that mix, so there’s another platform of A people, A activity, A place, and he’s recently added a running club. This brings us back to all are equal but some are more equal than others. Which of these should get the most attention? Where should he spend the most time, energy, and resources. Simply put: Which one should be the highest priority and get his attention, especially in light of the scarcity concept?
They’re all awesome, but how do we figure out which is the “more equal than”? Enter the Champion Scoring System. It’s designed to get you to discern and to think. We’re all always bombarded. The river of life is always buffeting you to go somewhere other than where you want to go. So, pilots, golfers, and runners. With the first cut of the system, pilots provide the ability for him to make a lot of money and they offer a lot of potential. The next cut is sphere of influence. Pilots tend to be individual, so that can be limiting. Third cut: trust and likability. I guess if you fly with someone, you trust them. Next, love. This client really loves flying, so it’s very high and could outweigh the other areas.
Now let’s look at golf. The sport has a natural constraint—typically you need four people and you also need a course. However, with golf, you can have a country club with more like-minded people, so the center of influence can increase. Moving to the runners. The constraints of location (airport or golf course) don’t exist. The sphere of influence is a wow. He has 300 people in the club.
In using this example, there is no right or wrong. The exercise is in place to determine where the greatest probability of success is and what is most in his favor. It’s up to him, but he has to discern. That’s the point. Each ecosystem has its own benefit according to the scale. The one that may trump all is the one you love the most, the one where your passion truly lies and where your attention naturally goes.
Are you enjoying the vividness of life and reminding others to do so? It’s so easy to forget this. It’s easy to be pulled into inadvertence. What is in front of you always dominates the space and seeps into your future. That is the power of attention. Remember what it is that needs to be remembered, and you have a slight edge. Hone your slight edge and you always play at an advantage.
