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🏛️ Theory
Attention is one of the most important capabilities for a Stoic, for anyone really, to build.
The French philosopher Pierre Hadot wrote:
Attention is the fundamental Stoic spiritual attitude... Thanks to his spiritual vigilance, the Stoic always has “at hand” (procheiron) the fundamental rule of life: that is, the distinction between what depends on us and what does not.
The idea of attention involves several facets:
Focus: how long you’re able to pay attention
Awareness: what you’re able to pay attention to
Object: What you’re paying attention to
Perspective: the scale or resolution at which you’re paying attention
Think of attention like a flashlight. Focus refers to the stability and direction of the beam – can you keep it on what you need to for the right amount of time? Awareness refers to the beam’s periphery. Are you able to be aware of disturbances outside of your focus when you need to be? The object is what you’re lasering in on. Finally, perspective concerns how close or far you are from your object. Sometimes you can see more clearly from far away, at other times, up close.
These four aspects of attention are essential for living well and can be built through philosophical practice, meditation, and experience.
Going through each of these four and choosing one to improve can be a useful exercise. You can discover which one to focus on by asking questions like:
Focus
Can I keep my attention on what I need to for the right amount of time?
Can I return to focus when faced with a distraction?
Awareness
Am I aware of what I need to be?
Have I completely missed details that I wished I picked up lately?
Do people around me tell me I’m too focused? Are they right?
Object
Am I paying attention to the right things?
Marcus Aurelius’s question to himself on this is key:
In everything that you do, pause and ask yourself if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives you of this.
Perspective
Will my actions improve if I zoom in and master the details?
Will my actions improve if I zoom out and see the bigger picture?
Am I taking the view from above enough?
You may have crafted other questions along these lines as well – if so, please share them.
After thinking through these questions, choose one area to improve. Be sure to think of a specific domain or role that you’ll focus on here too.
Make progress and then repeat.
🎯 Action
Take one action to improve your attention today.
🔗 Links
🎧️ Michael led a deep dive on Epictetus’s chapter On Attention. Epictetus thought a lot about the importance of attention and how to train his students to use it well. Listen here:
🦊 Want to learn more about yourself through stories and myths? Sign up for the (free) Retell app:
Coming soon…
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