The woman was deep in a book.
Only her eyebrows visible behind the beefy hardback.
I squinted to make out the title.
ORI
GIN
ALS
How Non-Conformists Move The World.
I was impressed.
I just love seeing people shun the zombification of modern humans to do things the old-school way.
I’ve tweeted before that:
‘The real flex is to go to a café by yourself and read a book without looking at your phone.’
And this woman was living this.
Everywhere else I looked people were transfixed to some sort of screen.
And even the woman with the book had now stopped reading.
She’d already pulled out her phone.
I don’t blame people for this.
The distractions on our phones are just now so immense.
We’re all hopelessly addicted - not to screens - but the dopamine pings of alerts, new messages, and red dots that make us feel hits of pleasure.
...But that ultimately do not fulfil us.
This is also stealing from us the thousands of people who might otherwise be using their screen time to produce works of genius.
Instead, they’re playing ‘Cows with Guns’ while picking their nose.
I see a great divide happening in society, and it isn’t obvious to most.
It marks the widening chasm between the distracted and the focused.
The distracted, sadly, will lose out more than they can currently comprehend.
Because when we consume far more than we create, we fail to satisfy a part of us that makes us human.
This will make us numb and dissatisfied, full of later regret.
There will also be a tremendous overlap between the distracted, the chronically broke, and the disillusioned.
So, if you’d like to join the ever-diminishing crew that will remain focused, creative, and alive in the coming years,
You must make a commitment.
A commitment to making creativity a daily non-negotiable.
You write, you produce, you make art. You build things.
BEFORE...
...Any other distracting bullshit.
The great thing about this is that you can build assets that serve you and create opportunities.
But it’s not merely about making art or building useful things (both awesome).
It’s about honouring what is required of you to be a happy human.
If you’d like an immediate jump-start to rewiring your mind for elite focus, you might like my Untethered Mind course.
The course shows you a new understanding of our psychology that most productivity gurus miss.
This isn’t about clever mindset tactics. It’s about a refreshed understanding.
When you receive the insights this course delivers, your stressful thoughts no longer serve a purpose.
When you get there, focus gets 10x easier.
Alex
OH, and, if you’d like to support me and gain access to hundreds of locked articles like this one, you’ll want to become a paying subscriber here on Substack for less than the price of a couple of coffees each month:
Yup, this is just right. Thanks for the reminder!
Thanks Alex. Love this!