Daily Inputs, Daily Outputs
Where attention goes, energy flows.
Do you ever stop to think about where your energy flows? Ever consider the competing priorities that demand your attention each day? Or the subtle hacks that allow you to slowly slip into a state of unconsciousness?
I don’t typically look at my days this way - in terms of inputs and outputs - at least, not consciously per se. On a good day, I may set some intentions or goals I hope to achieve, a to-do list of sorts, and work my way through each item. More accurately, on most days, I do a quick glance at my calendar and allow my schedule to dictate what’s on the docket and where to focus next.
That calendar is the first thing I look at when I wake up each day and the last thing I look at as I fall asleep at night. It is the the driving force behind my productivity and the north star to my day. Truthfully, my reliance on it’s presence borders on pathetic and insane. If it isn’t in the calendar, it simply does not exist. Imagine, that - a digital dictator that I allow to control my day. A shove in the form of an iPhone reminder to tell me where I am needed next. Input: Do this. Output: Done. Such a passive way to pass each day under the mistaken pretense that I am the one in control. The calendar is my gateway drug, a justifiable excuse to welcome inputs into how my time should be spent.
While the calendar seems like a relatively safe space, a superficial habit perhaps, it takes only a couple clicks of a few frequented apps and before I know it I am down the rabbit hole. Lost at sea amongst tangle-free brushes, Labrador retrievers, and a glimpse at small moments of some stranger’s day - before I have even left my bed I have departed from reality and allowed outside priorities dictate my first steps.
Since where you place your attention is where your energy flows, beginning your day by immediately placing attention on the people you need to see, the lists that must be conquered, and the things that you own effectively shatters your energy into fragmented pieces, leaving you unable to feel fully connected or truly whole. As the realization sinks in, I hang my head in shame. Once again, I’ve allowed this tiny digital device to control not only my inputs, but the outputs of my day. “How many of us”, I wonder, “wander through their days as tiny shards of who we are meant to be?”
As I bring awareness to this power struggle and my scattered sense of self, a subtle shift sets in. I eventually return to my body, reclaim my focus, and remember to breathe once again. By setting my own intentions and recognizing the inputs that subconsciously control my actions, I take back control. I look in the mirror and define my intentions - how I want my day to feel, what I want to accomplish to feel good in my mind, body, and soul for the day. I define my day on my terms and dictate where my attention and energy will flow. I put away the calendar. I design my inputs. I direct my outputs. For anyone struggling to feel whole - I challenge you to take back control.
