Pay Attention

  • 1 min read
Yes

We’ve heard this since time immemorial.

From the time we were in kindergarten and first grade all the way through college and into our professional careers.

Pay Attention

One of my favorite movies is “Inside Man” where the main character Dalton Russell, played by Clive Owen, says something near the end of the movie.

He says:

“Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully and I never repeat myself.”
~ Dalton Russell

Then he follows it with very crisp, cogent, and concise instructions for what you should pay attention to.

Where he details The 5W’s – The Who, Where, What, Where, and Why.

If you’ve seen the movie you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it.

I wrote How to use POP on the Job  where the The 5W’s play a critical role.

He knows precisely what he is Paying Attention to and uses The 5W’s to help us know too. You may want to try this model to focus your attention.

You are what you pay attention to

I have said for years that I can tell you everything you want to know about someone and specifically about what they prioritize, by looking at their calendar.

Which is really just another way of saying “you are what you pay attention to”

Everyone only has 24 hours in a day. Everyone can only do so much in those 24 hours. Choose Wisely!

See Plan Your Days … or Else for more about paying attention to the time you have. Hint: 86,400

If you want to stand out in your career … pay attention. Manage your time and your calendar wisely.

There is no judgment here

The point of this post is NOT to tell you what to pay attention to. It is also NOT to judge on anything that you prioritize and you pay attention to.

It is merely to point out this somewhat obvious fact that we are what we pay attention to.

What are you paying attention to?

Picture of Jeff Shuey

Jeff Shuey

Jeff is an expert in the Enterprise Content Management industry. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently consulting with Microsoft and partners to drive Community Engagement and Alliances. Follow him on Twitter @jshuey or on LinkedIn: in/JeffShuey

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

Greif and Gleason’s 1980 research on how children learn politeness routines found that young children almost never say “please” or “thank you” spontaneously, they say it because a parent prompts them with “what do you say?” dozens of times a week, meaning the reflex adults later display without thinking twice was built through years of someone else’s prompting long before it became automatic.

Greif and Gleason’s 1980 research on how children learn politeness routines found that young children almost never say “please” or “thank you” spontaneously, they say it because a parent prompts them with “what do you say?” dozens of times a week, meaning the reflex adults later display without thinking twice was built through years of someone else’s prompting long before it became automatic.

Global English Editing
Still Performing for Ghosts: On the Masks We Keep Wearing for Tribes That No Longer Exist

Still Performing for Ghosts: On the Masks We Keep Wearing for Tribes That No Longer Exist

The Vessel
AI answer boxes are reportedly wiping out a majority of organic search traffic for some blog categories in 2026 — while others have barely lost a visitor, and the split comes down to one thing

AI answer boxes are reportedly wiping out a majority of organic search traffic for some blog categories in 2026 — while others have barely lost a visitor, and the split comes down to one thing

The Blog Herald
Many adult children remember watching a father work sixty-hour weeks for decades so the family could have what he never did, then watched him die in his sixties without ever prioritizing his own happiness, and now see that same pattern quietly repeating in their own lives, under a different name.

Many adult children remember watching a father work sixty-hour weeks for decades so the family could have what he never did, then watched him die in his sixties without ever prioritizing his own happiness, and now see that same pattern quietly repeating in their own lives, under a different name.

Global English Editing
Eye tracking research on how people actually read web pages found that most visitors scan in a rough F shaped pattern down the left side of the screen, which is why professional editors front load the real information instead of slowly building up to it

Eye tracking research on how people actually read web pages found that most visitors scan in a rough F shaped pattern down the left side of the screen, which is why professional editors front load the real information instead of slowly building up to it

The Blog Herald
Harvard researchers had 166 undergraduates rate their own pets on qualities like thoughtful, considerate and sympathetic, and the students who felt most chronically disconnected from other people scored their pets meaningfully higher on exactly those three traits, and no others.

Harvard researchers had 166 undergraduates rate their own pets on qualities like thoughtful, considerate and sympathetic, and the students who felt most chronically disconnected from other people scored their pets meaningfully higher on exactly those three traits, and no others.

Global English Editing
Load more
CATEGORIES
Explore