Are you happy with your life? Do you feel like you are in control of your life? Are you pursuing what you’re passionate about? This is very relevant for creatives. Because where you place your attention can drain or replenish your creativity.

I think many people feel a lack and then need to cover it up with dopamine hits. These dopamine hits cover up what we truly want and who we truly are – creatives. I believe it starts with your attention and how you use it. It’s a habit.

You don’t owe anyone attention.

This may not be intuitive, because society gives us the opposite impression. Growing up, we are forced to give our attention to people. Our parents, teachers and others demanded our attention, whether we wanted to give it or not. But as you mature, you can start to realize that you control your attention and who/what you give it to.

How much of what you think and do is actually genuine?

Answering this question used to be difficult for me. For so many years, I didn’t even know what I wanted or what I genuinely liked. Well, when I was a kid I knew, but it was quickly overshadowed by what others wanted me to do.  I had to rediscover these things over time. It begins with attention. What do I pay attention to? I realized I could only find what’s genuine for me, by first withdrawing my attention from other things. Through this process, I realized how much I had been conditioned. It’s something that once you see, you can’t un-see.

Growing up, you absorb without being able to control what you are exposed to. We learn to repeat certain patterns based on this and it forms who we become to a scary degree. I can actually remember this happening to me. By the time I was 18, I realized that I didn’t even know who I was. I spent so much time absorbing things and doing what was expected of me, that I wasn’t genuine to myself at all and I was not happy with this. I think this happens to everyone to a degree. It comes down to your surroundings, the people who influence you, how much you question it and how early you begin to question.

It hasn’t become easier. With all the technology designed to take our attention, even more vigilance is needed.  Now it seems people are largely being shaped by social media.  If you spend hours a day using Facebook or TikTok, that’s not really a surprise. There can be positive influences found here, but most of it is shaped by the level of consciousness of the society and lets face it, it’s not very high or intelligent.

It starts with awareness, as anything does.

First I started to cut out most socializing. I realized so much of it is completely useless, if not destructive. Most of it is a big distraction and really just keeps you stuck. Quality is more important than quantity here. Though of course, many see being popular or famous as a goal, it looks so appealing doesn’t it? But we’ve all heard stories about how that isn’t fulfilling once it’s achieved. The reason I slowly cut out a lot of the socializing is that I saw how it was influencing me and I didn’t like it. It would never lead me to my passions and if anything it got in the way of me pursuing them. For me, it was a routine, a habit. I did this, with these people and it was always the same. I also noticed that the more people you have in your life, the more difficult it is to change, especially for the better.

Then I cut out most media. This often comes along with socializing, after all you need things to talk about to fill the time with people. This wasn’t difficult for me, because I never really consumed all that much. If I watched more than an hour or two of something, I started to feel … just not good. It’s hard to describe. Like comfort with a tinge of a sick feeling. It’s similar to eating too much junk food, only mentally. I still watch shows occasionally, with my partner, but I rarely just watch anything on my own. I don’t really have time for that. I don’t have time to waste. I’d rather be doing music or art. Or even doing work. The time you spend consuming things with your mind, is time you lose that you could’ve used to master or learn anything you choose. This seems crazy to me.

I also deleted my Facebook and Instagram accounts a while back. I have no idea why I even kept them for so long. It’s an illusion of value and I noticed that I never really felt good after being on these platforms. It’s a shame, because I used to really like Instagram. I never liked Facebook, so it wasn’t much of a loss. I was only on there because I needed it for a course I had taken in the past. I still use YouTube, but it seems to be going down a path of crap. For a long time, I’ve noticed the search results just aren’t relevant to what I’m looking for anymore and it’s difficult to find things of quality.

This stuff is obvious. So simple, but so damn difficult to do. You need a goal. A large goal broken up into tiny achievable goals. The reward of this is in the doing, but it’s a challenge to stay on the path. You are constantly challenged by cheap dopamine hits, so readily accessible in our modern society. This alternative path feels great, but in a different way than watching Netflix feels great. It gives you power, strengthens your mind, whereas Netflix (or fill in the blank with whatever) takes away your power and weakens your mind.

Your attention is the gateway to your mind. It’s one of the few things you can control in this world and can become a super power if you use it wisely. Value it.