The beautiful people

What you give your attention to is who you will become

Listen here.

After 30 years in corporate leadership, emergency brain surgery changed everything for me. I now help people stop performing and start living with purpose. I’m sharing more in a free masterclass this Tuesday at 12 PM Eastern. In 60 minutes, you'll walk away knowing exactly why achievement alone isn't working and what to build instead. If this would add value to you, please click this link to sign up. I would love to see you on the call!

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“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” Proverbs 23:7

Confession time. There was a period in the 90s when People Magazine came to our home. I have no idea why. Well, actually, I do. I’m to blame. Perhaps I was flipping through a magazine in a doctor’s office and found a free 6-month subscription card. Why did I want to read People? It was an escape —getting out of the day-to-day grind and thinking about how the other half lives (Note: Tom Cruise looks the same today as he did in the 90s! Weird.)

I know. You don’t have to say it. I can’t get that time back. Left to my own devices, I gravitate toward whatever is easy. It’s easy for me to binge-watch Seinfeld to watch Jerry and Neumann go at it. Or scroll through Instagram and get caught up in the “perfect” lives of others — watching them get just the right selfie angle to show their best side or humble-bragging about their perfect family. Or perhaps you’ve been caught up in the 24-hour news cycle and are constantly angry about the latest outrage in our strange political landscape.

I read this quote recently, and it hit me between the eyes:

What you give your attention to is the person you become.
-John Mark Comer

Stop and read that again. Whatever you choose to give your attention to is who you will become. Perhaps it’s who you already are. Your habits are perfectly designed to deliver your current results.

I no longer read People Magazine. Well, not that I’ll admit. There are lots of things I’ve done that I regret paying attention to. I wish I had read more books that would have caused me to think and grow earlier in life.¹ Every time I read a new book, I get mentored by an author I’ll likely never meet. I may agree or disagree with what I read, but I won’t finish a book and remain the same person.

I have one big takeaway for you today.

YOU get to decide who you want to become.

If you’ve been paying attention to things that take you away from your ideal self, it’s not too late. As the Chinese proverb says, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second-best time is now. Make it an impactful week!

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1. I am thankful for my sweet mom, who “threw out” our TV when I was a kid to make us read more. I didn’t like missing out on Fantasy Island and Million Dollar Man, but I wouldn’t have read The Chronicles of Narnia otherwise!