Tag: Attention

Just Be Here

Published on by Kieran Johnson - The Generosity GuyLeave a comment

It seems wild to me that this is a thing now. But putting your phone down is legitimately an act of generosity. And it probably needs to be more than just down, but away, somewhere out of sight. The mere presence of it makes the quality of conversation lower, even if you’re not looking at or touching your phone.

Companies pay billions of dollars to capture your attention, and instead, you are saying no to them and choosing to give it to just one person, for this moment right now. What a gift.

So, put it away for a bit. Give your full attention to someone else, or even yourself. This is a remarkable thing to offer.

It quietly says:
“You matter.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’d rather be here with you than somewhere else.”

Honestly, if someone said that out loud to me, I’d either feel deeply valued or incredibly uncomfortable. Maybe both, depending on the person. Such is the power of attention.

It doesn’t have to be an hour. Start with five minutes.

Ignore the desire to:

…check the notification.
…search the random fact.
…scroll to see what other people are eating.

Just be there.

Because in a distracted world, attention might be the most generous thing you have to give.

More valuable than money

Published on by Kieran Johnson - The Generosity GuyLeave a comment

“Time is money.”

“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”

“There is no such thing as a free lunch.”

“I don’t get out of bed for less than…”

“What’s your hourly rate?”

All of these phrases you would have heard of. All of them are either untrue or unhelpful.

There is no doubt that money is a significant part of our lives. We genuinely can’t live without it. We spend most of our waking hours working to get it, then spending in, then wondering where it went. I shudder to think about the amount of spreadsheets that are used globally to track it and attempt to predict it, mostly inaccurately.

But there is more to life than money. I am definitely not the first person to say that. What does it mean though? What is this ‘more to life’ that people talk about?

It means that there are other things in life that are a more important filter to help decide how we spend our time, or what we put our money to, or who we want to become.

As James Clear says, “Nobody will ever pay you to go on a date with your spouse or take your kids to the park or grab coffee with your parents.”

Being generous with our money, time and attention will help to shape a life outside of money. It will be well rounded. It will have purpose. It will bring joy.