The Power of Focused Attention

We live in a scattered world. Information is zipping by us at an ever increasing rate. As North Americans, we collectively download into our lives 3.6 zettabytes of information every day. That’s as much information as contained in every book every written. It is more information than if you twittered 24/7 every day for one hundred years. That’s a lot of information! Trying to keep on top of it all and discern any useful meaning from it leaves us feeling numb. We aren’t sure what we need to pay attention to, so we become benign to it all. The value of most information has collapsed to zero. The only real asset today is focused attention. People and companies that capture attention are the ones that find success. The following ad campaign by Colgate for dental floss illustrates the power of focused attention. Take a look at these three pictures:

Well, now that you had time to look closely at the pictures …you should note that in the first image the woman has an extra finger, an out of place extra arm in the second, and in the third the man has an ear missing.The ad campaign served its purpose, it was shown that food debris in the teeth get more attention than any physical defect.

Ah, the power of focused attention. Define yourself, define your life.