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Episode 480 – Where is your attention?

• Welcome back friends
• Today I want to share a tool with you that I learned about in my speaking workshop
• The person who created the tool came and spoke to us during one of our sessions
• Her name is Neem James and she is the author of a book called Attention Pays
• She is super fun and entertaining and apart from learning valuable strategies like the one I am sharing with you today, she is also a wonderful speaker, setting a great example to all of us students
• Her tool is called the Attention Matrix and I finally sat down this week to complete it
• She walked us through it in her presentation, but the little time we had to complete it was not enough for me
  • I wanted to really take time and think about it later
• So it got shoved into a folder with the intention to complete later
• But had it not been for my rehearsal group that I meet with every other week, it would still sit in that folder
• Someone from the group mentioned the matrix and as a team we decided that we each would complete it and discuss it in an upcoming meeting
• Luckily I was able to find a video on YouTube with Neem explaining the tool
• I took notes, but they were not enough
• I needed a refresher because the session where Neem explained each box of the matrix in detail was long ago.

• So before I even go into the matrix, take this valuable advise from me:
• When you come back from a good workshop or an uplifting conference, you are equipped with a ton of new knowledge and ideas,
  • You have a lot of notes
  • Booklets and Handouts
  • Books recommended to read
  • And concepts, models and tips you received that you want to ry out
• it can feel overwhelming
  • everything seems valuable and important
• The tendency is to put everything on a shelf somewhere, maybe even in eyesight, so we don’t forget
  • with the intention to work through it at a later point
• But later never arrives because our life catches up with us
  • Our regular routines take over
  • And the new and exciting ideas slowly loose momentum
  • We remember that they were great, but we forget the impact they can make on our life
• So my FIRST recommendation is to always allot some extra time after a conference to go through your notes and select the information you are going to use
• And then make a plan on how to use them
• This is also why I record short but frequent episodes
• So you have inspiration and motivation in front of you all the time – hopefully prompting you to act on a few of the ideas I share
•  
• I cant stress the importance of an accountability buddy or a group you meet with regularly
• This was one of the greatest benefits of my speaking program
  • A group of us that all live here in the Bay Area
  • We all have the same goal, even though we are all from different backgrounds
  • And together we hold each other accountable
• Without them, I wouldn’t be as far as I am today
• hence my 2^nd recommendation is to connect with people at your workshop and come home not just with a bunch of great notes and ideas, but also with a list of email addresses and phone numbers
• you don’t have to meet in person if its not possible,
• you can have regular ZOOM calls
• but I can tell you, in person is the best
• it forces me to show up
• an online meeting is easy to skip
• not so much a personal meeting where you know your presence and your contribution will be missed
•  
• But lets get to the Matrix that I want to share with you
• I was fascinated by it the moment Neem presented it and I knew it is a critical tool I need to utilize
• But I am unhappy to admit that I sat on it for months
• I am sharing it with you partially because I feel so accomplished after I finally completed it but also because I now really see the value in this tool
• And I think you all can benefit by going through the exercise
• The attention matrix will help you think about who you are and what you offer to this world
• It will help you craft our professional story so you can better advocate for yourself in your personal and professional lives.
• I consider it a longer form of elevator speech
• Not to sell yourself, but to explain, in a few short sentences what you are about
• But hold:
• before you dismiss me and this episode because you don’t think you are at a point in life where you can tell anyone what you are about, stay tight
• I have the same not-enough feelings as you
• As a speaker, which this matrix will help me position myself as, I don’t have anything to show other than my podcast
• I wish I could throw out big company names as my clients, like Neem does
• But I am not there yet
• And that’s ok
• The value of this matrix is not to showcase all you have done
• Its value lies in in helping you define your focus
• It helps you get clear on your personal and professional objectives
• It forces you to describe, in a few words, where you come from and where you are going and WHY
• It doesn’t matter at which point in life you are
  • Just graduating from college or about to retire
• At any point in our life we should be clear on what our focus is
• Because wherever our focus is, that is where our attention goes
• Completing this matrix will then also reveal if you are not where you say you are
• It’s a great tool to position yourself
• To answer the dreaded question we get in random places, like air planes, conferences, bathrooms – What do you do?
• And its especially difficult to answer when we are, like I am, in a career that makes me money but working on a side project that I am more passionate about
•  
• So lets dive in
• The matrix consist of a 3×3 table – 3 columns and 3 rows
• The first column is about your personal life
• The second one about your professional goals
• And the third one about your global visions
• Lets start with column 1
• I will cover each row in each column, starting from the bottom

1. Personal
   • Resume – on the bottom left corner

• Resume is all about what you have done
• Your history
• Your credibility
• For me this is my long-term career in supply chain management
• I selected the area that I have spent most of my time at in the past years
  • If you have been a stay-at-home mom, this may be your Resume
  • Role
• This is asking about your role – what do you call yourself?
• I selected speaker – this is what I want people to me as
• SCM may be my resume, but I am now positioning myself as a speaker
• And you can add a quick comment explaining what resulted in the shift, if there is one
• But your role is the role you have now and want others to know about
• Mine: As a speaker, I inspire my audience to discover their authentic self.
  • Reason
• Basically why you selected this role
• Your personal reason
• I start mine with “Because I am passionate about ….”
• Share why love what you do
• This took me a while – it’s a great question that makes us think why we want to be a speaker, a blogger, a teacher or a gardener
• We all should be clear about our reason.

Next we move to the second column –

2. Professional

The first column was about your personal life

Now we are moving into positioning ourselves professionally

Again we start on the bottom and move up

• Accomplishments

• Focus on one project you’re proud of that relates to you role
• My resume is in SCM, but since I am positioning myself as a speaker, I would talk about the almost 500 episodes I already published
• This supports my creditability as a speaker
• You could name clients you worked with or maybe you mention the program you enrolled in that prepared you for your role
• Next – my favorite part
  • In the middle of the matrix: Metaphor
• I am being funny
• This is the hardest part for me and as I am recording this episode, I am still working on my metaphor
• I consulted several of my friends for help on this
• Basically you pick a metaphor or a simile
• An animal, an object or artifact that represents you
• Neem uses the energizer bunny to describe her high energy which shows when you hear her speak
• This is hard but fun
• It has been on my mind for days now
• I suggest you think about the impact you want to have in your role
  • I want to inspire and motivate people to change
• And then think of an animal or other artifact that does that
• Something people can associate with
• This can also be funny
• The more relatable it is with people, the more they will remember it – and remember you

Last row, on top

• Uniqueness

• Easy – pick something that makes you unique
• Something that positions you uniquely to do the best job in your role
• For me, its gowing up behind the iron curtain
• For you it may have been growing up poor and working since childhood
• Ask – What experiences have you had that give you a unique perspective or edge for your role

Last column, to the right

3. Global

Now we are moving into the fun stuff – how you are going to change the world

• Bottom right hand corner – Problem

• What problem do you solve with your blog, with your business, or with your art
• I help people make small changes in their lives that help them live truer to their purpose
• That’s what I have for now – it may change
• Next
  • Prescription
• In your role, how are you going to solve the problem
• Maybe you started a blog where you post your hiking trip pictures
• Think about why you post them – that’s the problem
• Maybe for now you just want a neat way to organize your trips
  • In the old days, we bought photo albums
  • Today we post pictures online
• So first and foremost, we start a lot of online activity for our own benefit
• But why not think further?
• Because inwardly we do hope others stumble across our site and find it useful
• Think about in which way you can be useful to others
• what can your blog help solve?
  • Maybe you hike in remote places and your pictures help others see the areas they are planning to hike?
• Your descriptions of the hiking trails, elevation, the gear needed, can help other prepare for their trips
  • And lastly – your Purpose
• This is your why
• If you look across, in the same row, column 1 – you started with reason
  • This was your personal passion
  • Could be as simple as capturing beautiful moments on camera
• In column 2, you covered what makes you unique
  • Maybe you grew up in a remote village and had to hike a long way to school
• Column 3 combines your reason and your uniqueness into your purpose
  • Why do you do what you do
• This is the hardest question to answer
• Maybe you want to make money
• Maybe you want attention and be seen
• But there is more
• Dig deeper
• This may take a few days
• And it may not yet be clear to you
• But we all have a purpose we want to fulfill with the things we are passionate about it
• I want to help others find what I found – that life is more meaningful when we follow our inner direction instead of what everyone else does.
• This is why I creates this podcast
• What is your why?

• This is the attention matrix my friends
• A wonderful tool to help you get clearer on where you are heading
• Once I have mine finalized, it can serve as a Bio on my website
• But more importantly, I will memorize it and it can help me explain myself to people that ask about what I do
• Even if you don’t yet do everything you dream about, you can still craft the content of this matrix
• I am not yet a keynote speaker
• But when I am, this is my vision of what I want to accomplish
• I highly recommend you take an hour to fill in the boxes
• Even if some remain blank for a few days
• As the questions linger in the back of your mind, you will seek to answer them
• It’s a good thing to think about where our attention is
• It will help us keep it where it needs to be

Much love my friends