Life is fashioned from what you pay attention to and what you haven’t. Or better still, your life is the sum of what you focus on. Ergo, focus on the upside. Take control of your attention.

Bottom-up attention is bright-coloured things that we immediately pay attention to – essentially making it harder to concentrate.

Top-down attention is asking yourself “What do you want to concentrate on?”

Just thinking about concentrating, improves your concentration.

Negativity bias is expressed by us paying more attention to unpleasant feelings because they are more powerful than agreeable ones.

Grow your world by paying attention to positive emotions. Shrink it by focusing on the negative.

Is your response to stuff more important than what happens to you? Following trauma/problem, do not focus on what happened, as this can make you feel worse. E.g. don’t vent

What you pay attention to can alter your behaviour

Paying attention to the people you talk to helps to form solid relationships, common in Eastern culture. In the West, people tend to look instead towards their individualistic selves, and too much attention to objects.

On living with a partner, try to see the world through their eyes

To heighten your attention, choose tasks that challenge you to the edge of your competence, this will heighten your focus

To be really effective at your job, you need to love doing it. In your free time, push yourself to learn something new, as this will help you focus and give you happiness.

When you squander your attention on mind-numbing activities like TV or games, your mind stagnates and life can seem boring

It’s normal that when you start a new job, move apartment or meet someone new that you like you will focus on it. Then, once you become accustomed to it, your mind will be drawn inextricably to the next big thing. Don’t. Kahneman says that ‘ when you anticipate something, you anticipate the memory, not the actual experience ‘.

The focusing illusion is when you exaggerate the importance of something, just by thinking about it. Soon after you acquire it, you stop noticing the pleasure. Moreover, you are more likely to acquire more pleasure from items you consume than appliances such as a 16 MacBook Pro. Go out to the cinema or buy a chocolate bar instead.

When you look at someone you know well, and the spark is no longer there, try looking at something else about them. This will trigger you to find them more interesting.

Your energy goes where you’re attention flows. When trying to hit the metaphorical baseball, you will hit it sooner or later. You may need patience or a different strategy. Don’t focus on missing it, focus on hitting it.

The opening quote of what changed Sir William Osieris “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but do what lies clearly at hand.” In other words, like said by so many authors, go out and do today’s work superbly, because this is the best way to prepare for the future.

Be like an hourglass that is filled up the sand at the beginning of the day. The day for us is every single grain of sun passes through it one at a time.

Only live until bedtime! For every day brings new life. Don’t dream for tomorrow.

For working through a problem: This technique allows you to focus on what the problem is and in reducing that worst-case scenario, as opposed to worrying about a multitude of problems. It is like putting on some blinkers and focussing on that one thing. Here is a 3 step approach:

1. Analyse the problem and then state what is the worst that can happen.
2. Once you know what the worst thing that can happen is, reconcile yourself to accept it.
3. Now commit to trying to improve upon the worst thing that can happen.

How to analyze and solve worry problems, another three-step process:

1. Get the facts (imagine you are collecting for someone else).
2. Analyze the facts (prepare an argument so pros and cons).
3. Arrive at a decision and then act on that decision.

Finally, another approach to worry is to:

1. Write down what are you worrying about.
2. Write down what can you do about it.
3. Decide what to do and then do it!

A fantastic quote is in the book James Allen’s as a man thinketh “Man did not attract that which they want, but that which they are.”

On reducing problems:

1. What is the problem?
2. What is the cause of the problem?
3. What are the possible solutions to the problem?
4. What solutions will you use to move forward?

On worrying, keep yourself busy! He goes on to say not to spend too much time worrying about a subject; an analogy of not spending too much on your whistle.

Act happy and you will become it.

Never hate your enemy, as it only serves to give them power over our sleep and our thoughts and comments. Forgive and forget your enemies. Do not waste a second thinking about your enemies.

Don’t assume that people will be grateful towards you. Don’t expect anything in return. Be like the vine providing grapes. Gratitude is like a rose it has to be fed, watered, cultivated, loved and protected. Finally, give for the joy of giving.

We seldom think of what we have but of what we lack. Count your blessings, not your troubles.

Always be yourself and never be someone that you are not. Don’t be ashamed of who you are. Make the most of what nature gave you. Do not imitate others. Find yourself and be yourself.

The best things are the most difficult. Remember to profit from your losses.

Every day, think about how you might please one person. This will lead to making you more popular. Take an active interest in them. Ask someone about their experiences and dreams.

On being critiqued. He says that no one kicks a dead dog, they only kick the ones on the up. People will become jealous of you. Ignore the unjust criticism.

Record good and bad decisions over the week. Reflect on these every Sunday.

Clear your desk of clutter or things you need to address, as this will clutter your mind. Also, answer emails immediately – remix in Tim Ferris and batch answer them.

Lots and lots of practical financial advice from “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” by Ramit Sethu. Having said that, I skipped around 75% of the content of the book, as my main interest was to develop a conscious spending plan, using 4 buckets of spending; similar to YNAB.

Here are some of my favourite quotes and takeaways from the book:

Instead of saying “How much money do I need to make?” Change the question to “What do I want to do with my life, and how can I use the money to do it?” For me that is traveling three times per year, learning to specialize in data analytics, fitness and family.

Spend extravagantly on the things you love, and cut on the things you don’t. See the answer to the life question above.

Ask yourself “Why do you want to be rich?” For me, it is so I can provide for my family.

Conscious spending plan (we all need one). This is made up of 4 buckets separated into percentages; see the table below for suggested percentages VS what my percentages are. Be recommends putting money aside for unexpected spending every month, as it will happen. If you overspend in one area, you will need to take it away from another.

To decrease spending, focus on the high areas where you are spending, not on the small items.

Save money for a particular goal NOT just to save for the heck of it. For me, that is to save 50K. 10k for a new kitchen for my mum, and 40K to build a house. This serves to motivate you and give you focus. This goal also needs a time frame. So, 50 K USD, in 5 years should do it.

Track your expenses once a week, for around 30 minutes to 1 hour.

For one-off unexpected income, spend 50% of it on something you’ve been saving up for and then save or invest the other 50%.

You might say that because I skipped 75% of the book that is like ordering a pizza and only eating the crust! But hey, at least I got something out of it, a conscious spending plan using four buckets.

Enjoy 🙂