Something old, something new: Time, Trust & Attention

Whether you still live in the past or exploring the new economy world, these currencies have remained constant: time, trust & attention. If you don’t have money, you still have those three.

Time: Benjamin Franklin said - You may delay, but time will not

You can’t control time, but you can manage yourself and take control of your life – yes you are in control.

You don’t have to watch movies, play games, & waste time, although escapism is also important to distress, know that we are all allotted the same amount of time. It is 100% your choice how you spend or invest it. Whatever you put your time in, it builds up and over time it will pay off. Balance your allocation towards your short & long-term buckets.

It is those who spend it doing the things they are passionate about that will achieve those aspirations. Know who you are, go out, experience and try a lot of things. So that you will know what you suck at and good at. Then focus your time and effort on your strengths.

Trust: The currency du jour

Whether it’s friendship, relationships, or business, all are built and run on trust. Without it, you have nothing. In the digital age, everything has changed, trust constructs are shifting from personal/in personal relationships to digital connections and, this alone is creating a new dynamic environment that may inspire insecurity, fear, and suspicion from many.

Research has shown that peer to peer influence is most powerful as we trust our peers for not only advice but also our buying decisions. This is why the peer-to-peer marketplace is disrupting existing businesses; from Airbnb to Uber and the like.

As the importance of the digital economy grows, so does the need for trust-building at work, in your business as well as your customers.

The reality is that trust does come with risk, but not giving trust does, too. Why do you think financial institutions always include a variation of “Your Trusted Partner” in their branding & marketing?

Trust can bring you reduced stress, fulfillment, peace-of-mind, profitability, collaboration, & legacy.

How do you build trust? Kindness is a simple, yet powerful way to build trust, relationships, and create an impact. Doing the right thing also builds it.

Kind words build people up. Kind words, as well as acts-of-kindness, can also disarm people, especially those people who are most challenging in your life.

We all use Attention

You attract to your life whatever you give your attention, energy and focus to, whether wanted or unwanted. Your attention will always be for sale. Today, via websites, blogs, tri-media, social media, direct mail, trade shows, billboards and countless more channels, companies (or people, like me) are selling their products and services nonstop—and noisily.

It doesn’t matter where we come from, what we want to achieve, working as an employee, entrepreneur, no matter what it is, we all trade on is attention. Whether it is putting yourself out there to get a job, raise funds for a cause, sustain the attention of your customers, we all use it.

Attention is leverage, and leverage creates an opportunity for you to bring value to others.

You either have your attention controlled or influenced by somebody else or you leverage it to make money, to educate and/or influence people towards your cause.

Make sure to use these 3 age-old gifts in the new economy!

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