I’m realizing attention comes before money.
I noticed this in my own life. I could earn, budget, and plan, but money still felt stressful. The problem wasn’t the amount. It was how scattered my attention was. I was reacting all day, switching tasks, checking my phone constantly, and making decisions while tired.
When my attention is fragmented, financial decisions get worse. I spend without thinking, delay important choices, and feel behind even when things are actually stable.
Bitcoin came into my life while I was trying to slow down and take more responsibility for my decisions. What changed first was not my finances, but my relationship with time. Saving forced me to think longer term. Holding value made me more aware of how I use my attention during the day.
Over time, money started to feel less urgent and more intentional. I became more careful with my focus because I could see how much it affected my decisions.
For me, sound money starts with attention. When attention is managed well, money stops feeling chaotic. It becomes a tool instead of a source of stress.
I’m curious if others experienced something similar.
You raise a good point. There's a reason everyone was all about the attention economy a couple decades ago. The understood that ultimately it's human attention that is the root of value. Engagement is about it. Time is in identity with it. For that matter a really important impulse to cultivate is that of turning everything off. Like once a day at least to sit in silence and let the internal queue play itself out. With that taken care of, we spend a lot less time trying to chase some amazing feeling from the external or escape discomfort. This then means you can be more intentional with how you make, save and spend money, and in that way honest money will just feel right.