Choose What to Care About

Inspired by Mark Manson · The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Go to the source ↗

Attention is finite, so caring about everything means caring about nothing much. Every card here is one deliberate choice about what gets your care and what does not — and about which problems you would actually rather have, since there is no version of a life without any.

Choose from 10

What am I choosing to care about?

Pick the Handful

I will name the few things I actually want to care about, and let the rest go.

I name the few things I actually want to care about, then pick one that did not make the list and stop spending attention on it, on purpose. Something usually comes back to me when I do.

Ask What I'd Find Hard For

I will ask what I am willing to find hard, not what I would like to be good at.

Judge It by What I Chose

I will judge today by a value I picked, not by how it compared to anyone.

Whose problem is this to solve?

Take It On Without the Blame

I will take responsibility for something that was not my fault.

Give the Problem Back

I will let something be someone else's to solve.

Trade Up the Problem

I will trade this problem for one I would rather have.

What if I'm wrong about this?

Find Where I'm Partly Wrong

I will find one part of my own position that might not hold.

I say my position plainly to myself and look for the part of it that might not hold. In a disagreement that means asking one question before I make another point, and saying plainly where I do not know.

Say I Don't Know

I will say plainly that I do not know, once, when I do not.

What do I do when I don't feel like it?

Notice What I Think I'm Owed

I will notice one place I have been acting as though something is owed to me.

I notice where I have been acting as though something is owed to me, and ask what I would do if nothing were. Then I do the boring middle of the thing, not only the start.

Do the Poor Version Now

I will do the poor version now rather than the good version later.

You get your own editable copy — change anything, drop what doesn’t fit. They land in your Intentions, tagged Values; you pull in what each day is for.