One future you didn't sign up for

We didn’t opt into this.

The always on world of newsfeeds, pings and infinite scrolls.

Each of us being pulled in a dozen different directions before our feet even hit the floor in the morning.

But here we are.

Consumed by technology that was designed to make life easier, but in a lot of ways has made things more complicated.

Let me explain…

It started long before smartphones, back in the smoke and steel of the Industrial Revolution.

The beginning of the “time economy” where humans were commodified and reimagined as cogs inside of a profit machine.

Back then they wanted our time, measured in hours and optimized for ultimate output.

As the machines got faster, the corporations got bigger and the technology improved, the demand on the human experience changed.

Time was no longer enough.

So the systems evolved, and began to mine something deeper, more intimate, and more subtle: our attention.

Our attention isn’t just what we look at. It’s deeper than that.

It shapes what we care about, what we believe, and who we become.

It’s the key to self-authorship, self knowledge and human potential.

And this is the exact reason why it’s being hijacked.

Not by force, but by design.

Engineered to keep us reactive, distracted and dependent.

Marketed to us as lifestyle enhancement.

Upgraded and improved upon each year to make us feel like we’re evolving.

But inside of this attention economy our personal agency is disintegrating.

The new lords of our time aren’t factory owners, they’re algorithmic landlords who are mining our attention for rent.

The Techno-Industrial Revolution we now live in no longer optimizes just for time, it optimizes for addiction.

We’ve become “users” not unlike those in any other addiction cycle.

Hooked, dependent and constantly coming back for another hit of novelty and escape.

The goal for most technology companies these days is not building higher quality products.

It’s about increased screen use, longer scrolling, and more attention at all costs.

Our minds are the product. Our focus is for sale. Our freedom is the price.

Now, if you’ve been reading OMW for long enough, you know I’m a lot more optimistic than this.

I only emphasis this current scenario because I helped to build it.

The ad agency I walked away from in 2019 was one of the first Facebook marketing partners in Canada, and one of the largest.

I spent over $200,000,000 on hooking “users” on my clients products and it felt dirty.

But I’m trying to change that.

Because the truth is, if our attention can be taken, it can also be reclaimed.

Not in completely opting out and rebelling against technology.

But in the most subtle and personal of ways.

Attention is a muscle.

Like any muscle, it gets stronger the more you train it, and weaker the more you give it away.

And that’s what the work is now:

To reclaim our attention.

To train it.

To wield it with intention.

That’s why I built the Flow State Incubator. A free space to practice just that.

A 90-minute deep work, virtual co-working session to help people reclaim their attention, and train their focus on their most meaningful work.

The next session is June 4th. I’d love to have you join us. (3 spots left!)

Much Love,

Cory Firth
Creator of One Minute Weekend

Let’s work together!