It has never been harder to turn money into attention, yet it has never been easier to turn attention into money.
So basically, all we need to figure out is how to turn money into attention.
To get closer to answering this million-dollar question, we need to ask ourselves: how do we budget our attention? It’s often said that millennials and Gen Z have an attention span of three seconds. I think this data is misinterpreted; it doesn’t mean this generation can’t listen for more than three seconds. It means that every three seconds, they decide if they want to keep listening.
This brings us back to the question: how do we budget our attention? What do we choose to focus on? Following the reptilian brain, the oldest part of our brain, we pay attention to anything that supports or threatens our four basic needs—the four F’s: do we need to fight, do we need to flee, is there food, or will we meet someone?
But in daily life, it’s rarely about fight, flight, food, or meeting people. Most of the time, random reasons determine whether we pay attention, and these reasons are based on the newer parts of our brain—on emotion and logic.
So, what holds our attention? Things that entertain or inspire us. And then, there are the things we know we should listen to because they help us grow—become better versions of ourselves, more successful, more likable, more admired. Or maybe we enjoy the fact that others are listening because we have something meaningful to say.
What does it mean to have something meaningful to say? I would split this into two directions:
a) we are indeed right a lot, and
b) we share our thoughts, visions, fears, ideas, dreams, or feedback in a way that people enjoy listening to us.
I call it being “unignorable” if you master these two traits.
And of course, being right a lot doesn’t mean you just have a strong opinion. I’m European, and there are plenty of people with strong opinions here—but that doesn’t mean I particularly enjoy listening to them. Being right a lot means you’re informed at a level that others aren’t. You’ve likely read more books, followed more news, subscribed to more blogs. You might be closer to where innovation happens; you might even have a seat at the table where the future is being shaped. When you’re so close to what happens next, to hearing hypotheses about the future, it’s very likely that you’re actually right a lot.
And it’s obvious we don’t enjoy listening to people who can’t articulate a sentence without fillers, who use simple vocabulary or jargon and complicated words, who can’t put complex ideas into simple terms that a nine-year-old could understand and a scientist wouldn’t find boring or trivial. We’re drawn to those who can juggle language like an artist juggling twenty balls in the air—these are the people we enjoy listening to.
So, returning to the question: how can we turn money into attention? The answer is, we can’t just throw money at it. More money doesn’t mean more attention—it’s like turning up the volume in a club. If people don’t like the music to begin with, making it louder just makes it more irritating, not more enjoyable.
In order to become "unignorable", have to put ourselves at the tables where these conversations are being held. We have to get closer to the shapers and architects of the future, immerse ourselves in environments where future hypotheses are being crafted, and be conscious of how we articulate ourselves.
To me, this is the fuel that drives me forward. It’s the reason I’ve been organizing these so-called inspiration tours and fact-finding missions. I call them “Conference on Wheels” in Silicon Valley, New York, London, Helsinki, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Hong Kong, and this year even Kyiv. I go there because I want to have these conversations. I don’t believe you can download this experience; I don’t think you’re truly up to speed by just reading the news. By the time it makes the news, it may already be too late, or the person crafting the article might be swayed by their own interpretations. That’s just a slight diversion from making your own firsthand opinions.
I’m deeply grateful to have found my purpose in helping people become unignorable. Maybe I’ll be lucky enough for our paths to cross in the near future—perhaps in Silicon Valley or at one of these other innovation hubs where our future is currently being crafted. This is a short window of opportunity, but it’s a privilege to live in an era where anyone can actually be part of these conversations. Yes: you, as well.
See you there.
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