Passion, Experience & Growth

Attitude, Intention, Attention

March 17, 2020

By 2009, I had learned the hard way. I was aiming to help others learn the easy way when I first drafted these words for Examiner.com that year. But, these lessons-learned aren't just for motorcyclists.

Let's start with attitude.

Attitude is not everything, but it is the beginning of everything, and it is at the foundation of all our successes and failures. Because our attitude lays the foundation for intention, the realm of choices we anticipate and make as we move through time. It is intention that has the power to determine outcome. And, it is our attention that determines whether we’re properly aware and prepared to realize those intentions.

Entering an intersection, is your attitude that you own the road and everyone should get out of your way, or are you careful and alert to ensure that you are visible to drivers who may choose to turn across your path? When you get on your bike, and as you ride, is your intention to “show the world” or are you always conscious of the life and death balance, confident but careful, aware of your limits and riding within? Do you often get distracted, catch yourself thinking about the past or the future, see the car pulling into your path or the sand on the road too late, or do you understand target fixation, how to keep yourself present in the moment, always aware of the space around you, and “looking through the turn?”

In his book, Total Control, Lee Parks writes:

To achieve inner quiet, what Buddhists call “the still mind,” means to stop consciously thinking about things. But a still mind is not a stupid mind. Rather, it is a mind ready for whatever presents itself. This is not “zoning-out” like we all tend to do from time to time; it is “zoning in.” When you have no thoughts to distract you, the full use of all your skills and abilities becomes available.

What is your attitude? Do you see yourself as lucky? Or do you see yourself as accident-prone? Do you make good decisions and position yourself for success? Or do you live on the edge and making your own rules? Do you plan ahead and ride within the limits of your skills? Or do you “wing it” and enjoy pushing the limits? Some of these attitudes avoid accidents, others cause them.

In her book, The Intention Experiment, Lynne McTaggart argues that intention and the power of thought has the power to change the physical world. “Seek, and ye shall find.” As you ride, your attitude has already provided a framework for your intentions. As you approach an intersection, are you willing to give way to a driver who violates your right-of-way, or are you going to “show him who’s boss?” If a driver cuts you off, or passes you, do you keep your cool and adapt your riding safely, or does your blood boil, provoking you to “blow him off the road?”

Attitude and intentions set the context for your attention. Are you riding with a still mind, aware and regularly moving between broad and specific focus? Or, are you fixated on a target?

On the subject of attention, Lee writes:

Neuroscientists believe that the human brain can focus its attention on up to seven things at once before it loses the ability to concentrate. Keith Code, in his groundbreaking book, A Twist of the Wrist, describes this process in terms of spending money. Code writes: “Attention, and where you spend it while riding a motorcycle, is a key element in how well you will function. Attention has its limits. … You have a fixed amount of attention just as you have a fixed amount of money. Let’s say you have a $10 bill’s worth of attention. If you spend $5 of it on one aspect of riding, you have only $5 left for all the other aspects. Spend $9 and you only have $1 left, and so on.” Because reality comes at you from all sides, you must constantly be choosing which things to pay attention to and which ones to ignore.

Attitude, intention, and attention—on a motorcycle, or moving through life in any other way—these are your primary tools.

Ride safe! Stay up!