Many successful people understand that what you focus on now will, in the future, expand. Time, energy and focus are your most valuable resources. For purposes here, we can group time, energy and focus together as ‘attention.’

Attention is actually a form of investment, and when you keep that attention on something you’re making an investment. As with most investments, there are opportunity costs. When you place that attention primarily on one item, goal or situation, you cannot easily put that same amount of attention somewhere else.

There are many things vying for our attention. In the context of research funding, when faculty are deliberate in putting attention on all aspects of the funding process, including developing proposals, they'll find that more opportunities grow from those efforts.

For example, when you are sending emails asking to meet with funders, we know that often those emails are not returned. But occasionally they are, especially if you follow up. You can increase your attention to this activity simply by reaching out to more people. Once any of those conversations have begun, it’s a perfect example of something growing from the email into meetings, and possibly something larger, perhaps even a collaboration that lasts years.

However, if you're always focused on writing the next manuscript or teaching prep, funding and related tasks are not getting the attention they deserve, and the space they occupy in your career will diminish over time. When that happens, it will be virtually impossible to achieve progress in those areas.

You can monitor your attention either by formally recording what you spend your time on for a set duration, perhaps one week, or by simply becoming more aware of that subjectively. It can be advantageous to do this in the moment, noting what you actually gave your attention to, rather than referring back to a calendar -- because we don't always use ‘calendar time’ as we might have planned.

It’s also worth thinking about the type of attention you're giving something when you approach an opportunity. One way to assess your mindset is to consider your inner dialog. Do you have the mindset that this could be possible? Or are you experiencing doubt and frustration with it?

When you learn that a proposal was declined, do you give more attention to the rejection, or do you devote your attention to the feedback and your next steps?

With so many competing interests, it's important to intentionally choose what you are going to focus your attention on. Relationships benefit from the attention they receive. Creating a strategic plan instead of just reacting to deadlines is another form of both intention and attention. Making sure that you're getting time for that deep work so you can focus on impactful ideas and crafting quality proposals requires attention.

Attention is also related to career vision. Here you are directing your attention to a future outcome. By crafting a desired outcome in your mind first, you make it more likely to occur in reality because you’ll be more inclined to pick up on opportunities that can support that vision. Thus, be intentional with your attention.

DOD early-career awards: overview & considerations

I get a lot of questions about DOD early-career awards so, although we are still waiting on the AFOSR and ONR YIP announcements to be posted, I recorded an overview video. Watch to the end for the most important information on points to consider when you pursue these opportunities. Keep in mind that for three of these (YIPs & ECP), you do need to be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident, but for one of them (DARPA YFA) you do not.

When you are ready, here’s how we can help

Need to get your research funded, this year? Check out our 12-week program to get you there.

Check out our storefront where you can access our free Unlocking DOD Funding for University Researchers course and other resources, including for faculty applicants.

Ready to book a call to discuss how our program can support faculty at your institution? Let’s chat!