"Count Off!"

Quick, give me your top 3 goals for the day. Top 5? 10?

Bet you kept reading. Would you like to know how I know that? Because anything that requires lists or counting off is just plain intriguing. A famous quote by Mark Twain expressed our society’s power in numbers. One hundred years later, he couldn’t be more accurate.

But why?

Why is our society so fascinated with numbers and lists? Everyone knows David Letterman’s famous Top Tens. The spoofs and spin offs are innumerable. I’m not posing the question because I think I have solved one of nature’s greatest mysteries. I’m simply curious.

With all of the ADHD and ADD diagnoses in our world today, could it be that we, in fact, are all a bit deficient in attention spans? Top 100 of anything, whether it is books, movie or songs, is about the highest well go, and even that’s a stretch. Listing 5 or 10 of anything is much more comfortable.

We looove to count. We love statistics and demographics and ratings because they provide a constant series of change. And if life weren’t dynamic, it would indeed be boring.

So quick, think of your top 3 goals for the day. And go do them. Then think of some more! And if you need a little help, I can only imagine the Google hits you would get in response.