Attention is the Currency of God

This blog was born from reflections that came up during a trip to Japan, when I went to visit Shoichiro—one of my students—and his family. Being away from my daily routine allowed me to clearly see how much attention we lose on trivial things and how much power we gain when we direct it with purpose. That trip stayed with me all the way back to Seoul, and this phrase became a constant companion: Attention is the currency of God.

Traveling with Shoichiro on the train, just minutes before our farewell.

So simple, so powerful. It’s not about spending it on fleeting distractions, but investing it in what we truly want to materialize. If we don’t learn to invest our attention, we won’t be able to receive the reality we wish to inhabit.

Attention is a divine tool available to everyone, but today it is being systematically attacked.

Our attention is destroyed day by day. Everything seems designed to fragment it: social media, multitasking, multi-screen life, a constant bombardment of stimuli and noise. How is it possible that we devote more attention to a screen than to ourselves? This paradox is obvious —even now, you’re reading this through a screen— but it reveals a much bigger problem: reduced attention equals less meaning in life.

Attention = meaning = self-knowledge.

A life without meaning lacks direction. Without it, it’s easy to be carried “wherever the wind blows.” And those who create those winds, who rule through division and chaos, know this very well:

Where your attention goes, your energy flows.

Attention = energy.

If you are not aware, you may be putting your life force in a place you didn’t even choose, “feeding someone or something else.”

What doesn’t exist in your world is simply because you’re not looking at it. Your sustained attention is what sustains the particular reality you live in; without that attention, there is no materialization.

When it comes to materializing our attention, our ideas, our desires, it becomes vitally important to understand the following:

If we don’t speak the language of the universe, the universe doesn’t understand us.

Pay attention to this sequence in the creative process that explains what I’m saying in a very simple and concise way:

Attention → vibration → frequency → intuition → commitment → action → materialization.

Notice that many times when we want to change something we understand that we must act differently. However, this is only half true, because action is a consequence of primary causes in the creative process. We can change our actions, but if our attention and vibrational frequency remain the same, we won’t be able to achieve the desired results.

Or more directly:

Attention → desired reality → vibration → frequency → desired reality.

The opposite works the same:

Attention on the undesired → undesired reality → vibration → frequency → undesired reality.

Although it sometimes seems not to be true, we always have the opportunity to choose: what I want or what I don’t want.

We have received the “menu” of life. To order what we desire, we must use our attention, not just our intention.

Attention is more powerful than intention.

The universe registers your attention, not your verbal desire.

Imagine going to a restaurant in a foreign country and pointing to the dish you don’t want, saying “I don’t want this.” What do you think the chef will bring you?

Imagine you want more clients but you constantly think it’s difficult—what will you get?

A person has an average of 60,000 thoughts per day. If most of them are negative or focused on what they don’t want, what reality do you think they are creating?

Through this logical process we can arrive at the following conclusion:

The problem is not that we can’t concentrate; it’s that many times we are not conscious of where we are putting our concentration.

Image illustrating a fragmented mind with scattered attention. This image has been taken from the public and free space "Science to the People" by Mr. Ernesto Prieto Gratacós. I, Fernando Martín Berthet Garayoa, am not affiliated with or endorsed by Ernesto Prieto Gratacós.

You create the rules of your own reality. You are creating them right now, whether you are aware of it or not.

Whatever the thinker thinks, the prover proves.

And just to make it clear: you are the thinker and you are the prover.

“I can’t do it” materializes.

“I can do it” materializes.

Now we must include in the equation something I call “the old frequency or the old you.”

This entity does not want to die and therefore pushes you back with obvious reactions to adversity, with responses that have been deeply rooted in you through years and years of automatism. These immediate reactions are what is known as “traps of the old vibration.”

That is why an initiatory school with Sufi roots speaks of a strange but very powerful practice: do not manifest negative emotions.

Keep in mind that not manifesting negative emotions is different from repressing them. It is about observing those emotions-reactions and containing them within yourself, not letting that energy be wasted.

In the process one can become conscious of how one really is, what “makes one react,” and thereby begin to modify the old frequency through conscious efforts and “voluntary sacrifices.” Keep in mind that the more deeply rooted this reactive program is in you, the greater your conscious efforts must be, because you may discover that you have been reacting this way, let’s say, for the last 20 years and now you must begin the reverse engineering or “deinstallation” of that vibrational programming.

Attention is alignment.

Focusing on the aspect that will create your desired reality is simple: you are the most important person in your own reality. And although it may sound selfish, don’t be deceived by the illusion—if you do not vibrate in your highest frequency, helping others will always have the limitations of the vibrational state you are in. To help others one must start by helping oneself. The process is from the inside out, never the other way around.

If upon reading this you realize that you are not living the reality you truly desire, let me give you good news:

“In every undesired reality is hidden the seed of the desired reality.”

We return to what was explained earlier. The obvious reaction to adversity is the trap that returns you to the previous vibrational state.

To foster our attention we need our concentration:

Concentration = centralization of energy = concentrated energy.

Photo taken by my wife in the park while I was concentrating my attention and at the same time receiving the light of the giver of life, the sun.

I hope it is now easier to understand what I mean when I say that attention is the currency of God.

Where are you investing the currency of God?

Where are you spending your attention?

Let me clarify something very important, because when I speak of God I do not intend to allude to any type of religion and/or intermediary between you and the original source.

God is an impersonal energy, the substance of reality, the highest level of consciousness.

Attention is the primary cause in the chain of materialization.

Choose consciously. Your attention is your power.

“You are gods but you have forgotten.”

It is not about religions. It is not about intermediaries.

We are a fractal of unity, for we are all one.

Within you also resides the living God and with it, the divine capacity of creation.

Reflections written on paper during my trip to Japan, which gave birth to this blog.

I’m Coach Kimnamdo and I’m at your service…

¡VAMOS!

The Intuition Reveals Information from the Future

One Sunday morning in Seoul, I prepared early to go teach classes. It had snowed the night before and it was very cold. I packed my usual bag —boots, balls, cones, the book I’m reading— and, purely on intuition, I also took the shovel for clearing snow. From my apartment window the streets looked completely clean, but something told me to bring it anyway.

When I arrived at the first field, everything was spotless. Not a single flake. I could have been annoyed at carrying extra weight on such a cold day, but it didn’t bother me at all. I simply carried on.

After finishing the morning private lessons, I had lunch and took the bus to the second location, about 40 minutes away. I used the ride to keep reading. Just before getting off at my stop, a young woman gently took my arm and handed me a handmade drawing. She had sketched me on the bus: me reading, with my “friend” the shovel beside me. Next to it she wrote only: “Cool shovel and book”.

When I reached the second field I saw there actually was snow. But the father of one of my students had already cleared the entire area we would use. Once again, at first glance the shovel seemed unnecessary.

Yet that shovel had not been carried in vain.

Even without knowing it, it had served as inspiration for someone else. That girl on the bus saw me, observed me during the ride, and decided to draw me. She didn’t know me, but something about that image —a guy reading with a shovel on a freezing bus— struck her as worth capturing. And that drawing ended up in my hands.

That day I had brought the shovel with me purely on instinct. And I didn’t really understand why until that moment.

Drawing from an unknown friend. I'll call it: "Cool shovel and book"

There is a great deal of information in potential waiting to be revealed.

What some mystical schools assert begins to make practical sense: it is through intuition that we can access information from the future. Because, in a higher order of reality —where the space-time limitations we perceive do not exist—, past, present, and future occur simultaneously.

Intuition is not blind magic. It is an antenna that picks up signals from that greater order. Sometimes the signal is subtle (carrying an unnecessary shovel), other times more obvious (accepting a piece of paper handed to you by a stranger on the bus and later realizing it is a drawing of you being yourself).

In this particular case, the information “bring the shovel” only made sense once I received the drawing. Until then it seemed like a failed action on my part. This is one of the great paradoxes of this dimensional plane: temporal limitations lead us to believe we see the full reality and we judge events as good or bad with incomplete information.

It is like watching only one scene of a movie and deciding it is bad. Later, when you watch the whole film, you understand that scene was crucial to the outcome.

“Every good hidden in the occult carries the germ of evil; every evil hidden in the occult carries the germ of good.”

We must be conscious of this. An event we judge as good could turn out to be bad “chapters later” in our story, and the reverse is also true.

But if I understand that everything can be learned from, I am probably more willing to receive the information from events, knowing that my perception is always limited. In a higher plane, where past, present, and future are contained simultaneously, everything that happens must happen. There are no coincidences.

Or rather: we call coincidences those events we do not yet fully understand, and which we may understand later.

Intuition, like the body or the mind, can also be trained. It is very simple: spend time with yourself, trying to listen beyond the thoughts racing through your head. Many people tend to believe they are their thoughts, but no: we are what observes those thoughts. And that consciousness is always present.

That consciousness is the link to the future, because whoever is truly present simply knows what to do. It is that simple.

Presence can inspire others. In fact, your presence is always inspiring someone, whether you are aware of it or not. That is why it is necessary to work on fundamental questions: What do I want to inspire? And once that is clear, act accordingly.

If we try to show what we are not, ultimately we deceive ourselves first, because although we appear divided by form, we are all one.

“The end of the matter is that the hidden be seen.”

The hidden that exists within one has the purpose of being revealed.

It depends on us to carry out this work of revelation, so we can offer what is unique and what only we have brought to this plane. Each individual carries a unique fragment of the unity mentioned earlier (our ancestors knew this as Monad).

That unknown woman captured a flash of revelation of my soul: in the drawing I see the embodiment of my words, every opportune moment for learning. I am on the path to the revelation of what is hidden within me.

For this, one must work on oneself and above all keep in mind that the work is always from the inside out, never the other way around.

The tree is in the seed.

The statue is in the stone.

The most complete and finished version of yourself is already inside you.

We only need to create the necessary conditions so that what is potential in the hidden can be revealed.

Sometimes failing a pass, losing a match, being rejected by one or more teams, may hide valuable information so that you can refine your qualities and eventually arrive at a more complete version of yourself.

Your intuition, known to some as the “inner voice,” is speaking to you. If you can manage, even for an instant, to silence all the noise in your mind, perhaps you can hear yourself; perhaps in that instant you can begin to truly live, because:

“Being alive and living are not the same.”

And you, dear reader? When was the last time you followed your intuition even though, in the moment, it seemed “pointless”? What has been revealed to you afterward?

What you are is what you have been yesterday; what you will be is what you are being today

This phrase struck me deeply the first time I read it. Since then, I carry it as a constant reminder: within us there is an enormous margin of action to shape our future.

Paradoxically, to take a different path, we must first know the past and the road we have traveled until today. Without awareness of who we have been, it is almost impossible to understand who we are now. And without that understanding, very likely tomorrow we will be exactly the same as yesterday.

Without these realizations, change tends to be reactive: circumstances shape us instead of us shaping circumstances. And in some cases, we can easily fall into the role of victim—comfortable, moreover, because it brings attention from others—and become slaves to the external.

What is interesting is to take real dimensions of what “our past” truly means.

I will describe below layers of depth that go from the most superficial to the most profound.

First layer: habits.

Many of the ones we have today were forged by repeated behaviors (often unconscious) over years. The longer that period, the stronger the resistance to change.

Second layer: family and contextual influence.

Many behaviors were heavily shaped by parents, caregivers or environment in the early years. It seems there is much we did not choose and that simply conditioned us. But in a deeper order—according to many initiatory traditions—this was chosen by us before incarnating in this physical plane, with purposes of experience and learning.

Third layer: lineages and genetics.

Knowing the past also means looking upward in the family tree: grandparents, great-grandparents… The genetic load transmitted generation after generation is within us, as if they were the famous “default functions” of a mobile phone. Many of them activate or deactivate depending on external stimuli (this is known as epigenetics*).

We must know all this to understand that the past is a determining factor… only until we become conscious of the power that resides within us. Day by day. Tomorrow will be the same as yesterday if I do nothing different today. But if I modify my actions now, in this instant, I begin to create a new frequency that, if it gains enough strength, will become my new “default” state of being.

Once we have taken the reins of these layers of the past, we are ready to thread more finely: to reveal the hidden tasks that our ancestors left us to resolve. Perhaps that is why lineages had (and still have) so much importance. Knowing who you are, where you come from, what blood runs through your veins, gives you much more information about what you have come to manifest in this incarnation.

By the way, according to Buddhism, it is ignorance that brings us suffering and keeps us trapped in the wheel of samsara*.

So, where to begin?

I believe the most powerful question is not “Who am I?” (which can take us entire lifetimes to resolve. Note well that here I speak of lifetimes, with an s at the end). A more accessible one to start with is: Who do I want to be? Without limitations from our current state. Without filters.

This question opens the imagination, gives space to our genuine desire and provides direction.

Once we know who we want to be, it becomes much easier to align today with actions that put us in that direction. A dividing line is created that “parts the waters,” clearly showing us “good and evil” in our particular path; where good is everything that brings me closer to who I want to be, and evil everything that takes me away from it. And it is in that journey that we truly discover who we are. The final destination is only the excuse to reveal the path.

“Who I want to be” draws a clear line between what brings me closer and what takes me away.

Past and future are only references. Like climbing a mountain: sometimes we look up to see how much is left; other times down to see how much we have climbed. But the true intention must be in the present, in the steps we take now, in who we are being today.

It is in the act of reflection—of “stopping the ball”—that many times we can open the way to better decisions, as long as they are aligned with our genuine interest.

Let us not forget that there is no other human being exactly like us. Each one carries something unique. Discovering that can open the doors to a life full of purpose and meaning.

Past and future unite in the present. The past no longer is. The future is not yet. We live in the eternal now.

Clinging to the past is illusorily believing in the permanence of things. Sometimes we punish ourselves for what happened, other times we glorify ourselves, but what happened no longer exists, it no longer is.

The only thing that matters is what you are being today. And so in every instant.

It is today where every change begins. It is today that always gives us a new opportunity to be.

Our past brought us here and for that we must be grateful.

But in a higher order of reality—beyond the space-time limitations we perceive—past, present and future occur simultaneously. Everything is already contained in this eternal instant.

And beyond the character we play in this play, there is something that observes. Something that simply witnesses. Something that is not born nor dies with the body.

It is today where everything begins anew. It is today that invites us to be.

And you, dear reader, who are you? Who do you want to be?

Footnotes:

*Epigenetics: the study of how environmental factors can turn genes on or off without changing the DNA sequence. What we inherit is not a fixed destiny, but a starting point that responds to environment and our choices.

*Wheel of samsara: in Buddhism, the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth driven by ignorance, attachment and aversion.

There is no success or failure, only constant learning

Today I want to share with you, dear reader, one of the deepest realizations I have had in this incarnation.

There is no success or failure. Only constant learning.

This dimension we live in —the human experience— is governed by relentless dualities: love-hate, white-black, light-darkness. And our current way of life seems completely ruled by the most visible pole: success-failure. An endless race where everything is measured by fixed results in time. If you arrive, you triumph. If not, you fail. A beautiful trap of this space-time dimension.

For much of my life, especially when I was a professional footballer, I lived enslaved by that law. A constant emotional rollercoaster: a good match made me successful; a bad weekend, a total failure. My value, my self-esteem, depended on external causes. Without realizing it, I was a prisoner of circumstances. And where there is external dependence, there is deep suffering.

In some book I read that there are two paths to understanding: experience and knowledge.

Through experience, one develops as a being —one is to the same extent that one lives a situation.

Through knowledge (study, observation of others), one avoids unnecessary pain and clears the path.

Here another duality seems to arise: experience vs. knowledge.

But the true task is to find unity between both poles. The bridge.

One must be and know at the same time to truly understand.

This does not happen overnight. It requires repeated and conscious efforts over time until forging the necessary vibrational frequency to comprehend.

In my stage as a player I was immersed in pure experience, with very little development of knowledge. In youth one believes they know everything, wants to do things “their way.” Divine sin of the ego.

That ego brought me to this very moment, but along the way —through pure ignorance— I suffered greatly and, what hurts more, I made others suffer.

Of course, experience also brought me very pleasant moments.

When I decided to move to South Korea with who was then my girlfriend and today is my wife, I stopped playing professionally. Instead, I began teaching as a coach. That’s where the real change began: acquiring knowledge, seeing all my blind spots, integrating past experience with new understanding. Reaching unity. Reaching understanding.

It is important to clarify: understanding is not a permanent state. It is a continuous flow. When you believe you have reached it, it immediately moves away toward a new horizon.

To believe that one possesses absolute truth or complete understanding is arrogance. And arrogance closes every possibility of continuing to learn.

Upon recognizing what I was previously unable to see, I understood something essential: the root of all suffering is ignorance. That ignorance always places us on one pole of duality, fragments us and makes us believe that the fragment we are in is the only existing truth.

Most of the time we live in that ignorance: believing ourselves successful or failures, creating conditionings that dictate our life, ignoring that everything is a continuous flow and that in this plane of consciousness,

the only thing that is permanent is impermanence.

So, how can we measure success and failure? Based on what?

If today’s success can be tomorrow’s failure and the other way around…

When I lose I learn. When I win I learn.

When things don’t go as I expect, it is an opportunity to seek a solution. When things go as I expect, it is an opportunity to remain vigilant and stay on the path.

To be attentive and relaxed at the same time.

Attentive to see the opportunities life brings to my door for learning.

Relaxed with the certainty that everything is arranged for my learning.

One sets the rhythm. And although the time to learn is eternal, we should work with our knowledge as if this were the only life we have.

Leaving duality. Rising toward unity.

We have incarnated in one of the most decisive moments of humanity. All our actions count. No matter how small they seem.

It is time to “ask for the ball at our feet,” to assume responsibility in this key moment of the match and to work on ourselves.

Without my contribution, without your contribution, without our contribution, humanity might not reach the critical mass needed to elevate its collective consciousness.

Everything you do counts…

My dear friend, there is no success or failure.

Only constant learning.

And you? Where are you today “asking for the ball at your feet”? Where are you “hiding behind the defender”?

LEARNING TO FEEL IT: A TRUE WAY TO TEACH

For years I’ve taught football. But what I’ve really been teaching — and learning — is how to feel.

It’s happened to me hundreds of times: a student shows up wanting to master a dribble, a pass, or a shot. I demonstrate the technique, but the real breakthrough comes when we manage to get them to feel the ball as an extension of their own body — when the movement stops being mechanical and becomes living expression. In that moment, football ceases to be just a sport and turns into a way of being in the world.

That’s when I discovered something that goes far beyond the pitch: to teach someone to feel something, I first have to feel it myself with full intensity. And to feel it more deeply — with greater color, volume, dimension — there is no other path than plunging completely into the experience.

The value we draw from any experience is directly proportional to the commitment we put into it. If we don’t give, we create no space to receive. It works like a perfect exchange: we receive in exact proportion to the value we offer others.

This creates a virtuous circle that allows no shortcuts:

• We learn to the same degree that we teach.

• We teach to the same degree that we learn.

• And we can only teach what we already feel vividly.

How could I teach someone to control the ball softly if I’ve never felt it glide under my sole like a caress? How could I transmit calm under pressure if I’ve never inhabited that calm in the midst of a match’s chaos?

To truly feel something, you have to be it.

And to learn to be it, you have to give yourself permission to be it now, in this very instant. Not tomorrow, not when you feel “ready.” Today.

When we manage to embody within ourselves — even if only in an incipient way — that which we long to become, something magical happens: we automatically begin to teach that state to others. Not with words, but with presence.

In short: we teach by being the example.

This has been the most powerful lesson football has given me, and now I want to share it beyond the ball itself. Because all of us, in some area of our lives, are learning and teaching at the same time.

I invite you today to choose just one thing you want to feel more intensely (a movement, an emotion, a way of relating) and give yourself permission to be it while you practice it. You’ll see how, almost without realizing it, you’ll start teaching it to those around you.

What are you learning to feel in this moment of your life?