Originally published by Bruce Kasanoff on LinkedIn: The Awesome Power of Paying Attention

For all my blessings, I have a few disadvantages: no staff, no research or marketing budget, no office, no hulking physical presence... I could go on, but you get the idea.

But I pay attention, and that helps quite a bit.

For example, I read every single comment that readers make on my articles and posts.*

Last week, Joy Boleda wrote a comment in response to an image I posted on LinkedIn; it had to do with my definition of intelligence.

Joy wrote, "What about intuition? It has never been titled as a form of intelligence, but would you think that someone who has great intuition in things, has more intelligence?"

Eureka! What a great idea for an article! Almost immediately, I sat down, did some research, and wrote a Forbes article, Intuition Is The Highest Form Of Intelligence.

As I write these words, that article has attracted over 225,000 readers, making it my most popular Forbes piece ever.

Joy deserves the credit; she came up with the idea, even if she didn't realize how I would use it.

All I did was pay attention.

Again and again, I see highly talented people fall short of their potential because they are:

• Distracted

• Stuck in their own mind

• Focused on the wrong things

Paying attention is like a gift from the heavens above. It doesn't take talent, intelligence, or money. It simply takes the patience and the desire to be aware of what's happening around you.

When you do this, you gather incredibly valuable insights, such as what is actually happening versus what you used to think was happening.

* Full disclosure: during the 3-4 days after I post something, I read every comment. After that, you can slip something by me.

Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter for thought leaders. He is the author of NEVER TELL PEOPLE WHAT YOU DO.