Attention Allocation

Will’s Dispatch #2

This is Will’s Dispatch, a new experiment with a weekly update separate from my essays. You can expect a short post on company building, learning Chinese, and whatever else I’m learning along the way.

Where I’m At

Kunming, working on the company and performing standup on the side.

My main comedy club is All Things Comedy (全是喜剧), on the fifth floor of the Spring City 66 Mall near the heart of the city. It’s walking distance from where I live, and I’m there every weekday night working on jokes at the open mic (plus bigger shows on the weekend). Here’s what the mall looks like:

There are two other luxury malls of this quality (if not better) within walking distance. Modern China is an industrial-grade explosion of capitalism.

It feels so good to be back on stage. Crowds have been a smaller lately, likely due to unusually bad weather. I performed five sets this week, including a double-header on Thursday:

What I’m Working On

The past two days Dan and I have been finalizing a contract for a new client. We’ll be building monthly AI-focused courses and trainings for this group starting in February. The first workshop we ran for them in November had over 200 attendees, so we’re hopeful that there will be lots of demand for these programs moving into 2026. We also spent a couple of hours yesterday mapping out our goals for the year, for both the B2B side of our business and for Act Two. We’re aiming to launch the B2B website by the end of January.

Act Two Cohort 2 is also taking shape. We’ll be officially announcing the new cohort next week. It starts in just under two months, on March 4th. We’ve launched a new marketing strategy, including our first real experiments with paid ads. A big shoutout to Act Two alum Linart Seprioto who recently became our first full-time hire. He has a background in growth marketing and is helping us execute the Cohort 2 sales plan.

Outside of work I’ve been speaking Chinese with a teacher and writing new standup jokes. Some new words + phrases from the week:

• 及时满足（jíshí mǎnzú）-- instant gratification

• 顿悟 (dùn wù) – flash of realization

• 核心要点 (héxīn yàodiǎn) – core essential point

• 同频 (tóngpín) – on the same wavelength

One Thought

Last weekend I ran an accidental experiment.

Early Saturday morning I spent nearly an hour on Twitter, jumping chaotically across images, videos, and hot takes. I finally pushed my computer shut, feeling that vague displeasure of a post-doomscroll hangover. I decided to write down exactly how my mind felt:

Frazzled, Scattered, Restless, Noisy, Unsettled, Jumpy

Then I immediately began one hour of immersive Chinese listening practice. Eyes closed, no distractions, trying as hard as I possibly could to understand each word. After I wrote how my mind felt:

Still, Calm, Tranquil, Satisfied, Fully Content, Brimming with Possibility

Within one hour my inner state had been transformed, all thanks to where I pointed my attention.

My listening practice is the spiritual opposite of doomscrolling. Singular focus. Unbroken flow state. Deeply meaningful. 100% tied to my future goals.

Attention allocation is a choice. We make choices – consciously or subconsciously – then inherit the consequences of those choices. I still fragment my attention often enough. It’s an ongoing effort to win more of it back. Chinese gives me a singular, worthy object of focus at which to aim it.

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To close, how about this line from French painter Eugène Delacroix: